Dorsiflexion

[johnny89]

Hello,

i'm new to this forum. I've been reading it for a while since I read the book and found a lot of valuable info.

Anyways I have a problem and I can't seem to find an effective solution for it. My dorsiflexion sucks, to be honest. Most likely I also have tight calves. As pistol squats are my goal this is a major problem since I can't squat properly. If I try I fall on my ass or have to raise my heels of the ground - stand on my toes. The problem is partially in the fact that for some reason my calf muscles tighten during the day from everyday walking and stuff so I'm making next to none progress with basic stretching.

I stretch my calves on the stairs and also leaning on the wall with one foot behind me. When I do the wall stretch I also bend my knee and try to keep my heel to the ground. I saw these stretches on youtube searching for any info on improving dorsiflexion. Anyway when I bend the knee I'll also feel pain more in the ankle (similar to the pain of a twisted ankle) not so much the stretch in the achilles tendon (what you're supposed to feel) so I take it easy on that stretch. I have to say that my general flexibility sucks. I believe I've also overstretched in the attempt to loosen my calves and be able to squat properly. If I do regular squats the suck even more and its hard to get to 90 degrees without standing more then shoulder width apart or leaning forward to much. I think I got myself in this position by following "mainstream fitness" advice, doing lots of split squats (where the knee doesn't go over the toes) and running. Also it might be useful info that when I run a bit longer distance about 5 miles or more my calves tighten so badly that it feels like my foot fell asleep (pins and needle kind of feeling). I don't think that's a good think to push through so I've eased up on runs and only do up to 3 miles. Even then I can stretch my calves for 10-15 minutes afterwards and they feel fine for a while but tighted up in a few hours.

Ok so I tried to describe everything as accurately as possible but english is not my native language so I apologize if its incomprehensible. I'd be really grateful if someone could help me out. I'd like to start a basic streght routine following the progressions in the book but if I can't even squat correctly then it would all be upper body and I don't want that.

[Craig Rackemann]

I have the same issue, I think it's pretty common given most people wear shoes with an elevated heel. Switching to barefoot shoes has helped me a lot, also try this:

http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/174-super%E2%80%93duper-ankle%E2%80%93soleus-stretch-routine-essential-for-the-squat/

[Craig Mallett]

Johnny,

I've been rehabing one of my client's squats for a little while now and it's very slowly getting better.

Here's what has helped:

- Started with bodyweight squats with heals raised on a 10kg plate. Did 10 squats in between each of the following exercises.

- Deep Gastroc (upper calf) stretch. The push against the wall one is OK, but I find the exercise where with a straight leg, you put your toe up a wall (try and get the heal in as close to the wall too), then stand up by pushing through the back leg that isnt on the wall. The objective here isn't to get the chest closer to the wall, but to get the HIPS closer to the wall. Contract the calf by pressing the toes firmly into the wall for 5 - 10seconds. Release the contraction (stay in the stretched position though), take a deep breath in, and relax as much as you can through the whole body including the calf as you breathe out and bring the hips in a little more. More deep breaths as you adjust to the new position and then repeat the contraction 2 more times. Repeat on the other leg. Also play with the hip position (rotated out, square to the wall, rotated in), as this will change the stretch.

- Soleus (lower calf/achilles) stretch. Pushing against the wall is better for this one I have found. So put the leg you want to stretch back, make sure the foot is perpendicular to the wall (i.e. pointing directly at the wall with no external or internal rotation), and then bend the knee. You can use the same contractions (x3) as you did in the previous stretch, i.e. pushing the ball of the foot into the ground (don't actually allow the heal to lift off though, these contractions should be isometric).

- 10 x bodyweight squat

- piriformis stretch - this one is a little hard to explain here, but it helped with this particular client because her piriformis was TIGHT.

- 10 x bodyweight squat

- deep hip partner stretch - lying on your back with both legs straight and together, lift one leg and bend the knee, bringing the knee as close to the chest without the other leg lifting or bending. The partner lies across you, putting your shin into their stomach (position so that the shin isnt contacting any bones) and proceeds to allow their whole body weight to go down through your leg, pushing it closer to the chest. Breathe and relax: you should be getting deeper into the stretch with each out breath. The contraction for this one is to push the knee up against the person lying across you, (don't push them off) for 5 - 10 seconds again, release contraction, deep breath in, breathe out and relax and go deeper into the stretch. repeat x 3 again. repeat on other side.

- 10 x bodyweight squat

- 5 - 10 minutes of sitting in a squat with back to wall, making sure the feet are as close to the wall as possible, the bum is as close to the ground as possible (i.e. resting on the achilles or best effort) and the back is flat against the wall, including contact with the sacrum. Breathe deep and relax, you should eventually start sliding down the wall further into the stretch as time goes on. You can hold onto your ankles to pull you down the wall too if you wish. You can passively pull yourself further down the wall by thinking of poking your bum out and lengthening the spine (i.e. trying to get the spine and femur closer to parallel).

- 10 x bodyweight squats.

She did this routine once per week and after about a month had a full squat all the way to bum to ankles with the plate. I have now removed the plate from under the heels and she is repeating but with a flatter footed squat. Once at the point where you can maintain the squat, spend as much time in it as you can (including outside your exercise times, for example while waiting for something, or if you need to pick something up from the ground).

Coach's two pikes and two squats exercise is awesome for developing this once you are deep enough in the squat.

Finally, the facing the wall squat is one of the best exercises that no-one seems to know about. With feet shoulder width apart and parallel, toes touching the wall and arms by the side, drop down into the squat as deep as you can. The wall prevents you from leaning forward or from putting your knees beyond your toes, so forces you to develop proper hip strength and deep pelvic floor flexibility. I've had people try and tell me that this movement is only possible for people with the correct proportions, but I totally disagree with that, as my friend who has super long legs and the shortest torso is able to do these freely with the feet together (harder variation). I also know an older gentleman (in his 60s) who used this exercise to rehab his back problems. He now swears by them, is fitter than ever, and all he does is 100 of these per day.

Hope this helps!

[Craig Rackemann]

Thought I'd add another idea.

Check out Ido's squat clinic routine, I use this as part of my warmup on lower body days.

http://idoportal.blogspot.com.au/2009/07/floreio-workout-number-1.html?m=1

Craig, good points about the face the wall squats. I had forgotten about those and the last time I tried I failed miserably.

[thenail01]

Is it symmetric (meaning, both ankles are the same?) Is your lack of flexibility active or passive?

Most of your story sounded more biomechanical in nature except for the running bit. Does the pain/paresthesias (pins/needles) occur in both legs? At the same distance every time? It could as simple as your shoelaces are tied too tight. Your lack of dorsiflexion could be in part from footware - most modern shoes have a bit of a heel lift which shortens the Achilles. General rule of thumb is the cheaper the sneaker, the less likely you are to get injured.

But anyway, about the running bit - I would want to rule out more serious problems before you just start rehabbing and fixing biomechanical deficits. Your story sounded consistent with chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) - and certainly other more simple, more common etiologies, but true CECS isn't a straightforward fix.

[johnny89]

Is it symmetric (meaning, both ankles are the same?) Is your lack of flexibility active or passive?

Most of your story sounded more biomechanical in nature except for the running bit. Does the pain/paresthesias (pins/needles) occur in both legs? At the same distance every time? It could as simple as your shoelaces are tied too tight. Your lack of dorsiflexion could be in part from footware - most modern shoes have a bit of a heel lift which shortens the Achilles. General rule of thumb is the cheaper the sneaker, the less likely you are to get injured.

But anyway, about the running bit - I would want to rule out more serious problems before you just start rehabbing and fixing biomechanical deficits. Your story sounded consistent with chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) - and certainly other more simple, more common etiologies, but true CECS isn't a straightforward fix.

Thanks for your input. Acutally you've really scared me with that, especially after I read about it on wikipedia. I don't think I have it but I'll get it checked out anyways. Will a physical therapist be able to identify it or is it more complicated diagnosis?

Last time I had a long run paresthesia occured in my left leg first and after a while it occured in the right however in the right I barely felt it. I'm not sure how it occured on previous runs I'm only sure about the last since I stopped and stretched my left calf a few times. It usually starts between miles 3 and 4 and by 5 I feel it quite well in one leg. Stretching it out solves the problem temporarily until my calves tighten up again and I have to stop and stretch again or it gets uncomfortable.

But as far as I can tell I don't have CECS since the pain, and the pins and needles aren't chronic or that intense. Wiki describes it as intese, poorly localized and constant pain so that's definitely not how I feel even when I run. On the other hand what might be intense pain for most people might be discomfort for me. I suppose intense pain would make it impossible for a person to continue with the activity. Also stretching is supposed to make the pain worse but my problem is alleviated by stretching as I feel the stretch and muscles loosening not pain. But thanks I'll get it checked and watch for any signs of it. I still think its just really stiff and tight calves probably too much running and calf raises and way too little stretching. Shit, I never thought you could develop a life threatening problem going to the gym. I actually had a fitness instructor make me a plan and all that when I started at like 15-16 and he told me that stretching will make you weaker so I should only stretch a little bit in between sets to get rid of the pump. I followed that plan and designed some myself, gained about 10-12kg mass but became stiff as f...

[johnny89]

Johnny,

I've been rehabing one of my client's squats for a little while now and it's very slowly getting better.

Here's what has helped:

- Started with bodyweight squats with heals raised on a 10kg plate. Did 10 squats in between each of the following exercises.

- Deep Gastroc (upper calf) stretch. The push against the wall one is OK, but I find the exercise where with a straight leg, you put your toe up a wall (try and get the heal in as close to the wall too), then stand up by pushing through the back leg that isnt on the wall. The objective here isn't to get the chest closer to the wall, but to get the HIPS closer to the wall. Contract the calf by pressing the toes firmly into the wall for 5 - 10seconds. Release the contraction (stay in the stretched position though), take a deep breath in, and relax as much as you can through the whole body including the calf as you breathe out and bring the hips in a little more. More deep breaths as you adjust to the new position and then repeat the contraction 2 more times. Repeat on the other leg. Also play with the hip position (rotated out, square to the wall, rotated in), as this will change the stretch.

- Soleus (lower calf/achilles) stretch. Pushing against the wall is better for this one I have found. So put the leg you want to stretch back, make sure the foot is perpendicular to the wall (i.e. pointing directly at the wall with no external or internal rotation), and then bend the knee. You can use the same contractions (x3) as you did in the previous stretch, i.e. pushing the ball of the foot into the ground (don't actually allow the heal to lift off though, these contractions should be isometric).

- 10 x bodyweight squat

- piriformis stretch - this one is a little hard to explain here, but it helped with this particular client because her piriformis was TIGHT.

- 10 x bodyweight squat

- deep hip partner stretch - lying on your back with both legs straight and together, lift one leg and bend the knee, bringing the knee as close to the chest without the other leg lifting or bending. The partner lies across you, putting your shin into their stomach (position so that the shin isnt contacting any bones) and proceeds to allow their whole body weight to go down through your leg, pushing it closer to the chest. Breathe and relax: you should be getting deeper into the stretch with each out breath. The contraction for this one is to push the knee up against the person lying across you, (don't push them off) for 5 - 10 seconds again, release contraction, deep breath in, breathe out and relax and go deeper into the stretch. repeat x 3 again. repeat on other side.

- 10 x bodyweight squat

- 5 - 10 minutes of sitting in a squat with back to wall, making sure the feet are as close to the wall as possible, the bum is as close to the ground as possible (i.e. resting on the achilles or best effort) and the back is flat against the wall, including contact with the sacrum. Breathe deep and relax, you should eventually start sliding down the wall further into the stretch as time goes on. You can hold onto your ankles to pull you down the wall too if you wish. You can passively pull yourself further down the wall by thinking of poking your bum out and lengthening the spine (i.e. trying to get the spine and femur closer to parallel).

- 10 x bodyweight squats.

She did this routine once per week and after about a month had a full squat all the way to bum to ankles with the plate. I have now removed the plate from under the heels and she is repeating but with a flatter footed squat. Once at the point where you can maintain the squat, spend as much time in it as you can (including outside your exercise times, for example while waiting for something, or if you need to pick something up from the ground).

Coach's two pikes and two squats exercise is awesome for developing this once you are deep enough in the squat.

Finally, the facing the wall squat is one of the best exercises that no-one seems to know about. With feet shoulder width apart and parallel, toes touching the wall and arms by the side, drop down into the squat as deep as you can. The wall prevents you from leaning forward or from putting your knees beyond your toes, so forces you to develop proper hip strength and deep pelvic floor flexibility. I've had people try and tell me that this movement is only possible for people with the correct proportions, but I totally disagree with that, as my friend who has super long legs and the shortest torso is able to do these freely with the feet together (harder variation). I also know an older gentleman (in his 60s) who used this exercise to rehab his back problems. He now swears by them, is fitter than ever, and all he does is 100 of these per day.

Hope this helps!

Thanks. What you describe really looks like my problem. I'm doing pistol squats with my heels on an elevated surface like a plate too. Pistols are easier to get into for me as more weight is on the leg as with regular squats and seems to helps the stretch of my calf (I need less heel elevation to do a pistol ass to the heel then a regular squat)

Would stretching multiple times a day be a good idea as well? I think I should stretch out the area a few times during the day to prevent it from tightening up. I have a feeling that when I stretch in the evening I'm only repairing the tension built up during the day. Is some light to medium stretching during the day a good idea? For instance like after walking or whatever to stretch out the calf or something like that? I'm going to start your routine immediately. I probably should do it no more then twice a week, right?

[thenail01]

I wouldn't say it's life threatening. Usually there is no pain at rest but comes on pretty consistently with a given activity and goes away in several minutes with rest. I'd try correcting biomechanical issues first - stretching, footware, muscle imbalances... if nothing seems to help then maybe it's worth looking into. No a PT would not be able to diagnose this. The only (guideline) way is to measure compartment pressure pre and post exercise which basically involves sticking a needle in your leg.

[johnny89]

According to wiki it can be. Probably in the more bizzare cases. Ok I'll start stretching, possibly stop running for a while until I get loosened up a bit. I have a feeling getting stretched out will do the trick.

Thank you guys for your advice. I thnik it'll help.