How are your ankles performing?
“If your feet and ankles can’t perform their work then the rest of your body will overload and catch the fault. Sore back? Let’s look at your ankles..”
Grounded strong feet and healthy ankle mobility is your foundational gold medal for everything you want to achieve higher up the body.
“If your feet and ankles can’t perform their work then the rest of your body will overload and catch the fault. Sore back? Let’s look at your ankles.”
A set of key joints in your lower body that frames your n and transfers force to the floor are your ankles and your feet. If they are restricted or weak you are creating a storm somewhere higher up (or you are just going to stay sitting down - which I doubt is your future of choice if you are reading this). So let's look at three strategies to positively impact the motor blades of your movement.
Firstly look at the footwear you are sporting. I am an advocate of barefoot shoes for a few reasons but mainly because they remove the heel rise of traditional sports and casual shoes as well as creating a safe ‘toe box’ for your feet to naturally expand into. There are plenty of brands on the market and none have paid me enough to promote theirs so take your pick based on preference, colour, and budget. Wear them as much as you can in and out of the gym. Caution: do not run in them, yet. Whilst our feet were made to be bare they were not made to run on concrete naked so if you want to run barefoot we would strongly recommend grading in the distance.
Secondly, consider the shape(s) you are compromised in and spend more time there. In this video I show how an ease raiser for the heel (book) works to negatively angle the shins and sit in a deep squat for 5-10 minutes. Game changing. No need to lift there or promise to watch an entire Grey’s Anatomy episode (yes it’s my vice), but reward yourself with some foot care and use it to prepare for a session or after a long day in the office.
Thirdly we have to consider that your foot is weak and collapsing under load. Potentially this is the anterior braking system (shins), or the underside of your foot. Try using the same book to strengthen your feet in a heel only or ball only hold to develop strength in the Tibialis Anterior and calf muscles. Watch this video to see how.
As a bonus bit of content for the days when despite all of the above your calves are tight and you can’t imagine how you will ever be able to safely go down stairs again, try using your shin as a myofascial release for the other leg.
Follow the video below to see how to pretzel yourself into a position allowing trigger point care of your tight gastrocnemius muscle. Spoiler alert, if you want something pleasant go for a coffee, this is not enjoyable but we think it works anywhere and anytime!
Forrest Gump was just a story.
No one should just get up and run. Not even Forrest. Respect your movement by prepping effectively first
Driving a car towards a wall without testing the brakes at speed makes you foolish (politely). Dropping an egg and salt onto a plate and expecting it to be an omelet makes us wishful. Likewise we need warming up to be our best. Our joints, muscles, lungs, and circulation are not airbags.
If you climb out of your commute and hit the pavement you are creating a kinetic storm in the forces you expect your body to transfer. Equally, if you roll out of bed and demand your coordination to be ready for a pre breakfast match of Padel then your body will one day tell you that you should have primed some sporting shapes more effectively first.
There is a reason that high performing individuals rehearse their actions and ensure they nutritionally, physically, and cognitively prep. And there are lessons that we can all learn from the athletes, business leaders, and individuals around us who seem to effortlessly defy fatigue. Yes they might have a higher baseline of output, but more controllably they schedule a non negotiable window before crucial execution to warm up. They read their notes before a key speech, execute imagery skills before a big race, and always always always pay more attention to readying their performance than ignorantly expecting the mind and body to respond on demand.
So what can you do to best protect yourself before your next Sunday league training or park run? Respect yourself to add 10 minutes and activate the movement pathways and response systems of the body so that your output exceeds a cold engine.
At high specificity the exercises and techniques for warming up will vary. But for the other 99% of us the means to activate your muscles and rehearse for our sport will be similar enough to create non negotiable rules for anyone to follow;
Move your body through increasing ranges of motion that simulate the activity: Before running 5km move through a Runners Lunge to mobilise hips & ankles;
Gradually increase your breathing rate, lung, heart, and circulatory functions from their resting state to the activity intensity: If you expect a HR of 175 bpm on the football pitch, make sure your warm up identifies this with high velocity pitch runs and 30s small sided games;
Activate the specific movement patterns building to a competition intensity: Before accelerating, decelerating, turning, and jumping on the squash court, complete Side Lying Clams, Glute Bridges, Deadbugs, and IYT’s.
Follow our Runners Lunge flow as a generic primer before any activity to prep better than simply a Redbull on the motorway.