Back at you with some ankle stretches & drills to improve your function ability.
Poor flexibility of the ankle can thwart your gains from squats, so it’s an issue that should be addressed, especially if you are new to training. Squatting deep engages glutes, which are probably the most important core muscles. Yes, they are a part of the legs group, but they are also the base of the core, because of the way that they support the pelvis and lower back. Knee problems are 90% of the time either foot, or hip (glutes) related. These drills will help improve, not only, your ankle mobility, but also your overall bio-mechanics from the bottom up.
Included are…
– Calf & Achilles Stretches
– Tibialis Anterior Stretch
– Foam Rolling the Calf and Achilles
– Foam/Ball Rolling Tibialis Anterior
Here are four stretches that I recommend doing before hitting the weights. Two of them are static and two are dynamic. They should help to get you prepared for training.
Dynamic stretching, as opposed to static, is always the best option before training. During exercise you are not likely to stretch the muscle as far as it can go and hold (excluding a few gymnastics and martial arts movements), so it doesn’t make sense to do any such thing when preparing them for a workout.
Exercise typically involves a rapid and repetitive stretching and contracting of muscles. That is the key behind dynamic stretching. You should use light weights to dynamically stretch and contract the muscles using movements similar to those that make up your exercise routine. This will also warm the muscles up.
Be sure to use light weights. For the stretches in the above video I recommend the following:
Men – 2kg/5lbs
Women – 1kg/2.5lbs
Complete 10-12 explosive reps of each movement and your chest, back, shoulders, triceps and biceps will be ready for action!
Recent Comments