Ankle Mobility when Squatting
Have you been attempting to gain ankle mobility by stretching your calves but just not coming up with the results you thought you would? The answer may surprise you! We have two major calf muscles that can limit what we call ankle dorsiflexion (knee driving over toe in squat), but we have to look deeper than your traditional calf stretching. Let’s discuss… because this is something we commonly see in physical therapy when treating ankle pain, knee pain or hip pain with squats.
We have a calf muscle called the gastrocnemius that is a two-joint muscle. This means it interacts at the ankle AND the knee joint. This is the commonly discussed muscle for a majority of calf stretches, but there is a more important one for squatting deeper in the leg to this muscle. That specific calf muscle is called the soleus. This is a one-joint muscle and only interacts with the ankle. The biggest change you need to make in your ankle stretching then, is eliminate the knee joint being locked out in extension!
When you focus on the soleus muscle, continue with all of the positions you are used to performing calf stretches in, but BEND the knee while you do them now. This will put the ‘gastroc’ on slack and put more emphasis on the soleus. You may feel this stretch move lower into the achilles tendon region, and that is totally normal! The soleus is a shorter muscle which means it is lower in the leg. We at Loon State Physical Therapy prefer to perform ankle stretches for bouts of 30-45 seconds, but a minimum of 20 seconds should be held statically. If you are performing this dynamically, move fluidly in and out of the knee straight and bent positions for about 2 minute bouts and see the range of motion slowly improve! This should assist your ankle pain to see the light at the end of the tunnel or begin to improve ankle motion to assist in your knee pain or hip pain when squatting.
This is a major key we find for most ankle pain and calf pain issues that are taking longer to resolve. Are you dealing with lingering ankle pain that just doesn’t seem to go away? Hip pain or knee pain when squatting that may be coming from your lack of ankle mobility? Let’s chat! I would be happy to discuss further how Loon State Physical Therapy can be a teammate in getting you back to moving and feeling your best! Our convenient Minneapolis physical therapy and Edina physical therapy locations will happily see you to get you back to moving at your best. Call us at (612) 405-8503 or book with us online at www.loonstatephysicaltherapy.com for an in-person or virtual appointment.
Let’s get to it!
Andrew Eccles
Owner and Physical Therapist at Loon State Physical Therapy
