Ankle mobility is key for ankle, knee, hip and low back health. If you don’t have sufficent ankle mobility, it can have a direct effect further up the chain. The specific motion we are referencing is ankle dorsiflexion, or the ability to get the knee to travel over the foot.

Ankle Dorsiflexion

When we work with an athlete inside of Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, MA, assessing the ankle joint is key for any lower body injury as well as at the low back.

Ideally, we would like to see 40 degrees of ankle dorsiflexion or being able to touch the wall with the great toe 4 inches from the wall as shown in the video above.

If ankle mobility is limited, performing self myofascial release to the posterior musculature of the lower leg can help.

Self Myofascial Release Gastrocnemius and Soleus

Often times, clients and athletes will foam roll or perform self myofascial release to their muscles and they will see a transient improvement in mobility and then it will return to status quo.

When we see an improvement in mobility and then it returns to baseline, typically the muscles that limit said mobility aren’t being loaded in a way to train the body to maintain this “new” mobility.

By placing those tissues under a loaded movement, this can help train the body to control this movement and maintain it vs reverting back.

There are a multitude of movements that someone can perform to help maintain ankle mobility. Movements such as:

Slow Eccentric Knee Dominant Reverse Lunges

Key Points:

• Make sure knee is going over toes.

• Perform with a slow eccentric (slow lowering).

• Make sure heel stays on the ground.

Bilateral Soleus Heel Raises On/Off Step

Key Points

• Perform slowly on the way down.

• Make sure knees are bent and over toes.

Bilateral Soleus Heel Raises Off Floor

• Perform slowly on the way down.

• Make sure knees are bent and over toes.

Those are just a few options you can incorporate into your daily routine or your training session. If you are dealing with limited ankle mobility, try performing self-myofascial release as well as some form of loaded movement via a lunge or heel raise variation in your warm-up or superset with another lift.

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