Sebastian Brosche · 15 min · 908 words
Previously titled: Video 3 - Achilles Tendon Rehab
Welcome back to day three of our Achilles tendon pain program. So for today, I'm going to need my foam roller. I've got a bit of TheraBand and I've got my step. Okay, so we're going to start with the foam roller.
And today I'm going to start by working into the hamstrings. So with the foam roller, you don't get quite as much pressure onto those individual trigger points as we did with the massage ball. But what you can get is quite a nice overall effect on the whole muscle. The idea is we're looking for that increase in mobility.
It tends to be a temporary increase in mobility, but then if you then go away and use that extra movement by doing exercises with it, then that gives you a better effect when you do the exercises. And there I'm going to work down into the calf. So I want to put a bit more weight on it. I can cross my other leg over.
All my body weight going through. And as before, we're not looking for this to be exceptionally painful. We're just looking for that slightly uncomfortable, most people find it quite a pleasant sort of discomfort. If I can find those slightly tender areas, I can spend a bit longer there.
And it is worth the effort to work down into the calf. So I'm going to work down into the calf. And it is worth doubling up and doing this on the other side as well. You don't necessarily need to spend the same amount of time on it, but I would probably make sure that you put some in there.
And then I'm going to lie onto my back, link my hands behind my thigh, pull knee towards my chest, and just take the leg as close to straight as I can get it comfortably. And then what I'm going to do is I'm going to go down into the calf, and I'm going to move my ankle, pulling the toe back towards me and then pointing the foot. As I do that, I feel a stretch into the calf. Okay.
Okay. Put some there. I'm going to grab my step. Now, if you've got a wall or a banister that you can hold onto, that's great.
I'm going to use a chair here. Just something to steady myself with this one. So especially if you've got an ankle injury, you don't want to be doing something where you're risking going over on the ankle or landing on it. That's not going to be helpful.
So the way I'm going to do this here is I'm going to do my calf raise again. I'm going to go up on two feet. I'm going to take one foot away, and then I'm going to lower myself down on one. Now, for the purposes of this exercise, I'm going to alternate feet.
So we're going to do both sides. I'm going to lower myself down slowly. So I'm really slowing that eccentric portion of the movement down. And there's a lot of research now about eccentric loading for tendons and tendon pain.
I know this is one of the most effective treatments for tendinopathies. I'm not putting a lot of weight through this hand. I'm just using it for a little bit of support if I need it. Really slow and controlled on that way down.
Okay. So pop the step to one side. And the next exercise that I'm going to pair that with is a single leg RDL. So for this one, I'll lift the other leg up, I'm going to lean forward, take the opposite leg back at the same time, come back up to standing.
Again, we can alternate feet. So here I'm working my balance. I'm working the whole of that posterior chain, hamstrings and calves. We're also introducing that element of hip stability, which again is really important for ankle function for the Achilles tendon.
And we're going to go back to the step. Okay. Okay. And coming off the step, going back to the single leg RDL.
Okay. Okay. And rest there. So this is where I need my thera-band.
I'm going to put the thera-band around my knees, just below the kneecap. So feet slightly apart. For most people, the feet slightly pointing outwards. And I'm going to go into some squats here.
So how deep you go with the squats will depend on your ankle mobility, what stage of injury you're at, and also other factors like your hip mobility as well. So again, be guided by what feels right to you. And then from there, I'm going to slide the band down. I'm just going to put it around the front of my feet.
So it comes around the forefoot here. Okay. And then I'm going to do some side steps. Stepping to one side.
And back the other way. And back to the squats. So as before, if you're struggling with the mobility here, you may want to put a little bit of a heel raise in. So the idea is you're going to use as little of a heel raise as you can so that you can do the movement effectively.
Okay. Okay. And we'll rest there. That's all for day three.
I will see you back here tomorrow. And we're going to start to introduce more dynamic movements.
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