Sea anchor feet

tortugatortuga Senior Member
edited November 2014 in General Discussion
So I have the lifetime runner's issue of inflexible ankles in plantar flexion so my size 12.5 feet point down and drag like sea anchors. My winter goal this year is to stretch it out so I can point my toes and streamline better. Anyone have any stretches for me?

Comments

  • wendyv34wendyv34 Vashon, WASenior Member
    When you look up ankle stretches, most of them show calf stretches with the ankle flexed. You'll need those, but you really want to work on feeling comfortable with your toes pointed, which can cause calves to cramp at first.

    Sit on your knees with your feet underneath you and the tops of your feet flat on the floor. Sometimes that one is more comfortable with a small rolled towel under your toes. If sitting on your knees isn't comfortable, you can get one ankle at a time by sitting on the edge of a chair and putting the top of your foot on the floor.

    Sit on the floor or couch/chair, heels on the floor. Point your toes and hold. Your calves and quads should be flexed. This one is easy to do while reading, watching TV, etc.

    Try kicking with fins on. Longer fins will force you to point your toes. Start with a limited amount of fins if you haven't been using them, otherwise, you can get cramps and blisters.

    Work on getting your body position forward and head position neutral. I know that's harder to do with inflexible ankles because your kick may be pulling you back or down.

    Good luck!
    SalishSeatortugaflystorms

    It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.

  • wendyv34wendyv34 Vashon, WASenior Member
    While I was swimming, I thought of another one for TV watching time. Rotate ankles in both directions, work on range of motion. I usually recommend this for improving whip kick, but it should help with general flexibility.
    SalishSeatortuga

    It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.

  • flystormsflystorms Memphis, TNSenior Member
    Did some PT on my feet a few years ago and the doc suggested to write out the alphabet in air by using my feet. Run through the alphabet once or twice per foot while you're watching TV and it'll feel better after time.
    mjstaples
  • swimmer25kswimmer25k Charter Member
    Lots of swimming and kicking with fins. My typical last 1000 (warm-down) is a 150 swim followed by 100 kick done 4 times through. I would alternate fly and flutter kick on my back. The swim is free.

    Wearing fins has helped loosen up my ankle joints significantly. So much in fact that my doctor said that I have the ankles of a ballerina. That's where the the comparison ended.

    This was just a phenomenon that happened over time and not something I had deliberately set out to do.
  • david_barradavid_barra NYCharter Member
    5YWPG5LT6HUL.jpg

    ...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

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