Are Stiff Ankles Your Downfall When Squatting?

Stiff or reduced ankle movement has been linked to a whole host of leg injuries or problems, including plantar fasciitis, calf strains, shin splints, Achille’s issues. On top of this, limited ankle mobility will limit your ability to do daily stuff like walking, sitting down, standing up, balancing, going up and down stairs.

When it comes to your ability to squat, bend down, lunge, or even push off our toes when running or walking ankle mobility is crucial. There are heaps of factors that can affect your ability to do a deep squat, keeping all your body in an optimal position, or with “good form” as we call it! This blog will focus on the ankles crucial influence.

How you should squat

When the ankle is performing at its best, its flexibility (ability to bend) allows the knee to glide towards the toes and over, your trunk to stay up right without leaning over from the hips (sticking your bum out). If the ankle lacks the ability to bend fully, heels can raise, knees won’t be able to track forwards and the trunk leans. Add any weight or load to this and you are almost guaranteed overloading certain structures in your body and making them sore. This is SO common in the knee.

This “non-optimal” way of squatting will affect;

•  The ability of the leg muscles to work properly, generating the right force
• Joints to load differently
• Ligaments and tendons to be loaded differently,

Over time, this ankles stiffness can be the cause of numerous problems and pains in the legs.

What is ankle mobility?

Mobility of any kind refers to the flexibility of the joint and its surrounding tissues. The greater the flexibility, the greater the range of movement you have.

Ankle mobility is something we take for granted. Have you ever walked around in snowboard or ski boots? Its hard work. This is because the boot restricts your ankle mobility. It then affects how you move in the rest of your leg.

The key to squatting well is the ankles’ ability to dorsiflex. That’s when it bends up (opposite to pointing your toes!)

During a squat you need this ankle, hip, and knee bend to happen at the same time. Lacking ankle dorsi-flexion causes the timing of everything to be thrown off. Often, we see people’s trunk moving forwards and bottom sticking out with little knee and ankle movement. Perhaps this is you?!...

What can limit ankle mobility?

When you squat the calf muscles on the back of the ankle joint need to lengthen. If these muscles are a bit tight, they will limit your ankle mobility. Other things that can limit ankle mobility are the tendons from your muscles, ligaments, and fascia. The calf muscles attach to the heel via your Achilles tendon. This tendon then blends with the plantar fascia on the bottom of the foot. Therefore, both the calf and the plantar fascia can be addressed through ankle mobility exercises if they are tight.

Don’t forget your toes!

Often, we overlook the toes, but they are key. Muscles and tendons that attach to them need to lengthen when you squat. Lack of mobility in the big toes can affect ankle mobility just like the ankle can limit movement at the knee. Everything is connected in one big, long chain and then your squat looks all wrong or hurts!

When stepping you need a good amount of toe bend to push off to work your calf muscles. This in turn triggers your bottom muscles work too. Hands up if you have a bunion or arthritis in your big toe? Hands up if you an ankle sprain or break? What about a plantar fascia or Achilles’ problem? Now, just think, have you also had or currently got knee pain? Perhaps you’ve noticed your bottom muscles lack tone and shape? Is your balance pretty dodgy? All these things could be caused by a restriction in your ankle and toes.

How to fix it

Adding ankle stretching and strengthening in your daily routine will help you get everything working together again. You need all your muscles to be able to lengthen and shorten. This in turn improves how you activate it all together, improves your balance and gets the whole leg strong, reducing you chance of injury and pain. What’s not to like!

These are the best stretches to do for your calf and toes to help you get that squat going. I don’t want to hear anymore groans when you squat to sit down or stand up! You know who you are!!

A final word of wisdom, if you find stretches uncomfortable or you aren’t feeling them in the calf or foot, something else might be going on. Instead of ignoring it, consider getting some massage, or better still, book in and see a good therapist to assess what is going on and causing this to happen. Lack of ankle mobility is one of 3 things that predisposes you to injury and falls…. So instead of waiting for this to happen, be proactive and get it sorted now before something big happens or goes wrong!

What is your next step? (Pardon the pun)

An MOT may be just what you need to see if your ankle or foot stiffness is causing underling problems in your body. You can either book a FREE call with one of our therapists or come in for a FREE Discovery Visit to see if we can help you. Either call 01548 852355 or email [email protected] and request a FREE call or Discovery Visit.

With the NHS as it is, waiting times so long and resources so limited, if you want to lead a healthy, active, and pain-free life, it’s on you to take care of yourself for the long term. If you want to get out of a pain cycle and get back to doing something you LOVE, without flaring something up, do something about it now.

A good therapist will be able to assess you and the problem, identify what’s wrong and work with you to create a plan to correct how you move and use your body. This may look like stretching something that is tight or strengthening that old point of injury, or often both!

Please, please do not ignore those stiff bits or niggles. The quicker you come in, the sooner we can unravel what is causing the problem and help you feel fab again! It is possible. Promise.

With love

Vic, Abbie, and the HealthHub Team