My knees hurt
I can’t begin to tell you how many people I talk to that complain about “bad knees.” Admittedly, I take a peek at how they are walking when they say that. Their gait is sometimes off, leaning to one side, or their legs are stiff and they look like Frankenstein just reemerged.
Could it be the ankles
Is it really the knees? Perhaps not. Maybe it’s the ankles.
You might think you are flexible. You can swing those hips, bend easily from side to side, but what about your ankles? Compare your ankles to those of a baby. The baby even sleeps with their ankles flexed.
How does it feel when you stand on your toes?
Tight? Unstable?
How does it feel when you stand on one leg?
Do your ankles wobble?
The consequences of poor ankle flexibility
What are the consequences of poor ankle flexibility?
If your ankle mobility is limited enough, it can impact your walking gait. What happens when your walking gait goes haywire? A chain reaction occurs, causing an imbalance up your body into your knees and hips. Your risk of injury now increases even more.
Yes, hip and knee injuries are especially common in people with limited ankle mobility.
Preventing hip and knee injury
Having full ankle mobility is one of the best things you can do to prevent injury to your knees and hips. Were you one of those people who spent their career in heels? Me too. Ouch, a very tight and shortened Achilles tendon is now something to reckon with. Do you always wear ankle boots laced up? I love my Doc Martens, but they’re not so good for my feet and ankles. They’re like putting your ankles in a cast. Lots of support externally, but your feet and ankles don’t get to move freely.
First in and last out
What is the first thing to hit the floor in the morning? Your feet! The ankle is the first joint to hit the floor in the morning and the last joint to hit the bed at night. No wonder you might have issues in your foot, knee, hip, or back.
How do you know if you’re ankles are flexible
How do you know if your ankles are flexible or not? It’s pretty easy.
- Do a few squats and watch yourself in the mirror. Do your heels come off the ground? If you said yes, this can be a sign of poor flexibility.
- Stand straight with your feet together. Can you lift the ball of your foot off the ground without moving your body? If you answered no, this can also be a sign of poor flexibility and mobility.
Dorsiflexion, what does it mean
Dorsiflexion is the motion that is made when you pull your toes up and toward your leg. This can be performed actively, where you do it under your own muscle strength, or passively where someone else determines your ankle flexibility as you relax your leg and foot muscles and they manipulate your foot. Dorsiflexion is considered to be the most important indicator of the degrees of freedom of the ankle is because it allows for the tibia (the shin) to move forward, relative to the position of the foot.
The better ankle flexibility you have the better you can walk and do more of your activities of daily living.
A regular stretching and flexibility program should be incorporated into your daily routine. The good news! Many of these exercises can be done while you are sitting watching TV or reading!!
Check out my quick 2-minute video for exercises you can do while watching TV
See my quick 2-minute video on how to increase your foot and ankle flexibility and help them feel better. https://youtu.be/8v9r1b01cOw or follow us on Instagram.
Another blog post I wrote about foot flexibility. It has references and more exercise links.
Want to become more flexible and have better balance
Go to my classes page on my website if you want to join the balance and fitness class. We work on head-to-foot flexibility! You can click HERE
