New partner soleus stretch, uncovered in Piacenza this week!

[Kit_L]

I modified the wall calf stretch to make it really get into soleus; it can be done solo, but in our experience, partner assistance is both more effective, and needed to get the sensation of how to move the lower leg in this stretch.

Assume you are leaning on the wall with both hands, and pressing weight down through the heel of the stretching leg to hold it down onto the floor and you are in a gastroc-type stretch position. This time, though, do not press the knees straight (which is essential to target gastrocnemius; leave it a bit loose.

Now, as in the gastroc. assist, your partner grasps your stretching heel with one hand, and all their body's weight directly above the heel, and that arm close to vertical. Really put weight down into the heel.

The new bit is that your partner uses her other hand to gently force the knee to bend, while your and her weight holds the heel in place. Assume 5–10 degrees of knee bend—now when you do the contraction, only soleus will be affected. Following, the restretch is for your partner to help to press the back of the knee into further flexion, and the result is a massive, soleus-only, stretch.

When I did this for the first time the other day, I got at least an extra 10–15 degree dorsiflexion, and the sensations are still being felt in the lower leg. This had an immediate effect on the depth of the full squat position, and everyone else in the workshop had a similar improvement, some (like Linda) full squatting for the first time.

Don't forget the

for this part of the body, too (somewhere around the three minute mark you will see the position I use).

For soleus, gastrocnemus and the Achilles tendon, in my view the TravelRoller is too thick: the fascia in this part of the leg is dense and in my experience, it needs finer point pressure and more weight than you can get via the TR. Sitting on your legs with the stick in between, and moving it all the way up to behind the knee (or as close as possible) and all the way (gently) from the calcaneum, working the legs by rocking side to side as well as letting the body's weight settle as deeply as possible will work. The thicker the stick, the more intense, so do not hurry to use a thick one (fascia adapts relatively slowly).

Let me know if you need more explanation on how to do this. I will shoot a video as soon as I can.

[Nolan & Jade Foster]

I'd love to see a video on this Kit, I have a number of clientes who are just stuck in this area, this would help immensley