Supinated foot

[Fredrik Moe]

Hello ST i have a question regarding a supinated foot and ankle dorsiflexion. I have Been working on my dorsiflexion for the past year, without much improvment. I have played soccer for 15 years. So my calfs are pretty tight aswell. Do you find that supinated feet limit ankle felxibility ? . Any tips ? . All the best Fredrik Moe     

[Kit_L]

Welcome to the Forums!

Can you post a picture of both feet, from toes looking to heels, and from inside, from arch to the outside, so we can see the shape of both feet. 

17 hours ago, Fredrik Moe said:

Do you find that supinated feet limit ankle flexibility ?

Over-supination (if that's what you have) can limit flexibility, but indirectly. A supinated foot is more rigid overall and highly correlated with tight calf muscles, but is not (as far as I know) a cause of this. They are found together more often than not, for sure. In contrast, a pronating foot is the opposite: not enough rigidity (or strength) for the needed function. Once you have posted images, we can comment further.

[Fredrik Moe]

Thank you for responding , much appreciated

[Kit_L]

@Fredrik Moe: From these images, your ankles look very well aligned, to me. I see no signs of supination or pronation. To improve your ankle flexibility, I'd start with the foot softening/awakening sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvAto6yIGLY

And get someone to help you with this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDUVp2nUk7Q (because the knee is bent, knee forwards movement emphasises ankle mobility).

And either of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4utNkAdmaE

or 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1nxYoWA0GI&t=3s

 (watch the whole thing to get the context).

Now, if these don't help, there's always SledgeHammer Stretching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bWCNMSCp8w

 Please let us know how you go!

[Fredrik Moe]

Thank you 🙏

[Fredrik Moe]

Hello again @Kit_L would you mind giving my some feedback on my squat ? posting a video of me performing one .

All the best Fredrik Moe

 

[Kit_L]

@Frederik: this site does not host videos (so no one here can see the video above); please upload this to YouTube, or another hosting site, set it to Private, and edit your post with the new URL? Cheers, Kit

[Fredrik Moe]

I am trying again  @Kit_L

 

[Kit_L]

Your squat looks fine too, Frederick. But notice how far forward you have to lean, from the hips — that is because your knees are not far enough forward of your toes for your proportions, and that's simply because your ankles are not flexible enough at this point. So all the advice I gave you in my first reply is still the best route to pursue, I feel.

As well, noticed that you can adopt a much more upright trunk posture once you're in the bottom position – so try pressing each knee forward in turn, while holding onto something if necessary, and just stay in that bottom squat position for time. It's also much better if you do it in bare feet, because you're not getting the right proprioception feedback through the shoes that you're wearing, even if they are minimalist shoes. Thanks for posting!

[Fredrik Moe]

Thank you for your feedback @Kit_L 🙏

[Pat (pogo69)]

On 10/3/2021 at 6:02 PM, Kit_L said:

noticed that you can adopt a much more upright trunk posture once you're in the bottom position – so try pressing each knee forward in turn, while holding onto something if necessary, and just stay in that bottom squat position for time

I have found this really useful in the past week (finally getting some momentum with mobility practise).

I can generally (some days are better than others) perform a pretty decent squat, with good depth, straight back etc.  But there is often (usually?) some tension, which inevitably results in my being unable to truly relax into the position for (longer periods of) time.

Switching off the ego, and using a prop to hold onto, helps so much to sink into position in good form and relax, while also gently challenging my ankles (and my pesky right shin) to allow greater mobility.

[Kit_L]

On 10/6/2021 at 11:49 AM, Pat (pogo69) said:

Switching off the ego, and using a prop to hold onto, helps so much to sink into position in good form and relax,

@Pat and @Fredrik Moe: this, precisely, was how Liv went from not being able to squat at all while keeping her feet flat on the floor to having a beautiful squat. No one can relax in the bottom position of the squat if they feel they going to fall over backwards! The key to a decent squat is to mobilise the ankles and soleus, and to be able to relax fully in the bottom position. Holding onto something at the most efficient way of achieving both of these things.

[Fredrik Moe]

Hello again @Kit_L  i am wondering if you maybe have some ideas at this matter. My ankles are still pretty thight, i have  noticed that when i try to stretch my soleus(any stretch with bent leg)  i feel a blocking sensation at the front at my ankle, i dont feel anything at my backside. When i stretch my gastroc muscle i get an intense stretch, ive tryed some banded mobilisations withouth much relivef . i have  spent some amount of time in the deep squat whit either holding on to something, ore have something under my heels. But i dont feel any stretch on the back of my legs. I have been been using the rollstick fascia stretch and i am really feeling it in my ankles. perhaps you have some pointers  ?  . All the best Fredrik Moe

[Kit_L]

@Fredrik Moe: Don't forget the opposite movement needs to be worked too, to remove those blocks. Have a look at these, and fast-forward to the exercises where the toe-point is being increased. Once you are loose enough in that movement, the sensation of being blocked at the front of the ankle should improve. All these things take time and energy; if you're not spending real time trying to improve these ranges of movement, they are unlikely to change. It took Olivia about two year's hard work to be able to squat, for example, and that included developing the "SledgeHammer Stretching" approach (this is on YT, too). 

Because I can't see what you are doing with the RollStretch material, I can't comment further on that aspect. If you upload a video to either YT or Vimeo (and you can mark these "private" if you want) showing how you are using the stick, I can comment. 

[Fredrik Moe]

Thank you for responding

[Fredrik Moe]

Hello again @Kit_L i just wanted to share something, that maybe can benefit others aswell. I came across somebody that curled their toes upwards, against a yoga block ore something and then did a soleus stretch. He mentioned that if the toe flexors muscles is to thight, they prevent the talus bone to glide back. So i tried it and the blocking sensation in the front of my ankle disappeared. All the best Fredrik Moe

[Kit_L]

On 3/18/2022 at 9:11 AM, Fredrik Moe said:

He mentioned that if the toe flexors muscles is too tight, they prevent the talus bone to glide back.

I have not heard of this, but it's good advice any case. The saying here is, "whatever works". We can figure out the causal story later! Thanks for posting.