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Range of motion in ankle problem

  • 06-08-2007 2:51pm
    #1
    Imposter
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,666 ✭✭✭


    I have a problem since birth that I have both a limited range of motion in my right ankle and weaker muscles all down my right side (arms and legs are quite noticeable). When I was younger I was very active and played a lot of sports and I adapted to any problems that these problems led to.

    After doing nowhere near enough sport for a few years I've now started back in earnest and am getting to a stage where I'm following most of the usual advice on here. The muscles in my upper body, arms in particular are improving and the difference is nowhere near as noticeable as it was. I guess if I continue with what I'm doing this will continue to improve.

    However my leg development is not quite going as planned. I do a lot of skiing in the winter and this definitely helps the leg muscle development as I simply have to use the muscles in both legs while skiing. I've also tried fair weather exercises but roller blading doesn't work as I don't seem to have the stability necessary to skate on my right foot. With cycling I generally did most of the work with the left leg which is largely down to laziness as I just didn't bother concentrating enough on the right leg. I've started running in the last while but that's still in the very early stages so i'll reserve judgement on how that#s gonig for now :p

    I've also been using weights. I had a gym membership but i've stopped that now as I wasn't using it enough and I just wasn't comfortable exercising there. I've also started using a set of dumbbells i've had for ages in my flat and i've just bought a barbell. I've been looking at doing leg exercises with these and i'm finding that when I try squats or deadlifts that I cannot keep my heel on the ground with my right foot during the lower part of these exercises. I'm still doing pretty high reps (usually 12-10-8 sets) so the weight is not too heavy at the moment.

    So after all that I basically have 2 questions:
    - Are there exercises or something else I can do to improve the range of motion in my ankle?
    - Is this lifting of the heel very bad form during squats and deadlifts and should I avoid heavier weights until I can somehow keep the heel on the ground?

    I guess we're talking about 2 inches off the ground here so it's not a case of just off it.

    - Any other advice would be good too especially if there's some form of cardio exercise that i've missed that might help with the muscle development.


Comments

  • #2
    amazingemmet
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,057 ✭✭✭amazingemmet


    By the sound of it if you've got one side out of whack, to use the technical term, with the other the general trend will be to have one side thats strong but not as flexible then the other. The only way to confirm this is to go to a phsyio and have a full body joint rom test done.

    You can try work your flexiblity on the tighter side more to even things out. But i reccommend going to the phsyio to get checked out.


  • #3
    ali.c
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,022 ✭✭✭ali.c


    Imposter wrote:
    So after all that I basically have 2 questions:
    - Are there exercises or something else I can do to improve the range of motion in my ankle?
    i'd imagine that there are, your best bet however would be to get advice from a qualified physio-therapist on this one
    Imposter wrote:
    - Is this lifting of the heel very bad form during squats and deadlifts and should I avoid heavier weights until I can somehow keep the heel on the ground?
    I guess we're talking about 2 inches off the ground here so it's not a case of just off it.
    yeah its bad form alright, when deadlifting and squating AFAIK or can work out the power starts with the counter motion of driving the heels into the floor. Presumably this also improves the stability of the lift. Honest to god my squat form is terrible as i lack the flexibilty in my calves to go below parallell. At the moment i use 1.25kg plates under my heels whilst doing some work on flexibility. Plus the squat is a dynamic stretch so it should be helping that too.
    I dont know how helpful it is but when i am deadlifting, i make sure i am looking up at the ceiling and that i focus on driving my heels into the floor. this two things really help me maintain good form.

    However i still feel that giving your condition, your best bet is to invest the 50/60 euro and go and see a physio for advice.
    Imposter wrote:
    - Any other advice would be good too especially if there's some form of cardio exercise that i've missed that might help with the muscle development.
    hmm split squats and lunges spring to mind, as this would allow you to work each leg separetly. There are more knownledge people around here who may have more ideas


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