But is this enough? Is it really going to solve the main issue behind your Achilles pain?

Nothing Works in Isolation

Remember, when it comes to our body, nothing works in isolation. There is a reason you are experiencing pain in your Achilles, and that reason can be different for each person. It could be a poor movement pattern, poor strength of the calves or foot muscles, improper footwear, or even a weakness in your glutes.

“Your glutes actually eccentrically control pronation of your feet, and if they aren’t strong enough, this can lead to increased pressure on your Achilles.”

I know many of you are questioning that last statement – a weakness in your glutes can cause Achilles pain? It may sound crazy, but like I said, everything works together and nothing works in isolation.

Your glutes actually eccentrically control pronation of your feet, and if they aren’t strong enough, this can lead to increased pressure on your Achilles. Even more, if you are lacking hip extension power from your glutes, many people will turn to using their calves.

Think about it: have you ever seen someone constantly coming up on his or her toes during a kettlebell swing? Doing this the odd time isn’t too much of an issue, but do this over and over and your poor calves and Achilles will certainly take the brunt of this movement and become sore and overworked.

Solutions

If you’re suffering from Achilles pain, the best thing to do is get assessed by a professional who can tell you exactly why you’re having the pain and who can steer you in the right direction when it comes to exercises and symptom management. You can also try including these exercises in your training to help combat current or future occurrences of Achilles pain.

Note: If any of these exercises hurt or cause pain (other than the normal pain of foam rolling), do not do them! Pain is not okay during exercises and will actually cause a change in motor programming that could lead to future injury.

With that said, check out these unconventional, or less heard of, exercises to help you combat that pain in the Achilles.

Self-Myofascial Release of Calves and Feet

You can use a foam roller or lacrosse ball for this, and simply work on rolling out your calves, similar to any other foam rolling you do. One of my favorite things to do when people find a sore spot is to have them keep the roller or lacrosse ball on that point, and then make circles with their ankles. Try it, and you will see why I love it so much.

Dynamic Calf Stretch

This is a simple stretch that gets you using and stretching your entire posterior chain. Simply get into a downward dog position and hook one foot on the opposite leg. Then, drop your knee to the ground, and back, really trying to get your heel to touch the ground. You should feel a pretty big stretch in the calves with this. Repeat eight to ten times per leg.

The Modified Clamshell

An easy and effective glute activation exercise that can help you feel the burn in your butt. Simply lay on your side, with your top leg bent up so that your hip is at ninety degrees, with that top foot hooked behind the knee of the bottom leg. Then, keeping your hips forward and keeping your foot hooked, lift your knee up and hold for two to three seconds, then slowly lower. Do this until you can feel your glute activating, and then do ten more.

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• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 3 Not-So-Obvious Exercises to Combat Achilles Pain appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

For centuries, the heel of the foot has symbolized vulnerability. That’s largely because it houses the Achilles tendon, which connects the calf muscle to the heel bone.

The tendon’s namesake, Achilles, was said to have been dipped in the River Styx by his overprotective mother, Thetis, in order to make him invulnerable. She had to hold him by the feet, and the waters didn’t quite make it to the back of his heels, leaving one unfortunate soft spot.

“Thetis dipping the infant Achilles into the river Styx,” by Peter Paul Rubens

But Achilles isn’t the only one with heels susceptible to injury. Over eighty percent of Achilles tendon ruptures occur during recreational sports, affecting high-level athletes and weekend warriors alike. Here are a few lessons to help you prevent and work through these common problems.

Who Is At Risk?

In his article, The 5 Common (and Most Preventable) Running Injuries, coach Jeff Ford explained the role of the Achilles tendon in running and other activities. “Your Achilles tendons are like shocks on your car. They’re the first to absorb the impact before the rest of your body takes the load,” wrote Jeff. This is why athletes whose sports require repeated high-stress actions like jumping are more susceptible to Achilles injuries.

Young athletes should also be wary of Achilles problems. Coach Jeanne Goodes explained a common condition called Sever’s disease in her article, Sever’s Disease: The Pain of Adolescent Growth Spurts.

There are several theories surrounding the cause of Sever’s disease. These range from a tight Achilles tendon, to micro stress fractures of the heel, to biomechanical mal-alignment, to trauma, to flat feet, and even to obesity. But the prevailing theory suggests the onset of Sever’s disease occurs when the child’s growth plate is at its weakest, while a tightened Achilles tendon pulls repeatedly on the growth plate, such as during adolescent growth spurts.

If you are a parent or coach, be on guard for signs of Sever’s disease, particularly during adolescence. These include pain in the heel that increases with movement, stiff or inflexible heels, and limping after activity.

“Your Achilles tendons are like shocks on your car. They’re the first to absorb the impact before the rest of your body takes the load.”

You might have heard men are at a higher risk for Achilles problems than women. Coach Doug Dupont analyzed a study that examined the biomechanics of the ankle and Achilles tendon in his article, Men More Prone to Achilles Injuries Than Women – But Why? The research team investigated Achilles tendon activity during rest, light exercise, and intense exercise in men and women. They found the following results:

Statistically speaking, the force output between men and women was no different, which may come as a surprise. However, after exercise, the Achilles tendon of the women became more compliant, meaning it accepted changing states better. In doing so, it also stored more elastic energy, thus increasing the contribution of force after an eccentric action. The women’s tendons were also more flexible, and possessed less stiffness and rigidity.

Based on these findings, Dupont recommended keeping the area around the Achilles tendon flexible, strengthening the lower legs, and focusing on proper form during activities like running and jumping. While these recomendations certainly won’t hurt women, they are particularly critical for male athletes.

What If I’m Already Injured?

For those who have already learned about their Achilles tendon the hard way, we have a few stories you will relate to. The first comes from coach Brandon Hofer, who ruptured his Achilles tendon during what was supposed to be a fun and casual football game. Brandon shared a couple videos of exercises he used to stay active during his recovery.

Click here to read all of Brandon’s journals and learn more about his recovery journey after a full Achilles tendon rupture.

Diet Can Help Speed the Process

Our next story comes from coach Mike Tromello, who shared about his recovery after a full Achilles tendon rupture. Mike stressed the importance of diet and smart supplementation for a quick recovery. Here’s what his daily regimen looked like:

To relieve inflammation:

• Whole30 Diet Plan: grass-fed meat, wild caught fish, and pastured eggs as much as possible.
• InflammaCore or UltraInflamX: two scoops, one to two times daily
• Traumeric: two capsules daily
• Orthomega 820 Fish Oil: two capsules daily

To clean up cellular debris:

• Wobenzym or Vascuzyme – three capsules, three times a day on an empty stomach

To promote healing:

• Protein: 1.5 grams per kg of body weight
• Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate: four tablespoons daily, mixed with fluid
• Buffered vitamin C: 2,000mg twice a day, as tolerated
• Mom’s chicken soup or other source of bone broth

The happiest moment of Mike’s recovery – playing with his kids again.

After about seven months, Mike was able to compete in CrossFit again. To read more about the specifics of his recovery, including a detailed week-by-week outline of his rehab procedure, read his article, Positivity and Persistence: My Story of Recovery From Injury.

The Power of Positivity

Beyond diet and rehab exercises, Mike stressed the importance of positive thinking as an impetus for healing. As he shared, “What I feel was most influential in my recovery is that I remained positive. I saw my situation as a blessing rather than a curse. A means to slow me down and enjoy what life had to offer besides training.”

Maintaining that positive perspective might be the hardest aspect of any recovery. If you’re dealing with an Achilles injury, what are some ways you’ve found to stay positive? Share in the comments below.

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• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 by Peter Paul Rubens [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post The Curse of Achilles: How to Prevent and Heal Achilles Tendon Injuries appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The Achilles tendon can withstand dramatic forces. For example, the researchers noted that running places 9,000N (Newtons) of force on the Achilles tendon. To give you some idea of what that means, consider that the maximum force on a single Achilles tendon can exceed twelve times as much as you weigh. Compare that to the ACL, which on average cannot exceed 2,000N before snapping.

An Achilles rupture is typically preceded by Achilles tendinopathy. Tendinopathy is a more accurate term for what we otherwise already know as garden variety Achilles tendinitis. Achilles tendinopathy covers more ground and possible types of injury. Because men are more likely to have ruptures, they are probably also more susceptible to Achilles tendinopathy.

To find out why men are more prone to this condition, the researchers examined the biomechanical behaviors of the ankle and Achilles tendon in three conditions:

• At rest
• After light exercise
• After rigorous exercise

The study produced some interesting results. Statistically speaking, the force output between men and women was no different, which may come as a surprise. However, after exercise, the Achilles tendon of the women became more compliant, meaning it accepted changing states better. In doing so, it also stored more elastic energy, thus increasing the contribution of force after an eccentric action. The women’s tendons were also more flexible, and possessed less stiffness and rigidity.

The researchers provided recommendations for preventing and treating Achilles tendinopathy. Oddly enough, the recommended treatment for Achilles tendinopathy is eccentric exercise. This might strike you as odd, since eccentric exercise is known to be particularly potent at stimulating muscle soreness and damage, but it seems to be the best way to treat tendinopathy nevertheless.

As far as preventing tendon rupture, the researchers didn’t have much to recommend based on this study. While they noted that avoiding the degenerative effects of Achilles tendinopathy is the best way to stay away from ruptures, they didn’t expound on how to do that. Unfortunately, they noted that Achilles tendinopathy often presents no symptoms and thus may not be detected until the damage is done.

The Achilles tendon is slow to heal in general, but the regular old tricks like ice work on it if you’re patient. To prevent tendinopathy to begin with, men can take notes from the ladies’ playbook and keep the surrounding musculature flexible. Strengthening the calf muscles and staying well balanced and mobile in the lower and even upper leg is very important as well. Lastly, work on proper form in exercises that heavily use the ankle, especially running and jumping.

References:

1. Michael Joseph, et. al., “Achilles tendon biomechanics in response to acute intense exercise,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000361

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Men More Prone to Achilles Injuries Than Women – But Why? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.