I was surprise, not only by how well it worked, but by how quickly the eccentric training (lowering into dorsiflexion) worked! I ran pain-free for the first time in a long time.
Make sure you use a weighted backpack moving forward when doing the calf drops. If you on,he use your body weight, you will not get close to maximizing the value of the exercise.
Start with 5 lbs and slowly work your way up. I think I capped out around 40lbs.
Make sure you use a weighted backpack moving forward when doing the calf drops. If you on,he use your body weight, you will not get close to maximizing the value of the exercise.
Start with 5 lbs and slowly work your way up. I think I capped out around 40lbs.
My body comes pre-configured with a 30lb loaded backpack already.
Short hx: I was diagnosed in HS as a teenage soccer player. Tighter than a drum, couldn’t play or practice without heavy treatment. Spent far too log in the trainer’s room before and after practice (tape and ice). After school, went into a prolonged inactive period (I lifted a lot) primarily because I didn’t want to deal with the pain and treatment required. Plus, ever run in orthodics? Similar to your point, ice and stretching did nothing for me. As I got back into running, I moved into minimal drop shoes. As the tendon/muscle elongated, I ran pain free. First time in about 15+ years. Haven’t had any trouble for about 5-6 years now. Correlation is not causation, but I’m happy.
As someone with dropfoot who cant elongate their achilles, this is a requirement of my training…Stretching, warming up, and weighted calf-raises have elimianted my achilles issues. Before doing these preventative measures before running I would get a lot of pain.
Now im working on similar techniques for related plantar fascitis.
