Achilles Pain: How You Can Prevent It

Achilles pain is very common, especially in runners, but what is it actually and what can we do to either prevent it or fix it?

Achilles Tendinopathy

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?

– Pain in the Achilles tendon which runs from the heel until the bottom of the calf

  • Most commonly felt when walking or running but can also feel it when going up stairs

๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ?

  • Is 100% treatable, it is a more nagging injury so our best bet is trying to prevent it from happening in the first place!

๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐€๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ?

Well let us show you!

Today weโ€™re going to go over 3 exercises you can do at home to strengthen youโ€™re achilles so we donโ€™t end up with any annoying injuries

#1 ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ง ๐˜™๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด

  • Start either on the floor or if youโ€™re looking to add more challenge, you can go off a stool or any other elevated object
    • Raise yourself slowly and controlled up off the ground and lower back down

#2 ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ง ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜š๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜จ ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ

  • This is just a progression from the exercise above, youโ€™re going to startย  the exact same way but extending up onto youโ€™re tip toes
  • then transfer to one leg
  • hold for a count and lower while staying on just one leg
    • repeat for the other leg

#3 ๐˜š๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜จ ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ง ๐˜™๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด

  • This is the last progression around building strength around the Achilles
  • Start flat footed or with the ball of your foot on an elevated surface
  • Slowly lift until youโ€™re just on the ball of your foot and your heel is in the air
  • Lower back down, trying to maintain your balance

In terms of rep range and how often the calf and achilles can be trained relatively frequently because its a smaller muscle group so anywhere between 3-5 times a week with a sets and rep range of 3set x1 2-15 repetitions.

Continuing progression is important here and making sure you are continuing to make them more challenging!

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Christina Prevett