After straining my ankle…again, it became clear that ankle health is a key component to my active lifestyle. I confined myself to the house for the day with my foot up on ice and decided to share all I could to help other traceurs avoid injury. I’m just beginning further education toward a medical career so this is all pretty exciting stuff for me. I’ll try to simplify and recap without being too dry and boring. Truly, I believe the more you understand about what is going on under your skin, the more you can learn to control it.
Some Key Muscles
There are a lot of muscles in the leg. Two of my favorites are the flexor hallucis longus and the extensor hallucis longus because they make me think of Beatrix Kiddo in the movie “Kill Bill” when she says, “wiggle your big toe,” after she’s dragged herself to the pussy wagon, but hopefully your big toes are working fine. In the lower leg, below the knee there are twelve muscles on most people, that’s a lot, and realistically I want to break it down to basics. There are two large muscles that run down the back of your leg, your gastrocnemius (simply gastroc) and the soleus (shaped like a big flat fish), that are the bulk of the calf muscle and the pulley in the second class lever, a really cool bodily system used all the time in parkour. We’ve also got the tibialis anterior that runs down and over your shin to the inside of your ankle. And lastly there’s the peronius longus that runs down the outside of your leg in line with the crease in your pants and to the outside of your ankle. There are a lot of ligaments holding your foot together. If you sprain your ankle it is the ligaments you’ve torn (while a strain is torn muscle). But ligaments just hold our bones together and hang out. We don’t contract them the way we do muscles. So in terms of components that you have the power to strengthen, these four muscles, gastroc, soleus, tibialis ant. and peronius l. are your keys to ankle support.
The Magnificent 2nd Class Lever
Technically, the ankle is a hinge joint with only two movement options. It opens and closes, flexing and extending the ankle. All that twisty other motion you do when you rotate your ankle is articulation between bones further down in the foot. This hinge joint is most stable when the foot is fully flexed because of how the tibia and fibula articulate with the talus (them dry bones version: how the shin bones articulate with the ankle bone). The shin bones firmly grasp and sit on top of the talus in a flexed position. But when the foot is pointed the shin bones are rocked back onto the narrowest end of the ankle bone. A lot of other animals like cats and dogs, are built to move around on tiptoe all the time. It has the advantage of giving them extra height to see and smell further, and the ability to take longer steps. But we humans are built for a firm flat footed stance. Running and jumping on tiptoe is possible for us but a secondary option. Moving on tiptoe is primarily powered by the calf muscles, gastroc and soleus. In the second class lever you have the “load” (your body) between the “force” (your calf muscles) and the “fulcrum” (your tiptoes) as you bound along through your urban landscape. The calf muscles are used for both the push off and the landing of all your steps on tiptoe. So the calf needs to be both strong and flexible.
The Anatomical Stirrup Holds it Together
While the second class lever is the power in your jump and the stabilizing force in your landing the anatomical stirrup extends more stability down into the jumble of bones that is your foot. Just what it sounds like the anatomical stirrup, tibialis anterior and peronius longus, pull up on the bottom of your foot like you’re standing in stirrups. They work with the architecture of the bones in your foot which is a series of arches. As you look at your foot you might notice the larger arch on the inside of your foot, were there is no callus between the heel and base of the big toe. This is your medial arch. There is also a lateral arch on the sole between your heel and your little toe. These arches, like any arch you see on a building or bridge, carries the weight of your body to the ground. Whether standing or in motion, all your weight travels to the ground through these arches. The anatomical stirrup muscles cross the ankle joint and pass through these arches to attach to the bottom of your foot. The tibialis ant. runs from the front of your shin to the inside ankle and through the medial arch, attaching to the medial cuneiform and the base of the first metatarsal (two of the bones just under you big toe). When engaged, this muscle exerts a force to pull the bottoms of your feet in toward each other. The peronius l. runs along the outside of the leg from the top of the smaller shin bone, the fibula, along the outside of your ankle, and through the lateral arch of your foot. It attaches to the same bones at the base of the big toe. The peronius l. exerts an opposite force to the tibialis anterior, rolling your feet outward. So these two muscles together should be trained to pull evenly on your feet to prevent rolling your ankles and straining your knees.
Exercises to increase flexibility and strength
After dropping a heap of knowledge on you, here are some ways to transfer this new awareness into a self care routine. By the book, you would want to do these exercises lying down on your back and barefoot, but you can also do some variations of these anywhere at any time. While standing or sitting. In addition to any warm up routine you already do. I do these while doing wrist and shoulder rolls because it fits in nicely and adds a little balancing into the mix. Whatever works for you is totally fine. If you do these on your back, tuck one knee to your chest.
Begin by rotating your ankle slowly and fully in as wide a circle as you can. As you take deep slow breaths you should complete half the circle with an inhale and the other half with an exhale. Do as many reps as you like, at least 3 on each ankle. This exercise alternately stretches and activates all the muscles that mobilize the ankle joint and foot. As you work through the rotation you can feel and get to know these muscles better.
Next flex your foot and as if you’re pushing through play-dough. You want to articulate each joint in your foot and toes until the foot is pointed and the top of you foot is in line with your shin. Just as slowly bring it back to fully flexed. Again both feet 3 times or more. This one is mostly a second class lever exercise.
The last one is much better done in bare feet. It is to strengthen the medial and lateral arches. Begin with the foot flexed again and pretend to grip a pencil in your toes, between the toes and the ball of your foot. Then flex the foot fully again pulling your toes far up toward your knee. Do this 3 times or more.
Caring for the Injured
When you do hurt your ankles there are a few things you can do. Keep in mind that if you hurt yourself and keep going there will be more tissue damage, which translates to more pain and a longer healing process. The Rest Ice Compression Elevation formula (R.I.C.E.) is the tried and true formula for any sprain or strain. Apply ice for 10-20 minutes at a time and wrap it so it has some extra support. I find the most difficult task is the rest. But if you can take a day off and play video games, or board games, or read that novel you never have time for, I highly recommend it because it will get you recovered faster and decrease your likelihood of re-injury. Elevation can mean throwing your foot up on the coffee table and even putting an extra pillow under your ankle to elevate it when you sleep at night. Because ankle injuries often involve ligaments they can take a long time to heal. As you return to normal activity level I recommend you keep an ankle brace or wrap handy in case it begins to feel sore or tender so you can give it a little extra support and avoid reinjury.
Injuries can be caused by improper training, misalignment, or unfamiliar terrain. If you’re used to training on a certain surface and you go somewhere new you may want to take it slow at first to accustom yourself to a different level of give in the ground, or a larger gap or a different slope. Most people have a dominant leg and some people have different leg lengths or pelvic or spinal bone misalignments. Sometimes a chiropractor might be able to help with this problem. Sometimes it’s just something to be aware of and work with. Make sure you train your body evenly on both sides as much as possible. Part of training hard is proper rest. Stretch, drink plenty of water, eat well, and get enough sleep. Take time to rest and heal so you will be strong and fully present on the days you train.
Resources:
These are my sources, just the top of the iceburg of information.
“The Anatomy Coloring Book” by Wynn Kapit and Lawrence M Elson. 2nd edition, “Trail Guid to the Body” by Andrew Biel. 3rd edition, “The Balanced Body” by Donald W. Scheumann. 3rd edition, “Clinically Oriented Anatomy” by Keith L Moore and Arthur F Dalley. 5th edition, and “The Human Body Book” by Steve Parker.
