Sunday, August 16, 2009

Good Achilles tendon stretch: why is the Achilles important for jumping

In my last post, I wrote about how a persistent ankle problem is preventing me from making better gains with the VJB by limiting the amount of squat and deadlift work I can do. Long story short, poor ankle mobility has ALSO meant my leg compensates in weird ways when I play ball, and I have a noticably shorter Achilles tendon on the right leg than on the left. According to the VJB, this is going to be a problem for my vertical leap.



WHY IS THE ACHILLES IMPORTANT IN JUMPING: Kelly writes in the Vertical Jump Bible "Many athletes who can jump high and/or run fast have physical characteristics such as long lower legs, high calves and long Achilles tendons. The length of the Achilles tendon gives them a leverage advantage and enhances plyometric ability because it acts like a long rubber band. If you take 2 rubber bands of equal strength, the longer one will fly further".



Now, I don't pretend to be a sports physiology expert, but the point of stretching muscles is to make them longer and more flexible, so stretching the Achilles must be a good thing for jumping, right? I did some research online and found this to be the deepest, most effective Achilles stretch.



THE STRETCH:
1 - Stand facing a wall. Dig your heel into the floor right near the wall, with the ball of your foot resting on the wall itself so that your foot forming a 30-45 degree angle with the wall (see picture).


2 - Slowly, keeping your leg slightly bent, push your knee toward the wall without moving your heel or the ball of your foot at all. Your shin should get closer to becoming paralell to the wall. You'll feel the pull down the back of your lower leg - resist the urge to push hard. This should be a gentle stretch.



This is the best Achille stretch I've found - most of the other stretches I've been shown don't go deep enough or tend to work the calf more than the achilles. In alot of ways, it's very similar to the traditional calf stretch where you push against the wall, but I wouldn't recommend this stretch for beginners - the Achilles is a very painful tendon to damage and it is extremely tough to come back from an Achille injury, so make sure you know your stretching limits before doing this.

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