#TNTEnhanced #Isometric #HeelRaises for #Achilles pain
/If you suffer from pain and stiffness at or just above your heel first thing in the morning, and it slowly warms up as you get going through your day, then the chances are that you have Achilles tendinopathy if you're older than 15yrs of age, or Severs Disease if younger. Either way, the first port of call for settling your pain and stiffness down is performing isometric (or static) heel raises.
The addition of the metronome and audio cues are intended to increase your attention and focus on the movement, which has been shown to decrease the levels of inhibition that your brain experiences when exercising a sore joint. Thus, you need to listen to the video EVERY time that you perform the exercise (sorry)!
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER:
- Listen to the video as you do the exercise
- Don't lift your heel too high off the ground - just a couple of centimetres
- Stay perfectly still while performing the exercise
- It is ideal to take all of your weight through the sore leg, but to begin with this might be too hard. Build up to this as your tolerance improves
- This is not the end point of your Achilles rehab, but gets things started again.
- Aim for 4x90s twice per day (with the 90sec including half time with straight knee, half time with bent)
- This is an excellent exercise to perform ONCE as a warm-up prior to activity, and then the full set of four reps as a warm-down following activity.