Thanks for the comments. I’m unsure if your tongue-in-cheek humor is pointing to the fact that many now choose to call the peroneals the fibularis or something else. Please forgive my density.

With respect to your simplicity comment, I am all in favor of maintaining simplicity however it seems to me that providing a 5 pound elastic force perpendicular to the foot and raising up and down one’s heel is a pretty simple exercise with potentially big returns. Recall that about 40% of ankle injuries metastasize into recurring or chronic instability, which not only puts further damage to the ankle on the block but additionally to the knee, lumbo-pelvo-hip complex, and potentially the shoulder.

For me, the investment of 60 seconds during a “rest period” in training to perform some low level exercise is well worth the potential reward. Rising onto the toes is very simple. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not programming this with all athletes. It is simply one tool that that we have in our toolbox and it’s application should not be willynilly.

Best regards,
Carson Boddicker

In my mind, doing the exercise ducktoed may gain some degree of EMG activity, but at what cost?

Reinforcing a foot position that can alter the rigid lever effect? Fighting with our ankle mobility training? Training a joint at end range?

What I particularly liked about the exercises in said study were their ability to maintain a neutral joint position (at mid range) at the subtalar. We know that there are a great deal of joint position sense deficits in athletes with a history of ankle dysfunction, so by keeping it neutral in a “safe” range of motion, we may be contributing to the restoration of JPS and thus preventing further injury.

Best regards,
Carson Boddicker

I’ll get to the gym today and shoot a video for your learning pleasure. Likewise, with respect to shoes, I’ve been a huge proponent of minimalistic footwear for runners since I began in the sport. I’ll write something up in the near future.

Best regards,
Carson Boddicker

I do agree with you that ankle problems abound in sport but don’t however agree with your assessment that we should be incorporating these exercises in between those already in our regime. We have what we have. Let’s keep to the simple principle!

Good training!!

Dmetri

Would there ben any value to performing some type of calf raise with the foot/feet turned slightly outward, since this would result in eversion of the foot during the concentric phase of the movement? Or do you think this would be of limitd value (if any) and or not worth it from a risk-reward standpoint?

Great post! I love the scientific approach to training. I’d love to see a video of the winner if you have a chance to film and post it. I find this helps take things from science to the real world.

Also, since you seem to know a lot about the foot/ankle, I think it would be great to hear your thoughts in a blog about deconstructed shoes (Nike Frees and Vibrams), orthotics, etc. People seem to have a lot of opinions based primarily on what their profession has told them, but I’ve never seen a great review of the science on this stuff.