08/05/2026
Meet Rob. He’s prepping for the Asian Games in October 2026. 🦵💥
Rob has a rich history of ankle injuries and a torn Achilles. His latest one is a PTFL sprain (the strongest ligament in the ankle) during hill sprints.
The Reality Check: Sprinting puts 12x your body weight through your lower leg. If you’ve never loaded your calves sufficiently, then you’re at risk for an injury. Capacity must meet the demand‼️
The Assessment (The “Why”):
❌ Dead Transverse Anterior Arch: Weak short toe flexors (FDB, FHB, Lumbricals) meant his foot couldn’t absorb load. This arch handles 40% of your foot’s stiffness. Foot stiffness is an imoortant trait unique to allow for human’s bipedalism.
❌ Weak Calves: Meaning a much higher risk of re-tearing that Achilles. Rugby requires a lot of change of direction on the field, which is extremely taxing on the tendons.
❌ Weak Peroneals + Tibialis Posterior: These need to be strong at all lengths to stabilize Rob’s ankles during high-speed side-cutting and deceleration on the rugby field. 🏉
Stage 1: Rebuilding the Foundation 🔧
1️⃣ Foot Fists: Targeting the short flexors that create the transverse anterior arch.
2️⃣ Calf Raises + Toe Flexion: Loading the calf in plantarflexion and the short toe flexors in dorsiflexion.
3️⃣ Ankle Eversions: A must post-sprain to train the peroneals which often stay shortened after ankle injury.
The Result? 2 weeks of this protocol and Rob is already clocking pain-free 5km runs. Ankles are feeling better. Less tone in his calves when walking.
The “Stage 1”Protocol (Save this for your next session! 💾):
* Foot Fists: Do these throughout the day. Flex from the metatarsal heads, not just from the toe tips.
* Calf Raise + Toe Flexion: 3 x 12 reps (controlled).
* Closed chain Ankle Eversions: 3 x 20 reps.
Phase 2 drops soon.
Drop a 🦶 if you’ve ever ignored your foot or ankle injury! 👇
