YOU WANT YOUR ANKLES TO BE STIFF!
Unpacking ankle stiffness – the key to Athletic Performance
Huh?
You might have read that and thought it was a typo…
But no. You read that right!
Physiotherapists want ankle stiffness.You want ankle stiffness.
When we refer to ankle stiffness, we are not talking about a swollen ankle, three weeks after an ankle sprain. These ankles are restricted and have no movement in dorsiflexion or plantarflexion.
When we refer to ankle stiffness we are talking about performance. Ankle stiffness to run faster, jump higher; ankle stiffness is vital.
But how does this work?
The Anatomy Behind Stiffness
Every skeletal muscle in the human body has tendons to transfer the force a muscle generates. Each muscle has a different make up of muscle fibres, some are more suited for muscle endurance whilst others are suited for strength and power. Furthermore, each tendon attached to the muscle has a different size and shape and this effects how much rapid force it is required to transfer.
However, when we think about the ankle, we have powerful musculature and a significant tendon. The Achilles Tendon which originates from the Calf muscles of the Gastrocnemius and Soleus and attaches to the heel at the Calcaneus. This tendon is designed to absorb and transmit significant load rapidly and is vital for the push off in running, sprinting, and jumping.
Now, flexibility is not bad. We need our muscles to be flexible and having a good range of motion throughout the ankle joint is still positive.
Then why do we still want ankle stiffness?
Think about it this way! You have two different footballs. One football is worn, soft and old. The other is hard, brand new. It has greater stiffness than the old one. It is bouncier.
If we think about our ankles like this, we want our calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) to be strong and robust and we want our tendons to be stiff and bouncy. We don’t want an old and soft football, rather a new one.
We call this use of bounciness and stiffness elastic energy in the body. We want our tendons to possess this elasticity to be powerful and efficient transmitters of force. This process is called the stretch shortening cycle (SSC).
Putting stiffness into Action
The best users of the SSC have the best ability to jump higher and run faster in the sports that they love.
Research indicates, a positive relationship between stiffness variables and measures of sporting performance. There is evidence demonstrating relationships between changes in stiffness and changes in sprint velocity in a group of sprinters. (Nagahara, R. and K. Zushi, Development of maximal speed sprinting performance with changes in vertical, leg and joint stiffness. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2017)
So, you need to train this!
If we train our stretch shortening cycle of the Achilles Tendon we can, DECREASE our ground contact time, INCREASE our Ground Reaction Force, and subsequently INCREASE our rate of force development.
Whilst ultimately, creating ANKLE STIFFNESS!
How to Train for Ankle Stiffness?
How do I train to improve my SSC?
Introducing or increasing plyometric load into your exercise program!
Pogos! These are a great introductory plyometric exercise to load and develop your Achilles Tendon SSC and ankle stiffness. Head on over to our instagram page for some ankle stiffness examples (https://www.instagram.com/cah_physiotherapy/)
Want to see how your stiffness stacks up?
Call ☎️ 9873 2770 or book online with one of our Physiotherapists today ???? https://bookings.nookal.com/bookings/location/39XKS