Do you have weak ankles?
Do your ankles give out or roll often?
Have you sprained one or both of your ankles multiple times?
Do your calves, shin muscles, and arches often feel tight or sore?
If so, you have likely been told that you have ankle weakness and then given a handful of exercises to do, such as writing the alphabet with your foot, balancing on one leg, ant tib raises, and calf raises.
Here’s the thing…none of those things are actually going to help your ankles get stronger.
At least not in the ways you want them to.
All growing up I was told I had weak ankles. I would sprain at least one of my ankles every basketball season from fifth grade through my senior season of college basketball. I would ice, brace, do all of the above exercises, and then get back out on the court. Only to have it happen again. And again.
In fact, I would sprain my ankles so often that it just became customary for me to tie my shoes tighter after it happened and start playing right away.
And yet, despite all of the strengthening and mobility work I would do for my ankles, they remained weak and stiff.
That is, until I completely changed my approach to strengthening my ankles.
See, I thought getting stronger ankles was all about doing ankle exercises–the calf raises, the band work, the ant tib raises, etc. But, in many ways, this was just making my issues worse.
Sure, my strength would go up in that I could lift more weight or do more reps, but my strength wasn’t actually the issue in the first place.
My issue was I had muscle inhibition in my feet and ankles, and once I started getting my inhibited muscles functioning better, that is when my feet and ankles actually became strong.
But not just strong from a weights perspective, but strong from an injury-resiliency perspective, too. Because even if I found myself twisting my ankle like I often had growing up, it no longer had any effect on me.
My strength, mobility, and function continued to remain high through tweaks that would have sent me limping just years earlier. And it continues to be that way to this day.
So how can you know if you have muscle inhibition going on in your feet and ankles and, if so, what can you do about it?
The thing that has worked the best for me and my clients over the last 14 years is Muscle Activation Techniques®, also known as MAT®.
Muscle Activation Techniques® is a specific process designed to assess for muscle inhibition throughout your body and then address the inhibited muscles directly, resulting in increased strength, mobility, and resilience to injury.
It is a hands-on process done with a trained practitioner on a massage table who will evaluate where you have asymmetrical joint motion throughout your body and where you have muscles that aren’t contracting as well as they should.
By identifying which muscles are inhibited and then improving their strength and function, the MAT® process helps to reduce the feelings of pain and tightness while creating more awareness and control of the different areas of your body.
For the feet specifically, many people are often very disconnected from how their feet should be moving and functioning. Stiff and supportive shoes, carpeted floors, and inserts and orthotics have all led to a collective weakening of people’s feet.
Unfortunately, trying to do traditional exercises for the feet often does very little to address the underlying issue of muscle inhibition because it forces the body to compensate more and more around the inhibited muscles in order to do the exercises.
What people are left with is feet that are trying to get stronger but keep getting weaker and worse as their compensations get more deeply ingrained.
Instead, MAT® looks to address the inhibited muscles directly, making the viable options for your body to use again while exercising and giving them the opportunity to get stronger in the traditional sense.
At Muscle Activation Schaumburg, we have over 25 years of collective experience practicing Muscle Activation Techniques® in Schaumburg and throughout the Chicagoland area. We have had the distinct pleasure of helping people from all walks of life and ability levels address their muscle inhibition to help a wide variety of pain and symptoms go away, especially in the feet and ankles.
We have been trained in the highest levels of MAT®–including MATRx, MATRx Stim, and MAT® Athlete–and are the most highly-trained practitioners in the Chicagoland area.
If you are interested in getting your muscles assessed with Muscle Activation Techniques® to see where you may have some inhibited muscles that are creating issues, Julie and I would love to see you on our MAT® table. Just click here to get started with your initial MAT® consultation and assessment.
We can’t wait to see you soon!
Charlie
Charlie Cates is the leading consultant to high-level professional, college, and high school basketball players in the Chicagoland area for injury prevention, recovery, and muscle performance.
As one of Chicago’s most sought-after Muscle Activation Techniques® practitioners, he is certified in the highest levels of MAT®, including MATRx, MATRx Stim, and MAT® Athlete.
A former college basketball player, he uses his personal experience and understanding of the game and player demands to create customized exercise options for his clients to recover faster and perform their best.
He sees clients in-studio at Muscle Activation Schaumburg as well as in-home.You can schedule your MAT® assessment with him by clicking here, and be sure to follow him on Instagram at @CharlieCates!