Hi and welcome to this week's stretch-of-the-week, this week's stretch is used to increase the eversion of the ankle and can assist in the doriflexion and plantarflexion of the foot. The two muscles which are the primary invertots for the foot are the tibialis anterior and the tibialis anterior. The tibialis anterior was discussed in previous stretch of the week post #53 but the tibialis posterior is slightly deeper in the calf and assists specifically in plantarflexion of the foot.

To do this stretch, the stretcher lies supine and everts thier right ankle (the sole of their foot away from the midline) elongating the posterior tibialis to its end of range. The partner hold the lower leg with their right hand against the big toe to stabilize it. The stretcher beings to slowly attempt to turn their sole of their foot inwards against the partners hand, contracting the tibialis posterior. The stretcher then relaxes and inhales deeply. Apon the exhale the stretcher contracts the peroneals (discussed in stretch-of-the-week #55 ) to deepen the tibialis posterior stretch.

Always remember that while stretching may be recommended to aid recovery out of injury, you should always be very careful when stretching through rehabilitation.  Your soft tissues are likely to be more vulnerable to re-injury if you stretch too much or too hard during this time.  Always check with your Health Care Professional who is guiding you through your recovery to make sure it is appropriate to start stretching, and please - ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RULES FOR SAFE STRETCHING (blog #50).

Information obtained from McAtee, R. & Charland, J. (1993) Facilitated Stretching
Images from www.getbodysmart.com