Hi and welcome to this week's Stretch-of-the-Week. This week's stretch focus' on the soleus, which is the muscle underlying the gastrocnemius and is more often the reason for calf tightness. This stretch isolates the soleus and improves dorsiflexion in the foot. This muscle inserts into the anchilles tendon, the strongest tendon in the body, and provides stronger plantarflexion of the ankle than the gastrocnemius.

To do this stretch the stretcher should lie on their stomach with one knee flexed to 90 degrees and their foot as far back as possible (toes towards their shin). The partner supports the leg with their hand around the stretchers ankle and the other on the heel of the stretcher with their forearm along the length of the stretchers foot. The partner offers resistance as the stretcher attempts to point their toes. After this stretch the stretcher relaxes and inhales deeply with their foot in the starting position. On the exhale the stretcher should contract the tibialis anterior (trying the push their toes towards their shin).

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.wikipedia.com