3 Achilles Tendinitis Exercise Mistakes
With it being summer, you and other will be heading out to be more active.
It is great to get out there, into the fresh air and doing fun things.
One thing that happens with many people is they end up getting an injury with the increase activity they have in the summer.
One of the common injuries, is Achilles tendinitis.
Achilles tendonitis is an inflammation of tendon that connects the calf to the heel. With a drastic increase in activity, this tendon can get inflamed, painful and sore.
One of the keys to help recover from Achilles tendinitis is to do exercises.
Let me go through a few common Achilles Tendinitis Exercise Mistakes
Achilles Tendinitis Exercise Mistake #1 – Not Doing Massage
A big thing that happens with Achilles tendinitis is the calf muscle tightness up.
This ends up putting more stress and pull on the Achilles tendon. It is important to massage the calf.
This can be done by a therapist, yourself or someone else.
I find it is easy to do my self.
Just simply massaging the calf muscle a few times to help it relax.
Achilles Tendinitis Exercise Mistake #2 – Too Strong of a Stretch
One of the first things that you should do after you get Achilles tendonitis is to do some stretching.
The specific muscles you should be stretching are the soleus and gastrocs.
This is a video that shows you how to stretch the gastrocs.
An important thing to remember is to stretch lightly.
The focus should be on stretching the calf. The stretch should be light in order to not make your Achilles tendinitis injury worse.
Achilles Tendonitis Exercise Mistake #3 – Not Doing Any Strengthening
If you do get Achilles tendonitis, it is important to do some strengthening of the calf muscle.
The reason why is the calf muscle ends up have a decrease in strength if you get Achilles tendonitis so you need to build the strength back up.
Plus, the Achilles tendon needs a light force through it in order for the tendon to heel better.
Summing it All Up
So make sure to head out there and enjoy the summer but if you do get Achilles tendonitis. Remember the three tips I gave you about exercises for it.
It is really simple – massage, light stretch and light strengthening.
That is it.
If you would like to see the exercise program that I give my clients that are recovering from Achilles tendonitis, you can check it out here.
Rick Kaselj, MS
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