It has taken a while to figure out why my sprint mechanics are, lets say... not the best. But after all the work I have done on strengthening supposed weak areas and imbalances it all comes down to one thing.

Dorsiflexion!

Basically my gastrocs are tight and my tibialis anterior is weak so this leads to my foot plantar flexioning when it makes ground contact.

This means that my triple extension at the hips is limited as my posterior chain has been turned off almost due to the foot landing (which also acts as a breaking force).
It is really amazing to see how such a small thing can make such a huge difference!

Does anybody know any good techniques for releasing the gastroc and strengthening the tibialis anterior.

Cheers

Only the normal old calf stretches -

One foot in front the other and lean forward so the back leg is straight and the calf gets stretched - normally done by leaning forward against a wall. With a bent leg you still get a stretch just different bits of the calf so do both.

Stand on a step with the ball of your foot on the edge and let your heel drop so you stretch it - Do with straight & bent leg to get different stretches.

The squat stretch - go into a squat and put a weight on your knees keep heels on floor so the calf gets stretched - Just resting the bar works well - More of an achilles stretch tbh but getting the achilles stretched is a good thing to help release the calfs too.

Put right foot in front of left - keep right leg straight. Bend left knee and lean forward - Normally a hamstring stretch but if you lift your right toe up you get a calf stretch too.

Shins are hard to stretch but the old quad stretch - lift leg behind you and pull heel to ass can be used to stretch the shin.

To strengthen shin - Sit on a bench put a DB on foot and lift it by flexing ankles - This kills your shins - can be hard to balance the DB without it falling off but it works - Otherwise you have to buy yourself some special boots (which do exist) to do the same thing.

Shouldn't you also be thinking of sprint drills to improve form in this particular area? Not sure what but presumably short sprints running on toes type of thing - sort of gazelle like?

Self-myofascial release with an appropriate implement on the calf area.

Where minimalist shoes/trainers; very thin flat soles. And a wide footbed: http://www.terraplana.com/mens-vivobarefoot-c-153_157.html?viewall=true

Don't do BBing calf strengthening exercises either. Skipping is fine though.

health4ni wrote:Self-myofascial release with an appropriate implement on the calf area.

Where minimalist shoes/trainers; very thin flat soles. And a wide footbed: http://www.terraplana.com/mens-vivobarefoot-c-153_157.html?viewall=true

Don't do BBing calf strengthening exercises either. Skipping is fine though.

I did wonder whether he should buy himself some of those sprint shoes that pretty much force you to run on your toes - trouble is I think they're expensive, wear out fast and will be spiked so only suitable for proper tracks.

Shouldn't you also be thinking of sprint drills to improve form in this particular area? Not sure what but presumably short sprints running on toes type of thing - sort of gazelle like?

Yes I do these but I am not able to do them properly due to the tightness. But now I have got all these new stretches that will change! I am hoping to see a big change from this.

Where minimalist shoes/trainers; very thin flat soles

I have been a wearer of Nike Frees for some time now and I love them!

The myofacial release is a good one, I did some work on my foam roller last night and my range today has increased hugely!

I went to see the phys before and she agreed they were tight and she did some work on them. She said all the area went red suggesting there was a lot of blockage there. Which is positive as I know for sure it can be remedied with the usual things

Coop_de_Ville wrote:[ She said all the area went red suggesting there was a lot of blockage there. Which is positive as I know for sure it can be remedied with the usual things

Are we talking calves or shlong here?

Unfortunately calves

the outside of my calves are very tight and it really hurts (more than my ITB, which is not too bad now); this I feel is likely to be the cause of my left knee pain I get. A few weeksd ago I did a 40min self-myofascial release session (oo-er) and my knee was 100% for a week, then got slowly worse. I just need to persist with it. Just like self-myofascial release.

Dude. Nike Frees aren't minimalist. What size are your feet? I might be able to hook you up.

Get a rolling pin and roll those calves to death.

I have done a bit more tonight and they are incredibly sore! They got better towards the end, lots of improvement to come from them.

Nice one Rillz, what price would you be looking at?

The thing is, I've got a leftover pair of Vivo Barefoot Evos. Like these only in grey/blue.
They're just sitting around in my kitchen taking up space. They're too big for me and the company sent them by mistake and now they've forgotten all about them.
I forgot what size they are though, but I could send them your way if interested. Postage might be somewhere around 10-15 quid or whatever. Figured they might as well be put to good use if it's your cup of tea.

I wear jinga's at work and when It's nice outside. The make them with ultra thin soles and a slightly thicker version.

^^ I tried them and they didn;t fit right.

I've got some VivoBarefoot's for Xmas: the Aqueous

And I might get the Neo's with some Xmas money