Vet88

Hi, bring the foot to neutral and then hold it there. You are trying to reshape the position of the bones and your muscle memory. If you tighten / collapse then all you are doing is a contraction exercise.

What muscles are impacted as you do this exercise:

- As you bring the ankle to neutral, the first tendon you should notice doing a lot of work is the anterior tibialis. This is the tendon that runs up the front of the ankle, you should see it stand out as you straighten the ankle (for most people this is true). From this tendon, you may experience tightness in the front of the shin about half way up. 

- You may experience tightness in the outside of the calf, about half way up. This is where the peroneal tendon terminates and it is telling you it is under stress as you demand it to start working properly.

- You may also experience cramp like pain / tightness in the back of the calf, about half way up. This is where the posterior tibialis terminates. 

- You may experience cramp like pain in the arch, this is the anterior and posterior tibialis tendons having to now do work that they have previously avoided all of your living life. This is one of the classic exercises I ask people to do, go for an hour skate then as you get off the ice and take your boots off, do the exercise and hold the ankle in the neutral position. Most people who have just started doing this exercise will have their arch cramp up on them in around 10 to 15 seconds. 

Last but not least, as you do the exercise make sure you keep the ball of the foot pressed gently into the ground. This prevents the foot from supinating. Over time you will learn to initiate the exercise by pressing gently down into the floor with the ball of the foot.

That makes sense, thank you so much!

I will do this religiously.

In the meantime, would you suggest shimming the skates? I've really been struggling with this for a while.