The Importance of Ankle Dorsiflexion in Running

Ankle mobility, particularly ankle dorsiflexion is extremely important for the biomechanics of running. Our foot is what contacts the ground when we run. Since it is our point of contact, the foot is responsible for distributing force. How our ankle functions will directly impact how our knees, hips, back and other parts of our kinetic chain will receive the impact of the ground reaction forces. What exactly is ankle dorsiflexion? Ankle dorsiflexion is referring to the range of motion your ankle has when bringing your toes towards your shin. The complete opposite motion that a ballerina does when pointing their toes (this is known as plantar flexion). It is very common that limited ankle dorsiflexion is the underlying cause of other injuries up the chain. If you lack mobility, your body is inadequately absorbing the force of running. It makes running very hard on your body. The tibialis anterior, extensor hallicus longus and extensor digitorum longus are the muscles responsible for the active motion of ankle dorsiflexion. These muscles sit in the anterior compartment of the lower leg. Even though these muscles are the ones that are essentially pulling (through muscle contraction) the foot into dorsiflexion, your ability to dorsiflex is not a sole product of their effectiveness. The posterior part of the lower leg plays a very important role in ankle dorsiflexion as well. The grastrocnemius muscle and soleus muscle (your calf muscles) both join the Achilles tendon and ultimately attach onto the heel of your foot. They are responsible for the plantar flexion action but if this complex is tight, it will limit your ability to achieve ankle dorsiflexion. It is important to have some understanding of the biomechanics of the foot to understand why certain exercises, stretches, etc. are going to be beneficial for running efficiency. Whether you’re running sprints, a couple of kilometers or running full marathons, you want to put the least amount of stress on your joints as possible. We have all spent decades standing on our feet, running, playing sports and frequently with imperfect form. This encourages our ankles to compensate and further impede on ankle mobility. Have you ever looked down while you’re walking or running and noticed that your feet aren’t pointing straight forward and you’re toeing out to the sides? This is just one example of how our bodies can compensate for a lack of dorsiflexion, which leads to other problems and encourages our ankles to avoid going into dorsiflexion (toeing out can have other causes as well but we will leave that for another day). Ankle dorsiflexion is something that we must actively work on. The ankle is a complex joint and in order to achieve optimal ankle dorsiflexion, you must tackle it from all components that contribute to the action of dorsiflexion. This is why treatment for improving ankle dorsiflexion often entails a multifaceted approach that includes: deep tissue massage, exercise programs, mobilizations, adjustments, acupuncture, etc. Mobilizations and chiropractic adjustment to the ankle help achieve mobility within the ankle joints after many of us have spent years with hypomobility. These mobilizations and adjustments can help make the exercises feel a little bit easier. There are many different ways you can work on improving your ankle dorsiflexion. It is crucial to make sure that you are working on stretching and doing deep tissue massage to your calf muscles (gastrconemius and soleus). You can utilize a lacrosse ball or squash ball to get deeper into the muscle if you’re unable to get into a practitioner. Actively work on the dorsiflexion motion and utilize resistance bands to strengthen the muscles responsible for dorsiflexion. The knee-to-wall test is a great assessment tool as well as exercise you can do regularly to help track your ankle dorsiflexion improvement (there are many videos on Youtube that will demonstrate this assessment). Try spending some time in positions with a dorsiflexed foot, for example, the garland pose (a deep squat with your feet planted on the ground) or standing on a stair with your heels hanging over the edge and alternating lowering each heel into a deepened position of ankle dorsiflexion. These are just a few different ways you can help to improve the efficiency of your foot biomechanics during running. It is extremely important to work on ankle dorsiflexion so when you go for a run, your ankle is able to efficiently distribute force up the chain to keep your joints happy and healthy.