Achilles tendinopathy is a condition affecting the Achilles tendon, which connects gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of your lower leg, causing pain at the back of your leg just above your heel.
Exercise can help alleviate pain and improve the health of your achilles tendon. These exercises can be completed alone or with assistance from a physical therapist.
Bilateral Heel Drop
The Achilles Tendon is one of the strongest tendons in your body. While it can withstand repeated stress from running, without proper recuperation it may start to hurt over time. Therefore, stretching and strengthening calf muscles before exercise will prevent tightness in the Achilles Tendon from leading to Achilles Tendinopathy, an ongoing condition.
At times, our achilles tendons become irritated and stiff. Re-entering everyday activities may become challenging when this happens, so it’s essential that we perform appropriate exercises. A bilateral heel drop exercise is an effective and straightforward solution, consisting of standing on a step with heels off edge while slowly lowering injured leg down with just that one before pushing up using non-injured leg for return up again once reaching bottom of drop – repeat this daily and gradually increase repetitions as your calf strengthens!
Studies have demonstrated that eccentric heel drops are one of the most effective conservative treatments for chronic mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy.1 Unfortunately, they can be painful and some individuals find their pain worsens before any improvement. This may be because you’re exercising different parts of the calf muscle that it’s not used to being put under strain like this.
Once you become comfortable performing eccentric heel drops, your physical therapist may add other exercises to help strengthen your calf muscles. They may use plyometric exercises which involve quick movements requiring your calf muscles to be strong and fast. In addition, they will focus on lateral movements and balance exercises to promote more efficient movement patterns that prevent injury.
Treatment options for achilles tendinopathy may include heel lifts to decrease stress on the achilles. Furthermore, supportive shoes and orthotics may provide assistance by offloading pressure from walking onto your tendon and decreasing its pressure when walking.
Single Leg Heel Drop
The Single Leg Heel Drop (commonly known as Eccentric Heel Raises) is an effective exercise to perform prior to running or other activities that might put an excessive load on the Achilles tendon, stretching calf muscles and improving blood flow – two key elements essential to tendon health.
This exercise involves standing with one foot on a step or platform with heel off edge of step and slowly lowering heel down until they feel stretch in calf muscles and Achilles tendon; they then return to starting position and repeat it on other leg. The Single Leg Heel Drop is one of the best exercises to prevent Achilles tendinopathy and should be practiced regularly prior to activity.
Researchers have observed that patients suffering from chronic achilles tendinopathy typically experience significant improvement, measured by the VISA-A score, up to five years after participating in Alfredson Heel Drop program. However, pain may continue to arise for some individuals after this point due to improper calf muscle stretching or wearing inappropriate footwear.
This study will evaluate whether an eccentric exercise program for the calf muscles can reduce achilles tendinopathy among healthy participants in an intervention group for 12 weeks, while controlling group members remain symptom-free.
This study will randomly allocate 19 participants into either a control or experimental group. Participants in the experimental group will be prescribed a calf eccentric exercise program and pair of 12mm in-shoe heel lifts; participants in the experimental group will also perform two repetitions of heel drop exercise three days per week for 12 weeks in their exercise program, using prefabricated 12 mm heel lifts; these programs should produce changes to lower limb kinematics, ankle moments and Achilles tendon forces with respect to changes predicted from using flexed knee versions of heel drop exercise which reduce peak plantarflexion moment and increase knee flexion angle which should reduce eccentric tendon load significantly
Single Leg Calf Raise
The single leg standing calf raise is one of the best exercises to prevent Achilles tendinopathy, helping strengthen soleus muscle which forms part of lower calf muscle structure and takes up 6.5-8 times your bodyweight while running. Calf raises alone are not sufficient in treating Achilles tendinopathy – you must incorporate additional exercises and stretches as part of treatment plan to address Achilles tendinopathy effectively.
To perform the calf raise, stand next to a smith machine or support structure (such as a step) with your ball of foot resting on its support and heel elevated as high as possible off of the floor. Squeeze your calf muscles as you slowly lower yourself back down over 3 seconds back onto your footplate – repeat for as many reps and sets desired; beginners may wish to start slowly until their strength grows stronger before increasing repetitions as desired.
Make sure that you do not rush the exercise by performing it too quickly, as doing so limits how much eccentric load your achilles tendon experiences and may worsen symptoms.
Make this exercise harder by lowering your heels further from the floor, to put extra strain on your calf muscles and strengthen them even further. Alter your foot positioning so as to target inner or outer calf muscle groups by placing one or both feet on different platforms.
An intelligent approach to calf raises, with gradual increases in weight until reaching your goal activities, can speed recovery and minimize flare-ups. The Exakt Health app assists this process by offering exercise guidance, 24-hour response testing, and optimizing rehabilitation so you can quickly return to doing what you love!
Single Leg Calf Stretch
The seated single-leg calf raise is an adaption of the standing calf raise that targets each leg individually for strengthening. It strengthens calf muscles while also serving as an alternative to heel drop exercises that may be too uncomfortable for people suffering from Achilles tendinopathy.
A single-leg calf stretch can help protect the Achilles tendon after strain or injury by increasing blood flow and circulation, thus decreasing swelling and inflammation in the tendon. Furthermore, stretching can provide temporary pain relief while speeding recovery by strengthening Achilles tendon muscles.
To perform the single-leg calf stretch, sit comfortably on either a floor or bench with legs extended in front. Place a block about one foot in front of you, placing one of your feet onto it. Slowly raise one leg’s heel as high as possible without lifting off of the block, feeling a gentle stretch in your calf muscle. Hold this position for several moments before slowly lowering back down without losing control over its movement back to earth – repeat this process for other leg.
This version of the calf raise is considered an eccentric dominant exercise, meaning that it emphasizes the Achilles tendon’s elasticity by targeting eccentric muscle fibres in the calf. Eccentric exercises have gained increasing recognition as powerful ways of strengthening and resilient Achilles tendons to prevent injury and reduce recovery times more rapidly.
To perform the toe-to-wall stretch, stand up straight with both feet on the floor and lift up your injured leg onto tiptoes against a wall. Hold this position for 30 seconds before repeating three sets. As your injury heals, gradually increase its intensity – just listen to what your body tells you and don’t push too hard!
