Calf/Achilles' tendon help!!!

[talibandito]

Hi,

I saw a very cool video recently where this guy did breakdancing with a football attached to his leg, he kinda locked the ball between the toes and the shin and then he did windmills, backflips etc with the ball there.

Here comes my question - I can not bend my foot enough to lock the ball as he does it, it just falls of my foot. What should I practice, flexibility in my calfs or should I try to stretch the Achilles' tendon?

Is this even possible or is this something you might just be born with?

Any help, exercises etc are much appreciated!

[n3m3s1s]

Get a better ball. and stretch

[Jackamaideshwang]

I dont think tendons noticably stretch too much on purpose, so pretty sure you have to stretch your calf muscle. You can however get a terrible operation to lengthen it for you. This action is a hard one to gain flexibility in, you have to be committed to stretching etc or walk around like a douchebag with your knees over your toes.
I'd do all the stretches in Juji's flexibility tutorials that stretch the posterior leg the anterior , the plantar arch, and the posterior thigh.
I'd also incorporate lots of calf raises(seated, standing and donkey- whichever you feel stretches the most) into whatever kind of exercise you do - but they'll be useless for flexibility unless you go all the way down and really feel a stretch (have your toes on a ledge), using heavy weights will help.

Massage will also do wonders to help you relax your calves and kick off your stretching regime, as they are used practically all the time, its only natural to get a bit tight or tense. Using your hands, rolling a ball on them is good (the ball is also good for your arches) , a foam roller or current/future romantic/slavery interest.
I also share your problem (it prevents me from doing proper squats), yet have not bothered to really put effort in to fix it.

Strength in your tibialis anterior will help (the muscle that keeps the ball in), so pretty much those movements with a bit of resistance will strengthen it.

[talibandito]

I figured out I needed to stretch, but what... calf? or stretch out the Achilles' tendon? I don't know if it's even healthy to stretch the Achilles' tendon...

I guess if you are good at it you can do it with any ball, sticky or slippery!

EDIT - Jackamaideshwang, thanks alot for your answer.

[tuareg]

there are some stretches on the main site for this.

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

It's not too smart to be thinking about stretching tendons, plus the Achilles tendon is the strongest tendon in the body.

Also, that picture isn't too clear. Is he dorsiflexing to hold on to the ball? Doing shin raises(opposite to calf raise) might help.

[talibandito]

Also, that picture isn't too clear.

I hope this pic might show it a bit better... pics ain't to good as I just take screenshots from youtube.

Basically what's done is that he clutches the ball between the upper part of the foot/toes and the shin. When the ball is stuck in this position there is no limits of what can be done with the ball in this position.

EDIT - Did some quick research on dorsiflexing as I didn't know what it was... but yes, he is dorsiflexing, and when the foot is close enough to the shin he keeps this position.

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

So why're you still sitting at your PC!? GO, GO DO SOME DORSIFLEXION SHIZNIT MY FRIEND!

[paulSA]

So why're you still sitting at your PC!? GO, GO DO SOME DORSIFLEXION SHIZNIT MY FRIEND!

LOL! :good:

definately stretch out your calf muscles more frequently too.

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

Yeah, depending how tight your calves are you can get a stretch out of them by dorsiflexing, mine are really tight in the morning & when I dorsiflex I feel a stretch, that's where my brutal 8" piping comes in handy -- SMR.

[talibandito]

I have been doing some practice already but will keep trying to improve my calf flexibility and dorsiflexion during a couple of weeks, if someone is interested how it goes let me know and I'll post a little sum after each week...

[Fitness Guru]

If you are stretching the calf you are stretching the Achilles tendon, they are connected so you work one with the other. Try stretching on stairs put the balls of your foot/feet on a step and put your weight back...be careful not to bounce. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and do 3 sets 3 times per day. Do one foot at a time. You should start to see a noticeable difference in a week or 2.