Ankle/calf flexibility/mobility routine
 

Does anyone have any ankle/calf flexibility and mobility routines? Both the mobility and flexibility of my ankles is horrendous and the work I'm doing on them is not paying off in any meaningful way.

Things I have tried:
- Calf-stretching linked in this post. My ankles are so tight and immobile I can't get any grip from the ball of my foot on the wall--my foot slips down before I'm able to obtain any sort of stretch.

- Calf-stretching leaning against the wall and hanging off a stair or ledge

- Sitting in the bottom of a squat with a weighted bar on my knees

- Sitting in the bottom of a squat and leaning on one ankle and then the other

Part of it is my flexibility down there is poor. The other part looks like it's a mobility issue, as I feel a "pinch" in the front of my ankle before I really feel a stretch. This is weird because I've never injured the area. I did competitive swimming for a long time which made them super-flexible in the opposite direction (like pointing the toe)--could hypermobility of the joint in one direction caused decreased mobility in the opposite direction?

Or maybe I just need to keep working at it . . .

Yeah, my previously sprained ankle has some nerve pinching going on in there but only when I do soleus stretching (bent knee). Gastroc (straight leg) seems to be fine, but then again you need the bent knee ankle flexibility in Oly so...

It may not necessarily be hypermobility = bad mobility the other way. Could be. But could also just be not-so-great genetic bone structure. No way to really tell I think.

I would try to keep on stretching it then ice it down to prevent any inflammation. At least that's what I'm going to keep on trying. Do the soleus stretch and get down in an asian squat and move around. That seems to work the best from my experience.

Thats exactly the same problem i've been having. I used to swim competitively, and when I try to stretch my ankles i feel the same sensation on top of my foot and front of ankle.

I've been stretching the crap outta my ankles for the last week, but have seen no improvement because it seems like every time i try to stretch my calves they get super tight, and remain that way for hours, so im also interested to see what suggestions people have.

Have any of you found soft tissue work to be of help down there? Like using a foam roller or tennis ball or lacrosse ball.

When doing the stretches that Kelly mentioned are you keeping your shoes on? I tried doing them sans shoes and found the same issue you're describing, I couldn't keep my foot on the wall to save my life. As soon as I slipped my shoes back on, it worked better. I'm still finding the bent leg version awkward because when I'm tensing the calf I have a tendency to straighten my leg.

From Kelly's blog:

Yes! Two Lacrosse balls/tennis balls to work on the soleus.

For example, if you're working on the right calf...

• sit on the floor
• get the left leg out of the way
• put your right leg as if you were going to sit cross-legged
• now, put one ball under the calf muscle right in the middle (middle meaning the distance between your ankle and knee).
• use the other ball on top...pressing/rolling/kneading it to massage the soleus.
• keep arms straight and manipulate the top ball with the heel of your hand.
• you can increase/decrease intensity by controlling how deep you 'lean' into it.

just re-read my post...if this makes no sense I'll try to take/post pictures later today.

No, I haven't tried foam rolling with a tennis ball, I'll try that for a while and see if it works.

Your ankle flexibility issue could definitely have fed into the problematic rack position that led to your wrist injury, this is likely a very worthwhile pursuit for you.

You could try the stretch with your foot hanging off the edge of a curb. I was doing this two days ago, as I locked myself out of my car after a workout and had nothing else to do. The slipping off the wall issue is not there with this version.

I did it both standing and leaning against my car. Both worked very well.