raymondaofsunshine Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) I've heard many times doing theraband exercises (over toes and under heel, pointing and flexing, then just toes) are a good way improve my ankle and foot strength. What I'm wondering is, what are the major differences between those and just plain ankle rolls while lying on my back (lying down with legs at 90 to the ceiling. I try to do 15 circles en dehor, en dedand, then 30 pointing and flexing)? Or should I do both? The thing is, when I do those exercises, I feel like the same muscles are working, and I'm just wondering if that is in fact the case or not at all. Any advice or personal experience is appreciated! Edited September 2, 2015 by raymondaofsunshine Quote Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted September 2, 2015 Administrators Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Raymondaofsunshine, the main difference is that with a theraband you are working with resistance, which makes the muscles work harder, especially for pointing and flexing. When you flex the foot (band only over the toes) you also working the quad muscles and stretching the calf muscles. Pointing with resistance just makes you work harder. About circles...I personally have a problem with en dedans circles, with or without resistance. In en dedans you are stretching the outside of the foot into a sickle on the circle, and that is something that I just fail to see as a benefit. En dehors circles are outward, of course, and do not do that, so they are fine. Quote Link to comment
raymondaofsunshine Posted September 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) Thank you very much for clarifying the difference Ms. Leigh; for some reason I thought that having the legs up would provide some extra resistance… Also, I understand what you said about the en sedans circles - in fact I often wondered how they would benefit, seeing as ideally when pointing, the foot should curve slightly outward. That's why I don't quite understand why I also shouldn't do en dehors circles. Wouldn't that work the part of the ankle used for turning out the foot? Edited September 2, 2015 by raymondaofsunshine Quote Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted September 3, 2015 Administrators Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 I have no problems with en dehors circles. Quote Link to comment
raymondaofsunshine Posted September 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Oh okay. Sorry Ms. Leigh, I think I misunderstood your post. Thank you again for the advice! Quote Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted September 3, 2015 Administrators Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 No problem. I just changed the wording a little bit to help make it clearer. Quote Link to comment
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