Your gastrocnemius and soleus, the two major muscles of your calf, power every walking and running step you take. Although having the strength and endurance to provide that power is important, calf flexibility also matters. If your calf muscles...
Sprinting is a sport where every second and sometimes even hundredths of a second, can mean the difference between winning the race or finishing somewhere near the back of the pack. Whether you are sprinting 100, 200 or 400 meters, focus and...
You probably don’t pay much attention to your tibialis anterior--the muscle that dorsiflexes your foot, or lifts it up toward your shin, But it’s hard at work any time you're on the move, quietly lifting your toes as you walk, run or...
Your tibialis anterior, the largest muscle in your shin, both dorsiflexes and supinates your foot. In other words, the tibialis anterior flexes the top of your foot closer to your shin and also turns the big-toe-side of your foot to point up. Most...
If the muscle on the front of your calf --- the tibialis anterior --- is not conditioned through strengthening exercises, you can develop a painful overuse injury by doing something as minor as walking quickly. The tibialis anterior runs next to...
Four major muscles cross the back of your knee, including the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus that make up your hamstrings, the back-of-thigh muscle group responsible for flexing your knee. Your gastrocnemius, the largest and...
If your feet flagellate the pavement when you run, you might be suffering from foot drop, also called foot slap. Other symptoms include dragging your foot along the floor as you walk, or lifting your thighs as if you were walking up stairs. Nerve...
The tibialis posterior muscle is located deep within the lower leg and runs from the back of the knee to the inner ankle. The primary function of this muscle is to dorsiflex the foot, or push the foot towards the ground, and to invert the foot, or...
Supple calf muscles help you avoid injury as you jump, run or even just walk. Regular stretching, especially after workouts, can improve calf flexibility and help reduce after-workout soreness. Stretching your calves becomes particularly important...
The gastrocnemius muscles, also known as the calves, are located on the back of your lower legs, attaching just above your knee joint on one end, and on the other end, to the calcaneus bone on the back of your foot via the calcaneal tendon. The...
A foot drop refers to a variety of conditions that lead to the inability to dorsiflex the foot and big toe. The term dorsiflex, in relation to ankle movement, refers to when the top of the foot is brought closer to the shin. The specific nerves...
When you dorsiflex your ankle, you reduce the angle between your shin and foot. The muscles that accomplish this action -- the extensor digitorum longus, extensor hallux longus, peroneus tertius and tibialis anterior -- are located on the front of...
The muscles that are involved in dorsiflexion, which is decreasing the angle between the surface of your foot and your shin, include all the muscles in the front part of your lower leg. Your calves work in opposition with the shins to control the...
Taking a few minutes to stretch after every workout increases your range of motion, decreases your risk of injury and can help ease muscular soreness after a workout. Ideally you should always stretch muscles when they're warm, so after a leg...
You might not think about your great toe's function all that much, but when it does not function within its proper range of motion, you are likely to notice right away because it will lead to problems with your walking gait. If it malfunctions for...
Folding forward to touch the toes is a marker of flexibility for many people. As the sit and reach test, it was long used as a standard test of flexibility by coaches and trainers. Most of the muscles on the back side of the body need to stretch...
There are two tibialis muscles in the lower leg -- the anterior and posterior. The anterior tibialis is the superficial muscle that covers your shin and is responsible for dorsiflexion and inversion of the foot; the posterior tibialis lies beneath...
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30 minutes of cardio to achieve health benefits and 60 to 90 minutes to lose weight. If you choose a treadmill for your cardio, you will not only lose weight but also work multiple muscles. Most...
Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of foot pain. It is most often experienced in the morning because the thick band of tissue in the sole of the foot, called the plantar fascia, becomes inflamed as a result of contraction during sleep when the...
Joseph Pilates developed the first Pilates exercises in the 20th century as a way to combine stretching and strengthening exercises. The ability to combine flexibility with strength can make you a better runner, and incorporating Pilates into your...
A treadmill is a high-impact cardiovascular tool that enables you to walk, jog or run indoors. If you are otherwise healthy, the impact it creates is good for bone strengthening, which is the case with any weight-bearing exercise. Anatomically,...
To get a gap between your thighs, you have to tone the muscles of your inner thigh, known as the hip adductors. The hip adductors are made up of four individual muscles that run along the inside of the thigh: adductor longus, adductor brevis,...
The name is a bit of a misnomer for the neck pull exercise, as you shouldn't actually pull on your neck. This is an advanced mat Pilates core exercise that strengthens and stretches your core, hamstrings and back. As with all Pilates exercises,...
Working out with a jump rope offers numerous health benefits. According to MayoClinic.com, jumping rope is among the most effective activities for burning calories. It develops your cardiovascular system and decreases your risk for heart disease....
Dance demands considerable amounts of ankle strength for balance, turns, jumps and pointe work. Most dance classes emphasize only one movement of the ankle -- pointing, or plantar flexion. For injury prevention, however, dancers must also...
Cryokinetics is a form of rehabilitation used by physical therapists and trainers in an effort to reduce recovery time from ligament sprains and other injuries. After an extended period of icing, you should perform ankle exercises to help return...
A strong structure made of collagen, the plantar fascia runs along the bottom of the foot from the metatarsals to the heel. The plantar fascia expands and contracts, allowing the foot to function like a spring. When the plantar fascia becomes...
Stretching a muscle group and joint tissue improves their range of motion and tissue elasticity as well as reducing muscle tightness. Certain muscle groups get tight because of specific positions that you put yourself in, such as sitting and...
Medial shin splints, or medial tibial stress syndrome, is a common running-related injury. According to the Mayo Clinic, the pain with medial shin splints is caused by an overload on the shinbone and the tissues that attach your muscles to the...
Turf toe may not sound serious, but it can end an athlete's career. Learn how to treat sports injuries in this video on health and rehab.
