Name: Dynamic Calf Stretch - Gastrocnemius, Soleus & Peroneals (a.k.a. Fibularis)
Uploaded: 2023-04-26T01:03:06.000Z
Duration: 7 min 14 s

English captions

https://stream.mux.com/9w00Me3Z3fDqPcpV36fhuCBm2Xp4Nuf00a91LsTJotluo.m3u8

Learn how to properly perform the dynamic calf stretch in this comprehensive step-by-step instructional video from the Brookbush Institute. This evidence-based video provides expert coaching on setup, positioning, alignment, and exercise modifications to improve gastrocnemius, soleus, and fibularis (peroneals) flexibility and ankle mobility. Enhance ankle dorsiflexion and eversion range of motion while supporting optimal lower-extremity mechanics with this targeted dynamic mobility exercise. Perfect for athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and rehabilitation clients seeking to reduce calf and lateral lower-leg tightness, improve mobility, and restore optimal movement mechanics while reducing injury risk.

Introduction to Dynamic Stretching for Ankle Complex

Prisoner Squat Technique and Kinetic Alignment

Progressing Dynamic Stretching: Band Assisted Squats

Single Leg Calf Stretch Integration

Addressing Fibularis and Peroneal Muscles

Dynamic Stretching Progressions and Performance Enhancement

Dynamic Calf Stretch - Gastrocnemius, Soleus & Peroneals (a.k.a. Fibularis)

This is Brent coming at you with another dynamic stretch. We're going to work on that extremely stubborn ankle complex. I know a lot of you have been looking for something to help improve extensibility, specifically of the calf, the gastroc, and soleus complex. Now at this point I'm going to assume that you've already worked on your release techniques as well as your static and active stretching, and as we go through this progression you're going to understand from an educational standpoint, why setting that foundation for your clients is going to be really important from a queuing perspective. Dynamic stretching is a wonderful way to maintain extensibility, it's not a great way to get there. It's also a wonderful way to get somebody warmed up for sporting and higher intensity daily activity, where we're going to require extensibility at a higher tempo. I'm going to have my friend Leanne come out and help me demonstrate this stretch. Now, the first thing we're going to use is just a prisoner squat. So we need to go back to our kinetic chain checkpoints and make sure everything is optimally aligned, because if we let her compensate, we've been working on our lower leg dysfunction, we're not going to get out of this stretch what we need. So I'm going to have Leanne go into prisoner squat position which is hands just behind her head, she's going to be lined up with second toes pointing forward, I  know some of you don't squat like that normally, optimally we should have the extensibility to do that squat with second toe pointing forward, and feet underneath our hips, which your hips are just underneath your ASIS. When she squats down I'm going to be watching to make sure she doesn't flatten out or turn out this way. Now the big queue that we want to make sure happens is, I'm going to have Leanne turn sideways here, is that we've got optimal tibia-torso angle. Remember our tibia and our torso should stay parallel. A big compensation pattern for those with lower leg dysfunction, those with calf tightness, is that they'll not get much forward translation of the knee at the tibia, and get an excessive forward lean in the torso. So I'm going to have Leanne go ahead and descend into her squat and make sure that she's bringing those knees forward. And you can see there at first she wanted to get into the back end of that excessive forward lean, I just gave her a little queue, pulled that knee a little farther forward. Go ahead and sit up, squeeze your glutes, sit straight down for me. Good. You can see there we got a little bit better forward translation of the knee. Good, sit back down, good tibia torso angle, good, let's speed up a little bit. So as we're progressing our dynamic stretching, they're starting to get that they have to pull their knees forward a little bit, activate that tibialis anterior to get a good squat going, then we can take advantage of progressing our dynamic stretch in speed knowing that they're going to have to move at a fairly quick tempo while they're playing their sport or their higher intensity daily activity. Once she gets good at this squat form I can start progressing this exercise a little bit. Since it's my tibialis anterior that translates my knees forward, what I'm going to do is I'm going to have Leanne put a band right around her ASIS. This is going to create an anterior to posterior pull. That anterior to posterior pull is going to ensure that her tibialis anterior has to be really active. Now, warning, this is one of those super bands but it's not one of the huge strong bands. It doesn't take a whole lot of anterior to posterior pull to get the benefit of this exercise. If you use a huge band all you're really going to do is jack up your squat mechanics really badly. So I'm going to have Leanne once again go into her prisoner squat, and she's going to sit back - I'm sorry - a better queue would be to sit straight down maintaining that tibia - torso angle. I'm only going to allow her go to go down as far as she can as long as she maintains that angle. Good. Making sure she's squeezing her glutes, driving her hips forward against that band on the way up, that way we get a little glute activity too, kill two birds with one stone. Good, can you feel it a little bit in your calves? -Yeah. Good. Once again we can start to speed this progression up a little bit. As Leanne gets more extensibility we can go another step further. Dynamic flexibility is all about increasing neuromuscular control, in essence coordination and stability, at the tempo of the activity we're working on. So I'm going to have her now go from a dual leg stretch like we're doing now, to a single leg stretch. So I'm going to have her descend into her squat, and then she's going to step into a single leg calf stretch on this side. She basically just stepped into that wall stretch that you had been working on during your static stretching. So if you've already planted those seeds during your static and active stretching, this shouldn't be a difficult progression to get into. Descend into her squat, make sure she maintains good tibia-torso angle, then she's going to step through, good triple extension mechanics, glute tight, quad tight,  this time heel pressed through the floor and back. Let's see that one more time. Now, for all of my human movement science geeks out there, you know that the fibularis muscles also play a role in lower leg dysfunction as our primary everters. They'll flatten out the foot and turn it out just a little bit. I can get a little fibularis extensibility out of this exercise by using the same queue I did in my static stretching. So in the static stretching we talked about how if you step out just a little bit like this in your wall stretch, place the weight on the front leg, that forces your tibia on this side to come in this way, which instead of being foot on tibia inversion, is actually tibia on foot inversion. So we're going to get a nice lengthening of our fibularis or peroneals muscles as well. All I have to do is queue her, we're going to do the exact same thing, you're going to keep your feet straight, but I'm going to have you step out about 30 degrees, so we're going to have you step out to about here. -Alright. So let's try that. Down into your squat, good, and step out just a little bit. You feel that just a little bit more in your outer calf, or your peroneal area? -Yeah. Good, and then back. And then we can have her do the same thing. We could set up markers on the floor so we keep her up nice and straight. I'm going to  have you step to right about here, 30 degrees out. Let's have you do a couple more. Usually I find 10 to 20 repetitions on each leg works pretty well for dynamic stretching. We can go through a couple of different progressions as I mentioned before: both speed, so you can slowly start to speed this up as long as they can maintain good form, and then of course we have all these wonderful stability progressions, all these complexity progressions. We went from just a regular prisoner squat with a nice queue for the anterior translation of the knee, then we went to the anterior to posterior pull for that nice prisoner squat, then we went to squat to single leg calf stretch, and then, of course, we went to squat to single a calf stretch with the fibularis or peroneal modification. I hope you enjoy this video, I hope you get a ton of extensibility and an increase in performance from this dynamic stretch.

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Plantar Flexor: Release and Lengthening

This stretch uses the same mechanics as the "Wall Stretch". Teaching the wall stretch first may be an effective means of introducing this exercise

Place a band around your patient/client's anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) so that it creates an anterior to posterior pull.

Have your patient/client take a small step forward and out, leaving the leg to be stretched behind.

IMPORTANT: Your patient/client should take that step by driving forward and out with the back leg - this is accomplished by squeezing their glute (extend their hip), squeezing their quad (extend their knee), and driving their heel into the floor (dorsiflex) against the band.

Note: The combination of stepping out (tibia on foot inversion), with external rotation of the lower extremity (locking the knee and squeezing the glute), results in inversion of the ankle. This preferentially lengthens the lateral gastrocnemius, fibularis muscles, and lateral fibers of the 

 . Further, it reduces the likelihood that pronation and eversion will be reinforced during the stretch.

Return to the starting position. Your patient/client may need to adjust how far they step to induce a stretch.

Perform 10 – 15 repetitions or until an increase in range of motion is noted.

Increase speed as necessary for their sport, assuming optimal form is attained.

Pay careful attention to the position of the foot on the side being stretched. Often, the patient/client will start to turn the foot out and pronate.

Do not allow the heel of the back foot rise off the floor. Trying to stretch the calf with the heel off the floor, not only reduces dorsiflexion but increases activity in the calf complex reducing the likelihood of getting an increase in extensibility.

Common Sign implying a Need for Mobilization:

Patients/clients may complain that they cannot feel the stretch no matter how hard they try, or that this stretch results in a "pinchy" feeling in the front of the ankle. Clinically, this has been a strong indicator that 

Dynamic Calf Stretch - Gastrocnemius, Soleus & Peroneals (a.k.a. Fibularis)

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