Hills for training

The top five reasons we like Hills for training ankle rocker and hip extension

1. Hills do not cost money and are almost always readily available

2. Hills do not pull the hip into extension and place of stretch on the anterior hip musculature including the rectus femoris, iliopsoas and iliacus. This causes a slow stretch of the muscle activating the muscle spindles and causing muscle contraction via the stretch reflex. This will inhibit the posterior compartment of hip extensors through reciprocal inhibition, making it difficult to fire them.

3. A hill does not force your knee into extension, eliciting a stretch reflex in the hamstrings like a treadmill does

4. A hill naturally puts the ankle into dorsiflexion, And, along with active pulling up of the toes, helps you to get more into your anterior compartment and limits the tendency of the ankle being pulled into dorsiflexion (like a treadmill) which would initiate a stretch reflex in the gastroc/soleus and long flexors for the toes

5. The increased hip flexor recruitment of going uphill gives you more opportunity to engage your abs before the psoas and rectus femoris/TFL and, on the stance phase leg, you can get an increased stretch of those muscles

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One cause of hammertoes

One cause of hammertoes

Take a look at this gals left foot. Notice the high, cavus arch as well as increased tone in the long flexors of the toes. Is it any wonder she has weakness of the long extensors on that side?

Look at the other picture and note that she has a shorter leg on the left. Yes, it is anatomical and tibial on clinical exam. She also has limited ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension bilaterally, left greater than right.

When the foot is cavus it puts an increased stretch on the long flexor muscles of the foot because the metatarsalphalangeal joint is in relative extension. More than likely this will activate the Ia afferents from the muscle spindles causing more tone in the flexors. Yes, that will decrease over time but you will also increase the relative length of the long flexor tendons and decrease the length of the long and short extensor tendons.

 More tone in the flexors equals less tone in the extensors. Combine this with a lack of ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension and it’s prescription for more hammertoes. In addition, she has an anatomical short leg on the left putting that foot in relative supination with respect to the right. She will need to claw her toes in an attempt to create stability on that side.

The fix will be getting better control and strength in the long extensors and improving ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension.