Stretches for your ankles

Physical therapy

﻿Hi there, my name is Sophie Brazier, I'm a children's physiotherapist. Thank you for joining me today for our lesson. So we are in unit four about stretching. And we are in lesson 13 today. So what we'll be doing today is looking at some more stretches and we'll look at some for you around your ankles. So the stretch we'll be doing will be a nice calf stretch. What we'll do first is we will start off with the recap before I start doing as important, and then we will have a look at some tips for stretching, and then we'll move on to the activity. So you won't need any equipment for this. You may just need to do this on a step or at the bottom of stairs if you've got stairs at your house. So, please get ready now and maybe you need to ask a parent or carer if they can help you if you need that help. So, let's get ready, and then we can begin. I would just like to give you a little message from our team. We as therapists have tried to think of the best way to continue to support children, young people and their families. So you may be watching this as a child by yourself or you might be with a parent or carer. We will be exploring topic areas that we regularly provide advice and support on across all ages and abilities. And each lesson, we will aim to give you some ideas and activities that can be carried out either at home or in school. You may already have specific programmes that you're using or advice that has been given to you by your child's school or therapist. So please make sure that you're using any information I'm giving you alongside anything you already have. And if you do have any questions, or would like help tailoring this to their needs, then please make sure you get in contact with your local therapy service. So let's begin by just recapping about why is stretching important. So stretching is really quite an instinctive action. Just think about when you wake up this morning, did you take a big full body stretch before you got out of bed or did you take one when you sat on the side of the bed before you started your day. And also, have you yawned in the last hour or so and did you stretch when you yawned? So this can be quite an automatic thing to do and you don't really think about doing it, the stretches just happen. So if we're spending time in static postures, this can lead to tight muscles and stiffness. So stretching can really help release some of this tension. And regular stretching just can become part of your daily routine. So if you break stretching down and you don't spend ages on it, then you really just can build it into your day. And the last point may have remember to think about your breathing when you're stretching as this can really help calm your mind as well. So here you're not only thinking about your physical body, but you're thinking about your mind and how that can be affected. So if you're stretching, you're really slowing everything down and you're relaxing your muscles, you can also use it to really help calm you and help really relax your mind. So I really think when you're stretching, remember to not hold your breath and please remember some of the tips I'm going to give you for when you were holding or stretching and using your breath to help you. So some good points to remember for stretching. Important things to think about. Always follow the advice of your physiotherapist. So if you do have a programme that you've been given by your physio, and you've got a stretching programme already, then please use what I'm giving you alongside that. So if these structures work for you and you want to use them as extra, then please do use them. But remember that these are quite general structures and they're not specific to you. So I just want to make that clear before we start. What we need to think about is you need to think about the best position to be in for a stretch. So that's, are you comfortable? And the area that you're wanting to stretch, are you in the right position to do that stretch. Then you need to think about your breathings and to keep it nice and relaxed to calm you. And the last two points here, don't over force the stretch, so take it slowly. And never force the stretch further than you're able to. And the stretch should never be painful. So you want to avoid pain. You should only feel the stretch. So my suggestion here is take to where you can just feel it and you think, oh, that's quite a nice stretch. You can back off if it's too much, and then you can use your breath to help maybe go a little bit further. So, there are a couple of things to think about for when you are doing some stretching. So the activity I'm going to talk you through is a activity called a calf stretch. So what I'd like you to do, your starting position is facing a wall and you place your hands onto the wall at chest level. Then you're going to start with, with your right leg back and keep it straight. And you bend your left and you push forwards into the wall. So you're really straightening that back leg and getting that heel down to feel a stretch along the straightened leg. And you're going to feel and hold the stretch for I would suggest about 20 to 30 seconds to begin with then back off, release the stretch, and then perhaps go back in or try to the other side. And I would repeat, initially five times on each side and see how you get on. So here I'm getting into the position of the calf stretch. So I'm facing a wall, I've got my back leg straight and my front leg bent. So my right leg is straight and I'm feeling the stretch in the back of my calf and I'm getting my heel down to feel the good stretch. Then you can try this off the back of a step or you could do it at the bottom of the stairs. So I am being quite inventive here and I'm actually using a plinth as the step. So you can be creative at home but just be careful with what you use, make sure it's stable. So I am getting a stretch down my right calf and I'm dropping my heel off the back of this step. And then I'm doing the same now to my left side. So I'm taking my foot and the further back you take your foot, so the more you hang your foot off the back and drop your heel down, the bigger the stretch you will get. So I would say, try and hold the stretch for between 20 to 30 seconds and back off and then you can try again. So a way to simplify this is to sit in a long sitting position with your feet up against a wall or a surface, and then bring your toes towards you, so you're getting a good stretch down the back of your legs. So you can do this as a simplified version and you might find it more comfortable than doing it in standing or off the back of the step. And you'll still get the same stretch down the back of your legs. So now I'd like you to pause the video and have a go at that stretch. If you rejoin me afterwards, I'll talk you through some of the ways to extend and simplify as I demonstrated in the video. So as I showed you in the demonstration, there are a couple of ways to either extend the stretch or to simplify the stretch. So to extend it, you can either do it on the bottom step of your stairs, if you've got some or you can do it on a step, maybe you've got a step in your house, or you might have something that you're using as a step as similar to what I had. But remember make sure that it's stable. And you're going to stand on the step and you can support yourself with a wall or a hand rail if you need to, and you're going to place. So if you start with your right foot on the edge, so the front of your foot is just resting, and then you're going to drop your heel down and you'll feel the stretch on the leg where you're dropping your heel. And then you can repeat that on the other side and you can try that maybe five times on each side and again holding for between 20 to 30 seconds as a starter. And if you want to take it for the longer you can. And also if it's too much, you can just back off before that. So to simplify it, you can also do the stretch that I showed you where you're sitting on the floor and you're pushing your feet into the wall or a surface as I had. And you're going to straighten your legs out, so you're doing some long sitting and you're bringing your toes towards you to increase the stretch. And I'd say hold that stretch again for about 20 to 30 seconds, and longer if you can tolerate. And then you can always repeat that a few times to see how you get on. So perhaps if you pause the video now, you can have a go at those options and see which stretch works better for you. And then rejoin me afterwards. How did he get on with those calf structures? I find they can be really easy just to build into your day, perhaps when you're going up the stairs or you've got a few minutes while you're waiting for something at home or your nearest step or some where you can lean against a wall and you can do that calf stretch. So just try them in the next couple of days and see how you manage. So thank you for joining me today. Please join me next time for lesson 14. And this will be the last lesson in the unit on stretching. And what we'll do is we'll have a summary of the unit and then we'll end with a nice sort of whole body stretch of a downward facing dog. So all that leaves me to say now, is take care, have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you soon. Goodbye.

Stretches for your ankles

Stretches for your ankles

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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