Self Joint Mobs

Ankle Dorsiflexion:

Teaching an athlete to fix their own restrictions may be the best way to achieve long term success. Teaching them about their problems helps them understand their issues and empowers them to fix them on their own. This allows the athlete to buy into their treatment plan. It also allows them to perform general maintainence as needed once their restriction is initially corrected.

Throughout the treatment process, self mobilization techniques offer an athlete the ability to make smaller, more frequent changes to their restriction throughout the day. This less aggressive and more constant approach is oftentimes very attractive to athletes as they tend to tolerate their treatment plan very well since it puts them in control.

On the negative side, self mobs rely on the athlete to be aggressive and compliant with their treatment. If they aren’t willing to push hard against their restriction or peform them on a regular basis, then they won’t be nearly as effective as a true joint mobilization which can be performed by a qualified sports medicine professional.

Standing Self Mobilization

STEP 1: You will need a table, bench or box which is about mid-thigh height. Place one foot on the table with your foot flat. Your foot that is on the floor should stay about shoulder width apart and both toes should be straight ahead. Grasp your foot and ankle with both hands as though you are trying to push your foot and ankle against the table. Do this by placing one hand over your midfoot and toes. The other hand should grasp your heel.

STEP 2: Using your hands to keep your foot on the table, push your knee forward as far as you can. Push against your restriction in a pulsing manner at a rate of 1 pulse per second.

Repeat this for 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

1/2 Kneeling Joint Mob

STEP 1: Start with your athlete in a 1/2 kneeling (lunge) position with the restricted foot directly in front of their hip. The foot should be in a position that causes the knee to be bent at no less than 90 degrees. Use a dowel rod or PVC pipe to keep the foot and ankle in a relatively neutral position. Place the dowel vertically with one end on the ground on the outside of the foot. The athlete’s knee goes to the inside of the knee so that the bar crosses in front of the Tibia. Keeping this position with the foot and ankle helps to keep the ankle in a good biomechanical position.

STEP 2: Keep the dowel vertical and push the knee forward, keeping the heel down on the floor to push against the dorsiflexion restriction. Once the athlete reaches their restriction, they should rock further into the restriction in a pulsing manner to gain the range of motion that your athlete needs.