The Achilles tendon is the thickest and strongest tendon in the human body. It is exposed to great strain every day through running and additional activities. The Achilles tendon is the common point of attachment of the two calf muscles.
These include the gastrocnemius muscle, which has two heads, and the soleus muscle. The tendons of these two muscles run together as the Achilles tendon to the heel. The Achilles tendon is particularly stressed when running.
Very strongly when jogging, but also already when walking, complaints can occur as a result of overloading. Therefore, it is very important, especially for ambitious athletes, to strengthen the Achilles tendon to protect it from pain caused by overloading. Besides athletes, especially runners, overweight people are also at risk of overloading the Achilles tendon.
Also people with a foot malposition often have problems with the Achilles tendon and should strengthen it. Strengthening the Achilles tendon is also important if there is already an inflammation here. Although the affected person should then take it easy and, for example, stop jogging for the time being, exercises to strengthen the Achilles tendon are still useful and help to relieve the symptoms more quickly.
Exercises
To strengthen the Achilles tendon permanently, the elasticity of the tendon and the muscle build-up of the surrounding muscles must be supported. Regular stretching of the tendon is also very important. A simple and effective exercise is to stand on a staircase step with your eyes facing upwards.
Here, press up and down with both feet simultaneously to tiptoe, so that the heel comes lower than the step. Repeat this exercise 15 times and do it several times a day. After about two weeks, the exercise can also be done on one leg with each foot alternately.
This leads to a higher effectiveness. The Achilles tendon is increasingly strengthened and elasticity is promoted by stretching. As a result, the tendon becomes less susceptible to injuries.
After about two months, the exercise should show effects. Of course, this only happens if the exercises are performed regularly. The muscle build-up of the long toe flexor (Musculuss flexor digitorum longus) also leads to a strengthening of the Achilles tendon.
It has the same function as the soleus muscle, whose tendon is part of the Achilles tendon. So if the flexor is strengthened, the load on the Achilles tendon can be reduced. To do this, you can place one foot on a Thera-band so that the toes are slightly tightened.
The exercise then consists of pressing the band down with the toes. There should be 40 repetitions and the exercise should be done 3 times a day. You can also achieve the same effect when running by rolling your toes down during the impression phase. Here too, the toe flexor is strengthened and in the long run the Achilles tendon is relieved. Extensive warming up and stretching before running and at the beginning of the run an occasional backward running are also effective methods to achieve a strengthening of the Achilles tendon.