Takano Athletics

This short piece was written in 1979, but it applies equally as well today.  Human ankles have not changed in structure since that time.  It is probably even more applicable today as I observe more and more American youngsters with a loss of range of motion due to poor physical education programs.  The older one gets the more difficult it becomes to deal with ankle range of motion problems.  They must be remediated to some extent before effective Olympic lifting technique can be learned and implemented.

Dale Yahraus was my first senior national level competitor.  142.5-180 as a 90 kg lifter.  This piece recounts a weightlifting epiphany for me.  At the end of this piece I mention a forthcoming article with ankle stretching exercises.  I may or may not find this article, but if I do I will publish it.

Several years ago I remember reading the words of a Soviet coach who was commenting on American lifters. One of his critiques regarding our athletes focused on the fact that most of them suffered from the problem of ankle in­flexibility and that this prevented them from maximizing their lifting po­tentials. At the time I assumed, like many other enthusiasts might have, that he was concerned with the ability to assume a correct squat position.

A few days ago I suddenly realized what he was talking about while watch­ing Dale Yahraus run through some lifts. As many of you readers might know, Dale tore his rectus femoris in the right thigh while winning the Mid-American Championships last (1978) December. After sur­gery Dale has recuperated quite rapidly and recently felt like coming into the gym to do some light lifts. Due to his relative inactivity his ankles had lost some of their flexibility, and upon ob­serving his lifts I noticed something that brought to mind the words of the Soviet coach. The inflexibility of the ankles forces the lifter to balance excessively on his heels and prevents him from ever attaining an optimal power position when the bar reaches mid-thigh! So simple, I feel a bit foolish not to have noticed it before.

At this point some elaboration might be necessary to impress upon the reader the problems that can arise from the failure to attain maximal joint mobility for pulling weights.

Tight ankles will cause the lower leg to be more vertical at the very start of the lift. This forces the knees and hips to be further away from the proposed path of the bar thus cut­ting down on the amount of force that can be exerted upon the bar. The torso is also closer to horizontal and undue stress will be placed on the hip ex­tensors and spinal erectors (this can often lead to a lifter pulling with a bent rather than arched lower back). In addition the entire mass of the lift­er and barbell is directed toward the heels.

As the weight continues in its verti­cal path past the knees the knees must rebend and move into the part of the plane that the bar has just vacated. If the ankles are tight the heels will lose contact with the floor prematurely and a precarious balance is initiated that is not desirable. Some lifters in an effort to avoid this problem will shift the torso backwards excessively throwing the stress back on the heels. Since maximum thrust can only be obtain­ed if the weight is balanced on the balls of the feet, the lifter is oper­ating at sub-maximal efficiency.

Another problem also arises from ankle inflexibility and that is the problem of potential knee injury. A lifter with tight ankles can only hit a squat position for the snatch or clean with the lower leg at a near vertical position. This will cause the thigh to “hang” off the knee joint supported only by the ligaments. If the lower leg could be bent forward at a lesser angle, the thigh could rest on it and relieve some of the stress upon the knee joint.

Before attempting to alleviate the problem some considerations should be made. There are two factors that must be taken into consideration. First mo­bility can be increased through progres­sive stretching of the Achilles tendon at the back of the lower leg. Secondly some individuals have developed an ankle skeletal structure that inhibits or prevents good mobility.

In the next issue I will present a battery of ankle flexing exercises that have proven to be quite effective with the lifters that I coach. In the mean­time make an effort to determine wheth­er or not your ankles are a possible impedance to your progress. Study the photos of the great international cham­pions and see if your ankles measure up.