Reply To: Curious about thoughts with increasing ankle dorsiflexion research

To expand on Keith’s post…

On most people 5.5″ of toe to wall distance (measured via ID system) is about 50 degrees of dorsiflexion. That’s about 9 degrees per inch. To round the math out 1/10 of an inch is 1 degree (to go metric 1/10 of an inch is 2.5 mm).

The research you linked stated stretching for 15 minutes can add 2-3 degrees to dorsiflexion range. This is about 6 mm or 1/4 inch.

Let’s get back to the point- this is rounding error as far as the ID system is concerned. This research supports the claim that stretching is a waste of time compared to ID. Think about it- stretching is applying treatment in the absence of a diagnosis AND it doesn’t do the thing it’s supposed to do- increase range in a meaningful range.

Please tell your patients to stop stretching.