Hi, I'm Ashley Borden, welcome to Perfect Form.
Now, I know you ladies love to wear a high heel.
Looks great.
Makes the legs look long and lean.
But a lot of times, wearing heals can actually hurt your feet.
They can cause a lot of foot pain, ruin your ankle mobility and actually cause pains in
the rest of your body.
These exercises I'm gonna show you are gonna help prepare your lower body for heels, or
any type of shoe.
So that way you can wear them, feel great and never experience pain again.
So we're gonna start first with rolling out the lower half of your calves and shins.
And I'm gonna use a foam roller.
You can use a foam roller.
You can use PVC pipe.
You're gonna start right at the Achilles.
So you're gonna start right at the lower part of your ankle.
You're gonna cross one leg over for pressure and you're gonna rotate side to side.
When you hit a sticking point that feels painful, hold for a second.
Big circle with your bottom foot, pulling that pinky toe back.
Going two times one direction.
Two times the other direction.
And then rolling back and forth.
And then you're gonna move it up to the middle meat of your calf.
Same thing.
Cross the foot over, back and forth.
When you feel that painful spot, hold.
Big circle with your bottom foot in one direction.
Big circle the other direction.
And that's gonna really open up your calves.
So especially after you've had your heels on and they get really tight, you'll get more
blood flow through the calves again.
So now that we've done your calves, we're gonna hit your shins.
And let me show you how you get in the position.
You're gonna start on all fours with your hands in front of the roller.
LIft up the bum.
And then get that shin on it, so it's kind of like a 7.
It's crossed over the top.
And you're gonna roll from the ankle to the top by kind of close to the knee.
And you'll feel, same thing, when you hit a sticking point on that you can hold.
Kind of roll it out a little bit.
You can do ankle rotations both ways.
And it's the same idea.
You wanna stay on whatever part of your body feels tighter a little bit longer.
And then you can go back and really feel that open part of your calf and your shin, so you're
ready for the next part of our exercise, which is stretching.
And we're gonna go ahead and stretch your calves.
Now, I like to use the ankle weights because it's easier than having to go move somewhere
else and get a deeper stretch.
When you use the weights, you can just bring one foot right at the edge.
The key with the calf stretch with it is that your other foot is in front, so you get that
leverage.
Push your heel to the ground and squeeze your glute.
So the key is push your heel to the floor, squeeze the bum, pull the belly in and you
should feel a deep, deep stretch in this calf.
If it's too much, you can bring your foot back behind it.
But I like the foot in front because it gets really deep in there.
And, of course, you're gonna do both sides.
So now I wanna work on your proprioception, or your balance work, to strengthen those
ankles.
I'm gonna use a fold-it-up yoga mat.
You can use a fold-it-up yoga mat.
You can use a Bosu ball.
You can use a balance pad if you want to.
The more folded it is the more unstable your surface.
So I folded it up a bunch of times.
I'm gonna stand with my foot center on that yoga pad.
And it's gonna feel a little unbalanced, which is perfect.
Because that's what is going to help really strengthen those ankles.
So the way I want you to center your body on it is push your weight down through your
first and second toe and your heel, okay.
You're going to bring that back foot up.
You're going to sit into your bum.
I don't want you sitting forward in your quad.
Pull that belly in.
And then you're gonna hold.
So you'll feel like you're kind of trying to find your balance through it.
And that's perfect.
You can also do this with your shoes off if you want.
It's a little bit more challenging.
And you're gonna stand for about 60 seconds on one leg.
And then move to the other leg.
And you will feel your foot on fire.
And your ankle.
And you're doing it right.
That's perfect.
So now, let's move to what I call a 4 Square Jump.
And this also really helps to strengthen the ankles and works on your mobility.
I'm just using two black bands.
You can use whatever you want.
You can use exercise bands.
You can use stretch straps.
You wanna make a square across on the floor, so it ends up being in a square pattern.
And you're gonna start with your feet together, okay.
And what you're gonna do is you're gonna jump side front, side back.
And then front side, so you're gonna keep that pattern going.
The key with it is that when you're jumping is that you're feet are moving together at
the same time and you're landing toe-ball-heel.
Toe-ball-heel, toe-ball-heel.
Good.
Okay, then you're gonna change your direction.
Side, back, side, front.
Even if you lose your balance it's okay.
And back, side, front, side.
Now, something I want you to think about when you're doing it is that you're body is moving
as one piece.
You're not doing two different steps when you're going back, side.
Feet are moving together at the same time.
So you're going to do all of this together as one combo.
It will absolutely help your calves and your ankles.
You'll reduce the pain.
It'll feel much stronger.
And you'll look fantastic.