Evolutionary Athletics

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While it’s true that the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and abs are the primary “engines” behind most sporting movements, it’s impossible to reach one’s full potential without adequately strong and functional lower legs. Whereas propulsive power is generated by the hips, it’s transferred into the ground through the calves, ankles, feet, and toes. If the foot and ankle complex isn’t strong enough to manage the forces of the hips, an athlete will essentially be leaking power.

In addition to transferring force from the other muscles into the ground, the foot and ankle complex is designed for reactive function. What this means is that the tendons in the feet and lower legs gather energy with each foot strike (or countermovement) and then return that energy for additional propulsive power.

The stronger and more coordinated one’s feet and lower legs are, the better they’ll be able to transfer power from the larger muscle groups and the better they’ll be able to capture and reuse power gained through reactive function. These abilities will manifest themselves largely in faster coupling times (ie. You’ll get off the ground faster and with less of a load up).

When training the lower legs one needs to pay attention to both the musculature and the tendons. Strong, coordinated muscles with high RFD are needed to maintain joint angles upon contact and stiff (resistant to deformation) tendons are the springs in which reactive energy is captured. The stiffer the tendons, the more energy they’ll be able to absorb and put back out and the faster they’ll be able to do it. Since the primary function of the lower leg complex is to act isometrically, that’s what most of the training methods targeting it focus on.

In order to train the musculature, weighted isometric holds with the calves stretched tend to work the best. Standing calf raise ISOs target the gastrocnemii and seated calf raise ISOs target the solei. The gastrocnemii are utilized more heavily when the knee is closer to full extension, and the solei are utilized more heavily when it’s bent. As such, different sporting movements require different balances of strength. Sets of 30-60 seconds tend to work best for both exercises, and to minimize spinal loading they can be done one leg at a time.

To train the tendons and local RFD, plyometric variations tend to work the best. Jumping rope, line hops, rebounds on and off of a step, altitude landings, depth jumps, sprints, and bounds all work very well, and choosing exercises depends largely on one’s sport and readiness level. I would recommend that people work their way up to depth jumps, altitude landings, and bounds by following a progressions like the one below:

Jumping Rope or Line Hops (2-feet)

Jumping Rope or Line Hops (1-foot)

Step Rebounds (2-feet)

Step Rebounds (1-foot)

Low Altitude Landings (<CMJ height)

Higher Altitude Landings (>CMJ height)

Depth Jumps

Bounds

By gradually increasing the intensity of the exercises, one will ward off the chance of getting shin splints and will make sure they’re absorbing the force with their muscles and tendons, not their skeleton and ligaments. Progressions goes at one’s own pace, and it’s best to err on the side of caution. Nobody ever got injured by doing too little.

Jumping rope, line hops, and step rebounds are all best when done in sets of 20-30 seconds. Altitude landings and depth jumps work well in sets of 3-5 repetitions. And 20-30M is usually good for bounds.

By keeping a healthy diet of lower leg work in one’s routine, one can make sure that they’re getting the most out of their hips and legs and make sure they’re reactive as possible. Those with the best lower leg function tend to move effortlessly, appear to skip across the ground, and get up higher faster than their opponents. If those sound like desirable traits, then foot and lower leg function is where you need to focus, but not at the expense of the hips and core.

Throwing in a couple of sets of plyometric drills before each session and a couple sets of calf ISOs after each session should be more than enough to build strong feet, ankles, and calves. How much you do exactly is largely determined by your work capacity and the rest of your routine, but even a few sets can go a long ways.