Breahna Gustafson Personal Training

When ever I meet with a client, I like to look at their squat. One of the first things I will check is their ankles. Limited ankle mobility in my opinion is one of the main reasons a client cannot squat properly. How does this translate to a runner? If your ankle is unable to move into its full range of motion it may impact the way you land on your foot whilst running, which can translate into injuries.
Lack of ankle mobility could be cause from tight calf muscles, but it could also be caused by joint limitations. So, there are a few things we can do to help. If the joints are impacting your ankle mobility you can place a large band around the front of your foot. I like to have my foot elevated. Pushing your knee forwards without lifting your heel will help release any areas that might be feeling locked.
The second thing you can try is stretching out your Soleus. The soleus sits behind your Gastrocnemius and is part of your calf muscle. It is responsible for plantar flexion of the foot. (Moving the foot downwards and away from your body) The soleus inserts the posterior surface of calcaneus (your heel bone) by way of the Achilles tendon. If this is tight it will affect your ability to drive the knee forward. One of my favourite stretches is just driving the knee forward and holding it. My other favourite and a lot of my clients would confirm this, standing on a set of stairs and dropping your heel off the end.
Try these both out and see if it improves your mobility! 😊

Video in the comments

Breahna Gustafson Personal Training updated their website address.

This is Zachary.

I feel whilst getting to know me as a Personal Trainer you should get to know me as a person too. Zachary is now 11 months old and going through the stage he wants his momma all the time. For this reason sometimes workouts can be challenging. I shared the other day about making it part of your life. When it comes to my life it means it is not always possible to do the entire workout in one hit like I did before Zachary was apart of my life.

I use to be able to go to the gym and hang out there as long as I liked without a care in the world. These days that is not always possible Today's workout started at 9:30am this morning and I likely won't get it finished until 9:30pm tonight... and no I am not working out for 12 hours... I just have to break it up to fit into my life.

Recently I trained for a marathon. Some of my training runs were 3 hours. In order for them to work within my life I split them into 2 or 3 runs spread out through out the day. I still was successful and completed my race on the day and 2 minutes faster than my goal.

I call that a win! I am able to get my workouts done, I am able to hit my goals. I am not feeling stressed out trying to get everything done at once.

Never feel like your failing if you can't get things done because your family needs you. Enjoy the time you have with them and let your workouts work with your life. If you do this I guarantee you will really enjoy them and you will be successful.

I just completed a webinar to learn the coaching platform I plan on using with all of my clients. I am very excited for how this is going to help my clients get great results!!!!

Here is my 9 months in 9 months out photo.

Did you know I gained 65lbs when I was pregnant? After I gave birth I was still 198lb and stayed that weight for the first 3 months after having Zachary. Those who have given birth would understand the constant hunger.

I can tell you that during pregnancy and post pregnancy there is always so much pressure no either not gain weight or to lose it quickly after given birth.

After having Zachary I felt a lot of pressure to lose the weight I was uncomfortable in my own body. I felt like a marshmallows, so fluffy and empty. I couldn't move the way I use to be able to and it was very depressing.

I decided to take a slower approach and create a lifestyle habit and I can tell you it may have taken me close to a year but I am the happiest and healthiest I have ever been and I would love to help others feel healthy and happy too.