jumping jacks and/or MIC

[Dutchie42]

Hi everyone,

I have a question maybe some of you can help me with?

Whenever I do MIC or jumping jacks/plyo jacks in other workouts like Imax2 my (achilles) heels and insides of my ankles start to hurt really badly.

I even stopped doing MIC the other day because it bothered me so much.

Could this be because of my flat feet?

Thanks.

Dutchie

 

[Jane P]

You bet! Do you have arch supports in your shoes? Because your feet are flat, they're pronating inward and the achilles tendon and ankle have to work extra hard. That's why you're in pain.

Make sure you have good shoes, good arch supports and that you take the time to really stretch your achilles before and after your workouts. All that jumping on your toes will cause it to shorten up.

I have flat feet too. I find I can only do an all out high impact workout like MIC once a week, otherwise I have problems. I also do jumping jacks on top of the step. That seems to absorb the impact better, but you have to be careful not to fall off the top.

 

[Aquajock]

Flat feet with not enough shoe support could be the problem, or part of the problem.

Also pay attention to your foot placement on the landing; although they are both called "jacks", regular jumping jacks are somewhat different in that you are largely rebounding off the soles of the feet and recruiting the calves, whereas with plyo jacks you're sinking deeper into the knees and forcefully propelling off the floor, then landing again feet together.

I always make sure that, with plyo jacks especially, I'm turning out the feet NATURALLY as well as separating the knees on the abduction part of the landing. It could be that your feet are pointing a little too straight-forward for those.

Just a thought -

A-jock

 

[Dutchie42]

Thanks for confirming. I didn't realise it until a doctor recently commented on my feet. I actually thought I wasn't jumping correctly. You know, toes-ball-heel.

I've got good shoes and I buy new once about every 6-9 months. But I'll go get the arch supports tomorrow.

I do specific stretches for my achilles, sometimes even in the middle of a workout if they bother me a lot.

Thank you.


Dutchie