Today, I wrap up my running injury series on my experience with physical therapy and my Achilles tendonitis treatment, by sharing some of the exercises and stretches that were part of my rehabilitation and ongoing therapy. In Part I of this series, I covered my initial diagnosis and some of the steps I went through to treat the inflammation and pain. In my case, the solution was a combination of treatment and exercises to strengthen the calf muscles and increase flexibility.
Note: Before continuing, please understand that what I describe below should not be interpreted as medical advice or treatment. This is just a summary of what I was told to do by my doctor and physical therapist. Please consult a physician or physical therapist for proper diagnosis and treatment.
The following stretches and exercises really helped me out:
Achilles Tendonitis Stretches and Demonstration:
Achilles Tendonitis Exercises
1. Eccentric Calf / Heel Drops
As you can see, with a combination of treatment and very simple stretches, Achilles tendonitis is very treatable. In my case, it took 4-5 physical therapy appointments plus daily 15-20 minute workouts to fully alleviate my tendonitis.
Additional Running Resources
Runner's Toolkit - Get access to 30 days of free coaching tips by email and get your #1 running question personally answered by me, just for signing up. Plus get free access to our private Facebook community where other RunBuzz community members gather for support, camaraderie and general shenanigans.
Find out how you can support RunBuzz's mission to bring quality running content (educational, inspirational, etc) to the running community. Did you know it takes approximately 8-10 hours of work to research, record, edit and release each podcast episode? Help support us in our mission to make every runner regardless of age, size and ability a better runner. Your support helps keep future RunBuzz podcast episodes ad-free and new episodes coming.