newbie with sore ankles
newbie with sore ankles
Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong. Just started using the C2 at the gym and read as much as possible here about form, speed, drag etc. Thank you all for that. Why are my ankles sore, left more than right. As though the tendons are being stretched. Is this just a beginners problem ?
Re: newbie with sore ankles
Interesting...Is it sore all around your ankle? or just on the inside or just on the outside? top/bottom? Perhaps you're allowing your ankle to roll to the inside or the outside as you row, instead of keeping everything in line from hip, through knee, ankle and foot?reluctant wrote:Why are my ankles sore, left more than right. As though the tendons are being stretched. Is this just a beginners problem ?
Perhaps a bit more information will help someone make sense of this.
Nice to have you here!
Alissa
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The Vulcan
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- Joined: August 2nd, 2006, 9:01 am
- Location: Gahanna, OH (Columbus area)
Dear Reluctant:
I wonder if you are using your whole foot to push off, or if you are pointing your foot and pushing with your toes, as you would when pushing away from the side of a swimming pool? The latter would over work the smaller muscles in the ankle, rather than transferring the work to the larger thigh muscles.
Karen
I wonder if you are using your whole foot to push off, or if you are pointing your foot and pushing with your toes, as you would when pushing away from the side of a swimming pool? The latter would over work the smaller muscles in the ankle, rather than transferring the work to the larger thigh muscles.
Karen
-
The Vulcan
- Paddler
- Posts: 23
- Joined: August 2nd, 2006, 9:01 am
- Location: Gahanna, OH (Columbus area)
Dear Reluctant:
I wonder if you are using your whole foot to push off, or if you are pointing your foot and pushing with your toes, as you would when pushing away from the side of a swimming pool? The latter would over work the smaller muscles in the ankle, rather than transferring the work to the larger thigh muscles.
Karen
I wonder if you are using your whole foot to push off, or if you are pointing your foot and pushing with your toes, as you would when pushing away from the side of a swimming pool? The latter would over work the smaller muscles in the ankle, rather than transferring the work to the larger thigh muscles.
Karen
I'm not an exercise physiologist or rowing coach, just been rowing on the water and ergs for 20+ years so my comments are based on my personal exerience....take them as you may! 
Most likely your ankles are sore because you are new to rowing. I can think of very few other sports which require the same level of achilles tendon flexibility as rowing. I remember way back in college when a lot of newer rowers had trouble getting up the slide due to inflexible achilles tendons. It may just be a matter of your body getting used to a new and wider range of motion.
As for why one is more sore than the other, there might be many reasons - could be that your feet aren't quite positioned the same (one might be ever so slightly rotated differently than the other) or you might be pushing a bit harder with one leg.
Rowing is a sport in which applying force evenly is very important - for those of us that learned to row on the water we had no choice or the boat wouldn't set up; however since the erg doesn't have to be set by you, there is nothing to require you to learn to apply your force evenly.
Most likely your ankles are sore because you are new to rowing. I can think of very few other sports which require the same level of achilles tendon flexibility as rowing. I remember way back in college when a lot of newer rowers had trouble getting up the slide due to inflexible achilles tendons. It may just be a matter of your body getting used to a new and wider range of motion.
As for why one is more sore than the other, there might be many reasons - could be that your feet aren't quite positioned the same (one might be ever so slightly rotated differently than the other) or you might be pushing a bit harder with one leg.
Rowing is a sport in which applying force evenly is very important - for those of us that learned to row on the water we had no choice or the boat wouldn't set up; however since the erg doesn't have to be set by you, there is nothing to require you to learn to apply your force evenly.