Develop the Perfect Foot Muscles For Pointe Shoes

Is there a perfect foot for ballet - or can any foot function perfectly if the ballet dancer has the correct understanding of how to use their foot muscles in pointe shoes?

Even men in ballet want to work in pointe shoes to develop the fine foot muscles that will enhance balance and virtuoso allegro.

Strengthening and stretching the hyper-mobile (very flexible motion) body/feet and hypo-mobile (tighter motion) body/feet requires accurate ballet movements.

All would-be ballerinas and plenty of men in ballet want to get into pointe shoes, and, faster.

Preventing injuries such as sprained ankles, more typical of the hyper or extra mobile ankle and foot joints, and Achilles tendon injuries, more typical of the feet and ankles with less flexible movement, is not difficult if you learn correct basic ballet technique.

Ballet students, and particularly boys in ballet, who have tighter ankle and foot joints and flatter-shaped foot bones, can partially solve this disadvantage by learning how to massage their lower legs and feet.

The constant strain to get that ballet line in the foot arch leads to excess tension in the calves and feet.

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 Using a small sports ball or a golf ball, and rolling it under the arches with gentle pressure, eases the tension out of the muscles. You can also use a ball with nubs for extra stimulation of the circulation.

Calf muscles can be massaged the same way. Sitting on the floor, the ball can be eased from behind the knee, down the calf muscles to the ankle area.

Check that you get the extra tension towards the outside of the calf, and the inside area.

Your shins, or tibial muscles, can be tense as well.

Kneeling on the floor, ease and press your sports ball (a golf ball will not work for this one) from just below the knee, down the front of the calf to the ankle, leaning into it to get the tension to release.

After this, you may find a significant degree of increased mobility in the ankle joint, and a better line.

Hypo-mobile students are usually less likely to sprain ankles en pointe, but can be predisposed to Achilles Tendon issues, due to how hard they have to work the feet.

A wonderful stretch for the calves is: standing on a book, a stair step, or a rolled up towel, rise up and then lower onto one foot, stretching past the level point, so the heels are lower.

Alternating slowly and carefully, you'll feel a deep stretch.

Ballet students with the flexible high arch are lucky in that the ballet ideal has somehow become the large, domed instep over the top of the foot.

However, much more strength and control is required to utilize this range of motion, and prevent injury.

If you have this kind of mobility, one way to begin assessing your strength and control is to see if you can do 20 consecutive slow rises with no sickling out of the foot. That is the least control you need.

There are more advanced exercises for controlling the flexible ankle and stretching a tight ankle joint. Learning these will help prevent sprained ankles.

The Perfect Pointe Book provides with you with many self-testing methods and charted strengthening exercises so you can develop perfect foot muscles.

How to Avoid Overuse of the Achilles Tendon in Sports and Ballet

One of the too-common dance injuries is that of the achilles tendon. Runners and other athletes in sports training also suffer some over use inflammation, and even rupture of the achilles tendon.

 This tendon depends on muscle strength in the calf and the foot, to retain proper use.

Following are some self-care tips that will help you avoid overuse and injury of your achilles tendons, and encourage courageous patience in better rehabilitation.

Tendonitis is all too-prevalent in dance injuries and sports injuries. In fact, when someone says "I have tendonitis" it usually refers to the achilles tendon, without being explained, it is that common. Inflammation, or "itis" can occur in any area of the body.

The achilles tendon comes from the lower end of the calf muscles, and inserts, or is attached, to the heel bone. The calf muscles above, and the intrinsic foot muscles below, are supposed to do all the actual work in moving the foot flexed, or extended (pointed, in ballet).

If the foot can flex and stretch without changing its angle (curving outward, or sickling out in ballet, or curving inward, sickling in or 'pigeon toes'), in most cases the tendon will not get irritated.

This is presuming that when you are standing on an even surface, the foot is not sloping inward, what people think of as "fallen arches", or is not sloping outward toward the little toe edge of the foot.

Runners and other athletes often work on uneven surfaces and depend on both strength and supportive shoes to minimize the variation in foot angle as it strikes the ground or pushes off.

Ballet dancers absolutely depend on foot strength to prevent misuse, as they do not generally wear supports in their ballet shoes and pointe shoes. If needed, however, orthotics, or foot levelers, can be worn in dance shoes.

If a dancer or athlete has bowed legs, or hyper-extended legs, there will be an angle created just to have the feet flat on the floor.

If this situation is understood, the student can be taught how to avoid inflammation of the achilles tendon through understanding, and correction of, or accurate compensation for, this particular anatomical detail.

Correcting the stance of hyper-extended legs by stacking the skeletal joints (ankles, knees, hips and on up) and holding turnout, will correct the natural pronation (fallen arches) of the feet on the floor.

Sometimes this is not even visible to a glance in dancers, due to a strong built-up muscle structure that is deceptive. Even chiropractors and physio therapists have to test dancers' muscles extensively, in order not to miss this observation, until they gain experience with it.

As more and more athletes are studying ballet principles of turnout and footwork to gain an extra advantage in their performance, and prevent sports injuries, hopefully the area of hyper-extension will also be addressed.

Bowed legs require an angle of the foot, for it to be flat on the floor. In ballet, correct use of turnout, developing the intrinsic foot muscles, and always having the body weight placed correctly on the feet (hyper-extension and bowed legs tend to throw the weight back) minimizes the overuse and irritation of the achilles tendon.

Both ballet dancers and athletes need the understanding that poorly developed foot muscles lead to exhausting the calf muscles. This in turn creates tension, loss of muscle tone and strength, and the achilles tendon develops tendonitis.

Once inflammation has set in, rest, and icing must be applied. A courageous patience is needed in recovery, as the pressure to stay in the daily competitive drive for a an upcoming exam, performance or team try-out, must be resisted. You long term persistence in your chosen field depends on avoiding a chronic situation.

Ballet, dance, and sports injuries can be prevented. If you are a pre-pro, a would-be ballerina, a dedicated recreational dancer or athlete, study all you can about how to avoid overuse and injury of your achilles tendon. Everything you need to know is in The Perfect Pointe Book.