How many of you can touch your toes? Without bending at the knee? Some of you can, folks like me are at about mid shin. (C’mon, I have long legs!) Are the people who are more flexible going to be better runners? Maybe, but maybe not. The key here is being flexible enough. The person who is less flexible still may be flexible enough to complete the task at hand. That is essentially the idea of being functionally flexible. More so, we have come to recognize that the fastest of runners aren’t always the most flexible, either. It has to do with elasticity and running economy- not the point of this post.

What is the point is that doing things like we did in gym class isn’t necessarily going to determine our ability as a runner, or even our likelihood of getting injured due to our “inflexibility.” What I want to show you is a series of tests that you can do that will help determine a) what type of flexibility you have for running and b) if that flexibility needs to be worked on. Establishing this point can then allow us to have discussions about how to stretch and increase our flexibility vs. stretching for the sake of stretching.

All of the following is based off of Jay Dicharry and his book, Anatomy for Runners. If you are into self-help, this is a great resource for you. He essentially has put together a series of tests you can do to see where you are at, in terms of needing to fix issues or identify potential injury sites.

Test 1: Ankle Dorsiflexion

Dorsiflexion is when the top of the foot and front of the shin is flexed. So this can be from you actively flexing your foot towards the sky or from the flexion occurring from your foot landing on the ground when running and the weight of that action causing the flexion. Why having enough flexion is important is because it can directly relate to your ability to cushion your own bodyweight, as well as dictate your stride length. Lacking the right amount of ankle flexibility will shorten your stride length and make your stride more “bouncy.” Effectively, you’ll be less efficient and more likely to have some sort of lower leg injury.

Fortunately, we can test this pretty easily. Here’s how:

* Sit down in a chair with both knee at a 90 degree angle and foot flat on the floor.

* Slide in chair so that knees are just past the toes.

* If you can’t keep your heels on the ground then we now that your achilles tendon is too tight.

That’s all you need to worry about right now. We’ll discuss what to actually do about it in our Flexibility discussion.

Test 2: Dorsiflexion of big toe(s)

The ability for the big toe to have flexion is important for our foot strike as well. If we can’t flex the big toe, then chances are that our plantar fascia is too tight. Anyone who has had “the fasciitis” knows that it isn’t pleasant. It also can limit our form too, as having a big toe that can’t flex means that you affect your push off with your gait. This can affect stride length, as well.

How to test:

* Stay in same position that you ended up in for test #1.

* Keep the ball of your foot on the floor and try to raise just your big toe to a 30 degree angle.

* If you can’t, or the ball of the foot comes off the floor, then the plantar fascia is probably too tight.

Test 3: Hip extension

Hip extension, or when your foot is unsupported and swinging behind your during the running cycle, is vital to running form and running economy. Much like with ankle dorsiflexion, if this is limited, you are limiting the natural length of your stride.

How to test:

* Kneel down on one knee, preferably inside a door jamb. Be positioned so that the femur (quad) of the kneeled leg is vertical. As is the shin of the opposite leg.

* With back against the door jamb, you should have a natural curve along your lower back. Try to flatten this against the door jamb.