Uphill Walking for Achilles Tendon Lengthening

Ankle dorsiflexion range of motion is important for many reasons such as reducing risk of lower body injury during sport activity, allowing a full depth squat in training scenarios, and preventing midfoot and forefoot pain with running.

Yoshida et al1 recently published a study that investigated the effects of walking on a treadmill with a gradient and achilles tendon length. Participants performed 10 minutes of treadmill walking at a 10° incline with achilles tendon length measured before and after treadmill walking.

There was a significant difference in ankle dorsiflexion range of motion with both the knee extended and knee flexed for the incline walking group as well as a significant difference in achilles tendon length upon measurement.

Research has shown that active contraction of the gastrocnemius muscle has greater impact on achilles tendon length than static stretching and uphill walking is an accessible and inexpensive method to increase achilles tendon length.

Take home message

Work on your aerobic capacity and improve your ankle dorsiflexion at the same time with sustained uphill walking either outside on the trails or indoors on an inclined treadmill!

Citations:

Yoshida T, Tanino Y, Nakao T, Yamazaki W, Suzuki T. Change in Achilles Tendon Length after Walking on Treadmill with Gradient. Prog Rehabil Med. 2024 Feb 10;9:20240006. doi: 10.2490/prm.20240006. PMID: 38343876; PMCID: PMC10853016.