Club Foot Mobility

[Badoga]

Hello,

My 12-year old son was born with club foot (left foot) and has mobility issues. He’s had multiple doctors as we’ve moved around with my job and they all agree his range of motion will be limited. He’s had two Achilles Tenotomies, along with Tibial derotational osteotomy. (poor kid) All this was done to achieve the maximum amount of mobility in the ankle.

I say all this because while stretching and mobility exercises are very important, we’ve been told his left foot will not have the flexibility of a normal person.

BUT, he still wants be a strong, useful man and for that he needs to squat. Any ideas? He can do a half squat before his ankle lifts off the ground. I was thinking about using a squat wedge. I looked online and see that they go up to 30 degrees. Thoughts on this? Or, what else can we do?

Thanks, in advance, for any advice.

- Ben

[Mark Rippetoe]

What ROM does he have in that ankle?

[Badoga]

What ROM does he have in that ankle?

Hi Mark

Thanks for responding. You’ve had a big impact on my lifting and am very appreciative of your contributions to the sport. I’m glad I got to say this.

To measure his ankle dorsiflexion, with my son sitting with the knee angle at 90 and foot hanging, i use my hand to stabilize the posterior fibula and tibia. When stretching his calf by moving the foot up towards the knee, it hits a brick wall at a 90 degree angle to the tibia. Then he can move it down about 10 or 15 degrees.

I’ll post a brief video too. I really appreciate the help!

Ankle ROM - YouTube

[Mark Rippetoe]

Look at page 28 in the blue book. The squat doesn't require a lot of dorsiflexion. Can he approach this under a load (your hand does not provide the same situation)?

[Badoga]

I hope that we see an improvement once we get him under a load. We just started the process. He can’t get into the position in fig. 2-13 on page 21 of the blue book without his left heel raising off the floor. It literally seems like he has zero dorsiflexion in the left foot. I’ve had him try to squat with a 35 pound bar. As he drops down, his left heel rises about 1.5 inches off the floor.

I am hoping that as his performance increases, the heavier loads will help. But how do I get him to those heavier loads when I can’t get him to depth now?

I’ve read a few articles from Chad Vaughn and know that we don’t want to go easy on him. We’ll get him squatting! I appreciate any further advice. Thanks!

[Mark Rippetoe]

Tell us about his training shoes.

[Badoga]

Great point. I just ordered him some Reebok Legacy Lifters. I’ll let you know the effect they have when they get here (4 to 8 days). I’m sure they’ll help a lot.

Stay tuned and thanks for the help!