1/26/21

Taper – Microcycle 1 – Tuesday

Heel Drops 3 x 15 

Bench 5 x 3 @ 90%

Weighted Pullups 5 x 3 @ 90%

Planches

Then:

45-minute bike

Foam roll

Breakdown/Achilles Tendon Saga Cont.

So, the plan was to do the usual lift and then run 4 miles, but with the tendon recovery, it’s been replaced with a bike and removal of all heavy legs.

Heel drops (a.k.a Eccentric Deficit calf raises) will be done every day until I can do them weighted and then I will alternate weighted and unweighted days until two days before the competition.

I talked a little about these yesterday, but for a better explanation see below:

Eccentric Deficit calf raises or heel drops have shown great results in assisting with Achilles tendon recoveries. A quick PubMed search will show dozens of studies on Achilles tendon injuries with quite a few spouting the effectiveness of heel drops. To include a follow-up 5 years later for those that previously had a chronic case. They also showed significant improvement if not outright cures.

And, who am I to argue with such solid results. So, into the program, they go.

So, how do you do them?

Heel drops are just like the normal run of the mill calf raises, except they are done on a raised platform and end in a deficit.

From the top of the platform, conduct your calf raises with the back 75% of your feet hanging over the edge. You want just the front balls of your feet supporting you. From there, use your opposite leg (non-working leg) to assist your working leg so it is now on the very top of its tippy toes. 

Once you are at the highest point, you then support all or at least as much of your weight as you can on the working leg (the one on its tippy-toes) and then control the descent. The goal is to now go as low as you can, preferably with your heel well past the plane of your toes. That is one rep. Usually, you do all reps for one set on the same foot before switching over.

Don’t use your injured foot to help up your non-injured foot up. That would be a little ridiculous and probably painful.