My heels came off the floor

THE 30-SECOND VERSION

Walking and stairs need your ankle to bend about ten degrees. A third of older ankles cannot manage it. Test yours against a wall before you stretch anything.

TODAY’S MOVE

The ankle that will not bend

Back to the feet. In July we built strength. Today we go after the stiffness above them.

I crouched down to look at a dripping pipe under the kitchen sink last month, and both heels came straight off the floor. I ended up balanced on the balls of my feet like a man about to fall into a cupboard, which is roughly what happened next.

Carol found this funnier than I did. But it stuck with me, because heels lifting like that is not a balance problem. It is an ankle that will not bend far enough, so the heel gets pulled up to make room. I had been blaming my knees.

There is a simple wall test that tells you where you stand, and it takes about a minute. Start there, because the answer decides whether today’s exercise is for you at all.

QUICK QUIZ · TAP TO ANSWER

You have two calf muscles. Which stretch reaches the deeper one?

Tap your guess. A ready-to-send reply opens. Just press send and we’ll tell you if you got it right.

With the back knee bent

With the back knee straight

It makes no difference

Do the wall test first

Stand facing a wall. Put one foot forward, toes about four inches back from it. Keeping that heel flat on the floor, push your knee forward to touch the wall. If the heel lifts, or the knee will not reach, your ankle is tight.

ⓘ Test both sides. One is usually stiffer, and that is the one to work on.

Stretch with the knee straight

Hands on the wall, step one foot well back. Keep that back leg straight and the heel pressed down. Lean in until you feel a pull up the middle of the calf. Hold 30 seconds.

ⓘ This reaches the big surface calf muscle, the one that crosses behind your knee.

Then bend that back knee

Same position, but bend the back knee a little and keep the heel down. The pull drops lower, nearer the ankle. Hold another 30 seconds. This is the half most people skip.

ⓘ Easier version: sit and pull your foot toward you with a towel looped round it.

Repeat and retest

Do both stretches twice on each leg, most days. After a few weeks, do the wall test again. That number is how you know whether this is working.

ⓘ Steady mild pull only. Never bounce, and never stretch into sharp pain.

✓✓ A steady pull through the calf is right. Sharp pain at the back of the heel, or in the Achilles tendon, is not. Ease off and shorten the stretch if you feel that.

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THE WHY

Ten degrees, and what happens without them

Dorsiflexion is the word for your ankle bending so the shin comes forward over the foot. You do it every step. As your weight rolls over a planted foot, the shin travels forward and the ankle has to allow it.

Walking and going down stairs need about ten degrees of that bend. Not much. Yet when researchers measured healthy older adults, roughly one in three came up short. The ankle stiffens quietly over the years, and nobody announces it.

Your body does not stop moving when the ankle runs out of room. It borrows. The heel lifts early, which is what happened to me under the sink. The step shortens. The knee and hip take up the slack. And more pressure lands on the ball of the foot, which measurement studies have confirmed.

It matters for steadiness too. Older adults who had not fallen had greater ankle range and stronger ankles than those who had. A stiff ankle gives you less room to catch yourself when a foot lands wrong.

Why two stretches, not one

Here is the bit that catches people. You have two calf muscles, not one. The big one on the surface runs up behind your knee, so a straight back leg is needed to stretch it. The deeper one starts below the knee, so bending that knee takes the big muscle out of the way and lets you reach it. Do only the straight-leg version and you have stretched half your calf. That is why we do both.

⚠ WHEN TO STOP

When to stop and call your doctor

These are uncommon, but they are signals to get checked rather than stretch through:

● Sudden sharp pain or a snap at the back of the ankle, which can mean a torn Achilles tendon.

● A calf that is swollen, warm, red, or tender on one side only. That needs seeing the same day.

● New numbness or pins and needles in the foot, or a sore that will not heal, especially with diabetes.

When in doubt, get it checked. PainFree adds to your doctor’s care. It never replaces it.

THIS WEEK’S QUICK WINS

Three easy ways to loosen an ankle

☕ Stretch at the kitchen counter

Hands on the counter, one foot back, and you have the position already. Thirty seconds straight-legged, thirty with the knee bent, while the coffee brews.

2 minutes • Both versions, both legs

👟 Watch the heel height on your shoes

A raised heel holds the calf in a shortened position all day, every day. If most of your shoes have a good lift under the heel, that is worth noticing.

One look • Check what you wear most

📏 Retest every few weeks

The wall test gives you a number, so use it. Note how far back your toes can start with the heel still down. Watching that improve is what keeps a stretching habit alive.

1 minute • Measure, do not guess

RESEARCH BRIEF

Stiff ankles, and what follows

Ordinary walking, stair descent, and kneeling need roughly ten degrees of ankle bend. When researchers measured healthy older adults, about a third fell below the threshold for a restricted ankle, and those people showed significantly higher pressure under the ball of the foot. A 2026 comparison found that older adults with no history of falls had greater ankle range and stronger ankles than those who had fallen. On the hopeful side, a randomized trial of adults aged 65 to 75 found that a few weeks of ankle stretching improved range, balance scores, and gait measures. One caveat worth stating: that trial used a generous daily dose, and stretching mainly helps people who are actually tight. More range is not automatically better, which is why the wall test comes first.

10°

of ankle bend that walking and stairs demand

1 in 3

healthy older adults tested had a restricted ankle

calf muscles, needing two different stretches

Test first, then stretch what is actually tight. A wall and a minute will tell you which camp you are in.

MOVEMENT OF THE WEEK

The toe lift

Stretching loosens the back of the ankle. This strengthens the front, the muscle that lifts your toes clear of the carpet. Older adults who had not fallen were stronger here.

1.	Sit in a chair with both feet flat on the floor.

2.	Keep your heels down and lift the front of both feet as high as you can. Hold 3 seconds.

3.	Lower slowly and repeat 15 times. You should feel it along your shin.

HOW TO PROGRESS

Starting out

Seated, 15 lifts

Building

One foot at a time

Stronger

Standing, holding a counter

Do the standing version only with a counter within reach, and keep your heels planted.

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Loosening an ankle, honestly graded

Calf stretching, if you are tight

Worth doing, and free. Trials in older adults show gains in ankle range, balance, and walking measures. Do both versions, straight knee and bent.

Strengthening the front of the ankle

A sensible partner to the stretching. Weakness here showed up alongside a history of falls, and the toe lift costs nothing.

Stretching when you are not tight

Not the goal. If the wall test is comfortable, your ankles have the range they need. Spend the minutes on strength and balance instead.

Check with a doctor or physical therapist first if you have had an Achilles injury, ankle surgery, or reduced feeling in your feet.

WORTH KNOWING

Your knee

The big calf muscle does not start at your ankle. It crosses all the way up behind your knee. That is why bending the knee changes what a calf stretch reaches, and why one stretch was never going to do the whole job.

Basic calf anatomy.

QUICK POLL · TAP TO ANSWER