Wow! What the hell did you do to yourself?
I wouldnt be suprised if there is some impingement, especially looking at right foot pic number 2. Also with all of that surgery, you would expect some chrondocyte activity leading to spurs etc.
My advice would be to continue your ankle mobility drills, aslong as there is no pain.
Do you have any pain? Is there any difference between right and left mobility? How is you achillies and planta fascia flexibility?
Any chance of a video showing the knee to wall ankle flexibility test?
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they are both about as bad as each other with respect to ankle dorsiflexion.
i can get them moving forwards a little more than in the vid if i repeatedly jam them into position for the wall test - but that doesn’t seem to translate into mobility because the extra range of motion needs to be forced (it feels crunchy and then planter-flexion stiffens up).
i’ve got 2x standard oly heel raise to shift my balance forwards so i don’t fall on my ass.
thats why it looks a bit freaky / odd.
as for pain, it depends what you mean by ‘pain’. i’ve learned to ignore them for the most part (methodone program for long term pain relief - no thanks!) i have some trouble figuring out what is limiting the ROM. whether it is soft tissue or orthopedic.
i think that the tendons / fascia / soft tissue whatevers have shortened on the underside of my toes / feet / up the back of my heel.
will keep working on stretching those out…
but… um… they probably aren’t likely to get much better. are they?
Hi Alexus.
Im actually really impressed with your movement. If those are your warm up sets, it does not look like you have many problems with flexibility and form. I would kill to be able to overhead squat!
Do you foam roll much? Ive noticed the plantar fascia of the leg with my bad ankle is much tighter and ropier. It really crunches and hurts when I myofascial release with a baseball.
Do you take fish oil? I find that makes a big difference when it comes to joint pain. Might even pay to consider circumin??
Have you ever considered trying a strassburg sock for a few nights a week?
P.S; can you pleaase ignore my comment I made about “girls flexibility” in the thread regarding squat depth. I didnt realise your a girl. Sorry.
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i can’t overhead squat without my magic shoes (2.5cm heel raise). still having trouble with my hips being so far behind my midfoot since my knees can’t come forwards more, though. Would be better if my torso was more upright.
Foam (EVA) and softball rolling every day. Been serious about it for the last 6 months or so. Roll under my feet and around the front and back of my lower legs in particular. Good for the hip flexors, too 
Yes fish oil. Will rig myself up a strassburg sock or two and see if that helps… Will look into circumin. Thanks for that.
Don’t worry about your comment. I figured you were just joking around.
Your movement is still impressive, magic shoes or no magic shoes.
I was wondering how you foam roll your hip flexors? Foam or the ball?
Im about to order a strassburg sock aswell.
You might be interested in this website: www.mobilitywod.com
Bird style.
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Strassburg sock is a great investment. Just do not get overzealous when putting it on for the first time and overtighten the straps - toes will go numb for sure.
thanks bird. worked hard to get that movement - but still looks very unbalanced and odd to me. no wonder i can’t squat much 
i have an eva foam roller (firmer than usual foam but not quite as savage as pipe). can rest it horizontally at the top of my quads / in my hip joint and sometimes get some pressure release if i wiggle myself from side to side. softball is a bit too firm, if you ask me… i do need pipe for my lower legs and quads and ITB now, though, i’m realizing. would have rolled myself an injury if i’d have started with that, though…
that website is a good one
in your case… what are your mobilizations / stretches for? i have found myself in the position of spending 40 minutes warming up with rolling / stretching… but have managed to cut things back now. basically eliminating the things which aren’t as helpful. are you trying to improve your squat mobility primarily or greater aims than that? if it is primarily squat mobility i’ve found in my own case that some quad / ITB / glute rolling then moving into goblet squats is the most effective warm-up for mobilization / stretching. I don’t find that spending a lot of time stretching adds anything that the goblet squats don’t give me.
thanks for the info about the sock. i’m going to try making them (some instructions were posted on FarmerBrett’s log a while back). Need to get some shoe goo… Will be careful about how tight I make it, though. Sounds like I might need to progressively shorten them over time. I had wondered about that. Thanks.
Hey Alexus.
So how much can you squat?
I really do recommend a PVC pipe, great for the IT band and outer hammies.
When you do your goblet squats, do you keep your lower back arched? When I do goblet squats my lower back rounds out at the bottom.
Personally Im trying to increase my mobility so i can do some proper squatting and deadlifting without irritating my lower back and putting myself at risk of injuries.
Where about in Australia are you? Im in Perth. You look like a Melbourne girl?
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front squat 42.5kg for a single. but i snatched 39.5kg today, heh. yeah, i’ll get a pvc pipe…
it sounds like your goal is to learn to hold your lumbar arch in squats and deadlifts. i think you will find stretching to be of limited utility. best stretch for squats is squats.
so… yes, you want to hold your lumbar arch with the goblet squat. can you set your arch when you are standing and then hold it as tight as you can when you descend into a goblet squat? just go as low as you can go while holding your lumbar arch hard. you will probably feel an intense stretch in your hip flexors. sit into the stretch for a couple seconds. maybe bounce a little bit gently if you can do that while holding your arch.
don’t worry if you didn’t break paralell - it will work its way lower in time. eventually you should be able to go all the way down into the squat while holding your arch and then with a bar. once you have the hang of holding it it should have carry over to deadlifts, too, because you should be able to set it hard and feel when it starts to get pulled out.
i’m in the ACT but I’m a kiwi, really.
Hi Alexus,
How are your ankles? Have you made your strassburg sock yet? I think Im going to order one from Amazon. My calves are 16 inches so im not sure if I should order the medium sock(16 inches and under) or large sock (16-21 inches).
I was just wondering if you were planning on visiting Perth one day soon? Its much warmer here and hence better for your ankles.
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Bird, go with the medium. They stretch a good bit. Mine are at 16 inches too and it fits well with room still.
[quote]LevelHeaded wrote:
Bird, go with the medium. They stretch a good bit. Mine are at 16 inches too and it fits well with room still.[/quote]
Thanks man, but last night I ordered the large size. Dam.
I do have long legs. Ill let you know how it fits when it arrives.
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Either should work for you. I have worn both sizes. I just felt the medium fit “snugger”, which I preferred. The large felt a bit loose around my calf and I had to really tighten the upper strap to make sure it didn’t slide.
Dont believe you should have any limitations in ankle DF. The hardware does not appear as though it is crossing the talocrural joint and sounds like you need a healthy regimen of joint mobs/stretching to loosen the joint capsule and other soft tissue structures.
thanks.
i’ve started using a 20kg plate on my leg to help me push the dorsiflexion. feels like the restriction is my achilles tendon. fingers crossed i can stretch it out over time. will keep working on it anyways