Problem with lunges

[boards]

When doing lunges my toes on the back foot hurt as I get my knee closer to the ground. Would turning my back foot 90 degrees make a significant change to how the lunge works (like the yoga warrior pose), or should I just slowly increase the depth of the lunge until the flexibilty of toes increases?

[Kurtka Jerker]

I'd be wary of damaging my knee and ankle by turning the foot like that. You just need to develop flexibility in your toes assuming there isn't some injury that's causing the pain.

Someone more knowlegeable might correct this though.

[Fish Of Doom]

turning your foot 90 degrees might loosen the ligaments in your knee and/or ankle, and generally screw very badly with your leg as a result, if i'm picturing what you ask correctly. i would suggest plantar massage/myofascial release (plenty of threads about it, and a youtube search will throw up hundreds of useful references), coupled with calf stretching so that there's less overall tension in your lower leg, but i'm not entirely sure why your TOES would hurt, so i'd also suggest you check with a physiotherapist to see if you might have done anything to them.

[boards]

Thanks for the replies.

The foot placement I was thinking of using is like the back foot of this picture.
http://www.cnyhealingarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/warrior-2.jpg

Trying this I have not felt any pressure on my knee or ankles but I will just try increasing the depth slowly and do those massages you suggest.
I don't know of any injuries I have done to my feet other than a broken toe as a child and thats not the toe that hurts.

[Fish Of Doom]

but you can't go deep with your back foot at 90 degrees to your front foot. if your leg is not rotated at the hip, your ankle or knee are going to de-align and eventually get injured, and if you keep the knee-ankle alignment, you run the risk of grinding your femur against your hip socket, which will screw up your hip quite badly in the long run.

[boards]

but you can't go deep with your back foot at 90 degrees to your front foot. if your leg is not rotated at the hip, your ankle or knee are going to de-align and eventually get injured, and if you keep the knee-ankle alignment, you run the risk of grinding your femur against your hip socket, which will screw up your hip quite badly in the long run.

Thanks Fish.
I wont be doing that then.

[righty]

What shoes, if any are you wearing?

[boards]

What shoes, if any are you wearing?

Just doing then at home as I am to busy to go to the gym at the moment, so just doing them barefoot. At the gym I generally just use Dunlop Volleys.

[righty]

If you don't get relief from experimenting with different shoes you can do some other things.

Make sure you are stepping backward when you do the lunge and not forward. A lot of people do then by stepping forward and I've been told to do it different ways. But stepping backwards will put less stress on the toes and balls of the rear foot as you are never putting all the weight on it.

Also try different stepping distances. This changes the angle and may relieve the foot.

If all else fails use the raised rear leg variation. This doesn't bend your toes at all but is a bit more difficult. Here's an example - you don't have to use a ball.

http://0.tqn.com/d/exercise/1/0/K/9/Ball-lunge.gif

In addition, presuming you haven't injured your toes I find it strange that you would have pain doing this. Can you kneel with your weight down (bum to heels) and toes 'loaded' or bent back?

[Fish Of Doom]

righty's post brings something to mind: have you tried padding the surface on which your toes are? a thick piece of foam, a folded towel, something like that.

[Dao]

Try a 'speedskater squat' as a replacement for lunges. It is similar to the suggestion above.
Of course this is only while you work on your toe mobility as this should not be a painful movement and may have long-term ramifications for your hip and leg mobility.

Dao

[boards]

If you don't get relief from experimenting with different shoes you can do some other things.

Make sure you are stepping backward when you do the lunge and not forward. A lot of people do then by stepping forward and I've been told to do it different ways. But stepping backwards will put less stress on the toes and balls of the rear foot as you are never putting all the weight on it.

Also try different stepping distances. This changes the angle and may relieve the foot.

If all else fails use the raised rear leg variation. This doesn't bend your toes at all but is a bit more difficult. Here's an example - you don't have to use a ball.

http://0.tqn.com/d/exercise/1/0/K/9/Ball-lunge.gif

In addition, presuming you haven't injured your toes I find it strange that you would have pain doing this. Can you kneel with your weight down (bum to heels) and toes 'loaded' or bent back?

Squating down on my toes is no problem as that is my default method, squatting heels down is much harder especially without a barbell. However squatting on my toes the angle is much less, the heel only being about three inches off the ground, while doing a lunge the heel is around six inches off the ground in order to get my knee close to the ground.

I will try the raised foot lunge as well as your other suggestions.

[boards]

righty's post brings something to mind: have you tried padding the surface on which your toes are? a thick piece of foam, a folded towel, something like that.

Haven't tried this yet, will give it a go.

[boards]

Try a 'speedskater squat' as a replacement for lunges. It is similar to the suggestion above.
Of course this is only while you work on your toe mobility as this should not be a painful movement and may have long-term ramifications for your hip and leg mobility.

Dao

I'll look that up.

[seiken steve]

have you spoken to anyone to have your toe/ankle/knee/hip mobility assesed?