Calves exercise
Knee-to-Wall Ankle MobilisationHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Calves
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Knee-to-Wall Ankle Mobilisation?
- Face a wall with your hands on it and one foot in front, toes a hand's width from the wall.
- Keep that heel down and bend the ankle to push your knee forward towards the wall.
- Touch the wall with your knee, in line with your middle toes, then come back.
- Do 10 reps, moving the foot a little further back when it gets easy.
- Switch legs.
Cues
- Heel stays glued down.
- Knee tracks over your toes.
- Smooth in, smooth out.
Common mistakes
- Heel lifting: move your foot a little closer to the wall.
- Knee caving in: aim the knee at your middle toes.
- Leaning your body instead: keep your chest tall and let the knee travel.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
Standing facing a wall in a short split stance, hands on the wall, right foot in front with the big toe about 10 cm from the wall; the right knee drives forward over the toes to touch the wall while the right heel stays down, then returns. This is the standing form from a UK physiotherapy programme (Pure Physiotherapy); the half-kneeling version (Prehab Guys) is the same ankle movement and is not shown.
Starting position
Face the wall. Left foot about one short step behind (heel 40–50 cm behind the right heel), left heel may rise. Hands on the wall at chest height, shoulder width, elbows bent. Stand tall with the weight mostly on the right foot, right knee straight over the ankle.
The movement
Bend the right ankle and knee to drive the right knee straight forward over the second toe until it touches the wall, keeping the whole right foot flat and the heel firmly down. Touch for a moment, then push back to the start. The knee travels in a straight line towards the wall, not inwards; the arch does not collapse; the trunk stays upright and moves forward only as the knee does.
Breathing
Breathe out as the knee goes forward, in on the way back.
Tempo
One rep, 4 s: 1.5 s knee forward, 1 s touch, 1.5 s back to the start. Real sets: 10 reps, 2–3 sets per leg; move the foot 1 cm further back when the touch is easy.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Knee travels 25–30 cm forward and touches the wall in line with the second toe.
- Right heel flat on the floor throughout; foot points straight at the wall.
- Trunk within 10–15° of vertical; elbows bend a little as the body moves forward.
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Knee-to-Wall Ankle Mobilisation is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
