This is our fifth and last part of the Functional Resistance Training series, and in this episode, we will be discussing the Hell Raise. If there is a chance you haven’t read the previous episodes, you can check them out on our blog.
Heel Raise
This is an important exercise promoting balance and lower extremity/knee stability and can be performed both as a muscle-strengthening activity and a balance exercise. The muscle group we are working here is the calf muscles.
How to Perform Heel Raises:
Stand with feet flat on the floor, and to begin the movement raise the heels to the maximum height possible, make sure to lift heels off the floor for each repetition. We are aiming for around 12 to 15 repetitions, remember not to worry if we cannot get all 15 reps on the first try. Start at your level and build up to 3 sets of 12-15 reps.
Progressions:
Level 1: Face a counter or a wall and places the hands-on either to help with the balance. Lift heels off the floor, hold for 2 – 3 seconds, and return to the start position (flat foot)
Level 2: Hoover the hands at the wall or over the counter but do not touch the counter/wall, hold each rep for 2-3 seconds and return to start position.
Level 3: Single leg heel raise, lift one leg and perform heel raises on one leg as shown in the pictures, then switch to the other.
The Information in the above blog has been adopted from Roetert & Ortega (2019) “Physical Literacy for the Older Adult” published in the Strength & Conditioning Journal.
