MoPro
TrainersEye · Foot & Ankle Health
Foot & Ankle Rehab N
Trainer's Eye
Phase 3 · Calf and Achilles · Session N

Three up.
Three down.
Twice a day if it helps.

The classic loading protocols, straight-knee and bent-knee, run at a tempo the tendon can actually use.

  • Nsession
  • P3Calf
  • 12:00on the clock
  • — donecompleted

Slow and heavy

Heavy slow resistance and eccentric loading both work for Achilles pain. What matters is that the load is real and rises over time.

Tendons adapt slowly

Tendon takes months to remodel, not weeks. Pain often improves long before the tissue is done. Keep going.

Eccentric control brakes you

Lowering strength — down stairs, down hills — is lost first and trained last. It starts in phase three.

Three couplets · two rounds · twelve minutes · feet that carry you

A

Hold the top

Hold raises + weighted single-leg
A1

Heel raise with a 3-second hold

60 s · slow reps

Rise fully, hold three seconds at the very top, lower over three.

Easier two feet, hold a support  ·  Harder one leg

R1R2—
A2

Weighted single-leg heel raise

12/side · ×2

Backpack on; full range on one leg, slow and controlled throughout.

Easier bodyweight  ·  Harder heavier

R1R2
B

The protocol

Straight-knee lowers + bent-knee lowers
B1

Straight-knee eccentric lowers

60 s · slow reps

Up on both, down on one with the knee straight over three seconds, off a step.

Easier on the floor  ·  Harder hold a backpack

R1R2—
B2

Bent-knee eccentric lowers

12/side · ×2

Same, with the knee bent — this loads the soleus portion of the tendon.

Easier on the floor  ·  Harder hold a backpack

R1R2
C

Travel

Heel raise walk + deficit raise
C1

Heel raise walk

60 s · steps to beat

Rise onto the toes and walk forward staying high the whole way — count the steps.

Easier hold a support  ·  Harder backpack on

R1R2—
C2

Deficit heel raise

12 reps · ×2

Forefoot on a book; sink the heels below the level and drive all the way up.

Easier flat floor  ·  Harder one leg

R1R2

The clock

Round 1settle in — 70%, perfect tracking
0:00A1 → A2
2:00B1 → B2
4:00C1 → C2
Round 2own it — beat Round 1 by quality
6:00A1 → A2
8:00B1 → B2
10:00C1 → C2

Each couplet: 60 s scored → the loading set → 10 s to move on. Done at 12:00.

How to run it

  1. Tendons want load, not rest. Slow and heavy beats light and fast every time.
  2. Three seconds up, three seconds down. The lowering is where the tendon adapts.
  3. Insertional Achilles pain (at the bone): stay on flat ground. No heel drops below the step.
  4. Full range means all the way up onto the toes and, unless the pain is at the bone, all the way down.

Tick it off

MovementRound 1Round 2Best
A1Heel raise with a 3-second holdslow reps in 60 s —
A2Weighted single-leg heel raise12/side
B1Straight-knee eccentric lowersslow reps in 60 s —
B2Bent-knee eccentric lowers12/side
C1Heel raise walksteps in 60 s —
C2Deficit heel raise12 reps
Session time
StreakDay —
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TE-12-FOOTANKLE-N