You Must Not Loosen the Tibialis Anterior

You must not loosen the tibialis anterior.

It is often explained that when the muscles in the front of the shin (such as the tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum longus) become stiff, it becomes easier for the knees to cave in (knee-in) or bow out (knee-out), and it becomes difficult to stand straight.

The causes cited for this include "postural collapse due to hunched back," "not walking enough," or "a walking style with a limited range of ankle motion," and the approach taken is usually to loosen the shin and then perform calf raises to balance the front and back.

I believe there are several fundamental errors in this explanation.

"Stiff = Loosen" is the gateway to error.

First of all, the premise that "stiffness = bad" does not hold true.

The habit-related issues of "not walking enough" or "not using the ankles properly" are reasons why muscles cannot be used effectively, not reasons why muscles become stiff. These are separate matters.

Furthermore, the tibialis anterior is a muscle that must not be loosened.

This muscle should be tense all the time. In fact, it is a muscle that needs to be used constantly, and the concept of "overuse" does not apply to it in the first place.

The expression "balancing the front and back between the tibialis anterior and the triceps surae" also needs clarification. If you call it balance when the tibialis anterior is always ON and the triceps surae is in a relaxed state, that is understandable. However, if you mean balance in the sense of "both being moderate," that is incorrect.

Regarding the connection to a hunched back, I also believe there is no relationship.

The relationship between the tibialis anterior and knee-in is the opposite.

The explanation that "if the tibialis anterior is stiff, it is easy to become knee-in" has the conclusion reversed.

It is precisely because the tibialis anterior is being used well that it becomes harder for knee-in or knee-out to occur. To stand straight, it is necessary to keep using the tibialis anterior constantly.

The perspective should not be "problems are occurring because it is stiff," but rather "problems are occurring because it is not being used well." If that is the case, the approach should not be to loosen it, but to make it usable correctly.

The approach of treating stiffness as evil and loosening it is actually creating the very condition you want to improve.