Yoga Glossary · Joint Actions
Plantarflexion
Pointing the foot — pressing through the toes like a dancer or a swimmer's kick.
Plantarflexion is the ankle motion of pointing the toes away from the shin, the way a foot looks in a ballet point or when pressing a car's accelerator. It is produced by the calf muscles — gastrocnemius and soleus — through the Achilles tendon.
Yoga points the feet more than it first appears: kneeling poses rest on plantarflexed feet, the lifted leg in balances often extends through the toes, and pressing up onto the balls of the feet in transitions is plantarflexion power. It also lengthens the front of the shin and the top of the foot, which is why kneeling on pointed feet can feel like such a strong shin stretch.
In practice
- The top-of-foot press in kneeling poses is plantarflexion under load — ease in if the shins protest.
- Reaching energy out through pointed toes in a lifted leg makes the whole line feel longer.
- Cramping in the arch during pointed-foot work usually eases as the calves and foot muscles adapt.
Poses built on this action
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The Yoga Glossary is an educational study reference. Definitions are standard yoga and anatomy knowledge in plain language; nothing here is medical advice.