Case Study: Capoeirista After Achilles' Repair

Late last year, a capoeirista was referred to me by another physical therapist he was working with after he ruptured his Achilles’ tendon 7 months prior. She had been working on the usual Achilles’ tendon rehab protocol and gradually increasing his tolerance to loading his calf and, thus, his Achilles. At the time that I met him (let’s call him KB), KB was able to walk without a limp and perform most of his daily activities without any issues. 

However, his capoeira training was still mainly virtual, inconsistent and, to top it all off, he lacked confidence performing any movement that involved leaving the ground for any amount of time (e.g cartwheels, switching legs on the ground (aka troca negativa), and the armada martelo--a spinning kick in the air). I knew immediately what I must do in terms of capoeira-specific training, but I still could not neglect that his tendon needed to become more resilient to stress overall. 

Here is the layout of what I gave him during the 3 months of our time working together: 

Month #1:

Restore Achilles’ extensibility and build tolerance to plyometric load. I advised KB to continue loading single leg heel raises and deadlifts, but I also gave KB dynamic stretches for his ankle and foot to build tolerance to end range stretching of his Achilles’ tendon. To address the speed component of his training, I incorporated movements at faster speeds, including kettlebell swings and plyometric lunges (quick esquivas).

Month #2:

Add modified versions of capoeira movements. While progressively increasing load for squats and deadlifts, I advised KB to attempt small cartwheels and ground movements involving landing on the balls of his foot. To start, I set a maximum number of repetitions to 10 per week and increased by 5 depending on his tolerance to performing them.

Month #3:

Increase height and distance of plyometric movements. Small cartwheels become large cartwheels. We also began to incorporate bounding forward for distance and performing forward and lateral skipping to test tolerance to load. Again, I started with a “pitch count” regarding the number of repetitions to be performed and increased gradually. 

I’m happy to report that KB has resumed full training with his capoeira school! Thanks for reading and, hopefully, this provided a potential roadmap for how to work with a capoeirista recovering from an Achilles’ tendon repair.