Before you get started on a physical therapy program, it is helpful to understand more about the terms used to describe the movements of your joints and the muscles.
You will work on improving your range of motion. This is the range, or limit, that you can move your joint. The ranges of flexion and extension are the most common areas of focus.
When you work on flexion, it is the ability to bend or flex the joint/limb. The muscles that perform this movement are called flexors.
Flexion
When the goal is to improve extension, then the exercise will work on improving the ability to extend or straighten a joint/limb. The muscles that perform this movement are called extensors.
Extension
Other range of motion exercise will work on the ability to rotate the joint/limb. External rotation means to rotate the limb away from the center of the body, while internal rotation is toward the center of the body. Hip and shoulder joints can also move away from the body, in a movement called abduction the muscles that perform this movement are called abductors.
External rotation
When exercising the ankle joint, you’re your program may focus on movements particular to the ankle. The ankle joint has the ability to move inward, called ankle inversion, and outward, called eversion. Movement of the ankle upward while elevating the foot is called dorsiflexion, while pointing the ankle downward is called plantar flexion.
