Ankle strengthening

nermal6873

My right ankle is much weaker than my left due to multiple sprains in high school. It's been over 15 years since I've injured it, but I recently started C25K and have noticed its pretty sore after my runs. It doesn't "hurt", but just feels sore, like it's been over-worked. Any tips for strengthening the ankle?

fatcellsuck

I don't know anything, sorry.

peachNpunkin

I have the same problem. I'll ask some docs I work with this weekend and see what I find out.

_Bob_

with mine it was all strength training. doing calf raises and also using the rubber-band thing they gave me in rehab. my left foot came off the joint and my bones separated tearing or stretching everything below my knee. I've herd that swimming can also help it a lot. hope that helps.

meshashesha2012

get an exercise band and work on moving your foot up and down and side to side.

calf raises and try to stay on the balls of the feet for a few seconds

hcoburn37

I am waiting on an ankle reconstruction but decided I wasn't going to not work out. I was told to do some calf raises. Also to lay on my side with my foot over the arm of the couch and use my purse as a weight. Put the purse over your foot and just raise your ankle up and down (not your leg, just the ankle). I haven't had many problems with running or doing the eliptical since I started doing this.

sc1572

I sprained my ankle this past summer and did some exercises from the doc...
1) Calf raises either from the ground, or on the stairs...stairs has a farther range of movement
2) Sit on a chair and stick out your leg in front of you, use your ankle to write out the alphabet in motion.
3) Sit with both legs out in front of you, point, flex, point, flex.

Those helped me! Sometimes, my ankle still has problems, so I do these, wrap it, or use ice/heat.

MrsSassyPants

My ankles are also just a little weak. Same for my wrists. I take glucosamine and that seems to help. I have found the liquid to be a little more effective than the tablets.

momwhosbusy

My daughters PT recommended that she "write the alphabet" (In the air, using your ankles to make you toes move in the shape of the letters...)with her big toes while she is sitting and watching tv, doing homework, lying in bed...etc several times a day in order to strengthen her ankles.

nermal6873

Wow! Thanks for all of the quick responses and great ideas! I'll start working on these tonight

missigus

My daughter has the same thing and is in therapy right now. They are having her flex against an orange band by pressing her foot down against the band and then pulling upward against the band also pulling outward then inward against the band. She is also doing calf raises but concertrating on keeping the ankle straight, not allowing it to buckle, also standing on the affected leg on a stability board again concentrating on keeing the ankle as still as possible. Those are some of them, but if your having pain it might be tendonitis-like hers. Then it will require more care like ultrasound possibly. But only you know your pain level. Good luck!

Crazy4Healthy

I have also experienced a lot of ankle issues recently, first one ankle and then the other. I went to a running store and had them help me find shoes that worked better for me (I'm flat footed and overpronate). This has helped my ankles tremendously, they are getting better all the time. There are many exercises to help, but if you keep running in shoes that aren't good for your feet, you will just continue to re-injure. Most will allow you to return the shoes as long as you stay on the treadmill with them. So, I would recommend testing them that way for a bit first. The first time I had help getting shoes they were just too much and caused knee issues. I told them that and we went with something that still provided stability but not as much as the first and these have worked wonders. Hope the helps.

M1chelles5

I'm currently going to phy therapy for an open Tib-Fib fracture. Some of the exercises I do to stenghten my ankle are:


1. Squats on a 360 balance (mini trampeline)
2. Walking lunges
3. Hurdles using these little bars about shin height. The bars are placed in a circular pattern.
4.Unilateral stances
5. Heel toe raises (feet straight, pigeon toed and heels together)
6. Theraband stretches using a lot of tension flex toes down...inverted. (pulling towards ankle), and toes up. Its impt to really concentrate on using your ankle muscles....Not your calf.


I Do all of the above for 2 Minutes each, Three x per week.

According to my Ortho Surgeon it can take 4-5 months to see results.
But remember if you've built up Scar Tissue deep w/in the muscle tissue and tendons, you have to break up that hardened tissue 1st!

Thats all I can think of, Hope that helps and good luck!

salxtai

Get someone to look at it properly so you can get exercises that are appropriate for you - shooting in the dark with self-prescription of rehab programs isn't the wisest idea...

StrengthInPain

any kind of standing balance exercises will help strengthen your ankle... trying standing on one leg, throwing a ball against a wall or in the air and catching it... standing on a foam pad, or a boss ball, or even a pillow or thick folded towel to start with.. single leg calf raises... single leg squats.... for all of these, you can start first with your eyes open, eyes open moving your head up, down, left, right, then with your eyes closed, then eyes open while moving your arms (bicep curls, shoulder press, etc), then eyes closed moving your head, arms, etc.....

always be safe, stand near a counter or table, or have someone spot you.

AggieLu

I have suffered a bad fall, and have gone to 4+ weeks of physical therapy to strengthen it and stop the pain. in addition to that, I was instructed to do the following exercised home, 3X per day, 20 reps each. Here are the following moves:

1. Circles clockwise and counter-clockwise
2. Draw out the whole alphabet with your ankle
3. Sit on the edge of a chair, feet flat on the floor, raise your foot so you're on your tippy toes (make sure knees do not flare out to the sides)
4. Barefoot while sitting down, place towel on the floor, place halt foot on the start of the towel and start grabbing it with your toes until the whole towel is under your foot. (that's hard, but persistence is the KEY!)
5. Similar to circles: without moving leg, move foot right and left.
6. Stand on your "bad" foot with the other leg (knee) raised to your chest
7. Do # 6 standing on a pillow or a sofa cushion (now careful, this is more unstable)
8. Hold on to something, like a bar, squat down all the way until your butt touches the floor, if you're able to.. while feet are firm on the floor
9. Walk back and forth on your tippy toes
10. Walk barefoot on grass or sand

I hope this helps

Toddrific

Another exercise is to stand on a stair/stepper and step down till your heel touches the ground, but not fully then up again, do like 8 each side.

Gah, i had a half dozen exercises I did for running due to similar stuff, but cant recall.

jadedone

Yoga too! But I will admit, the alphabet really helped me. I try to do the full alphabet, printing and cursive once a week.