weak ankles...exercises so i can wear stilettos?

twostepsforward

I think I have always had quite weak ankles and a tendency to go over on them and twist at random. I got a horribly swollen ankle as a result of this about 10 years ago and couldn't walk on it for a while as I remember.
Does anyone know of some really good strengthening exercises I could do to improve the chances of me not getting hurt again?
I rarely wear heels nowadays because of this and when I do, they are no more than 2.5 inches and a quite chunky heel. BUT! I want to wear a pair of stilettos for a change! Not everyday, but maybe for occasional weddings/parties I just want to minimise my chances of falling over and doing some damage.

How girls walk in the 5inch heels without breaking something is beyond me, 3 inches would be something for me! Any tips/exercises very much appreciated!

chezileigh

It might not be strengthening you need but proprioception, the ankle is made up of two joints, the talo crural joint and the sub talar joint. Proprioceptive exercises for this area are things like using a wobble board or wobble cushion, progressing from just balancing on it to balancing on one leg, and then with your eyes closed, actually if your proprioception is really off it can be beneficial to start doing this just on the floor.

The terribly swollen ankle you had was possibly a torn ligament from the lateral ligaments of your ankle, inversion injuries like this are very common and are usually a proprioceptive issue.

Hopping from one foot to the other, balancing on the balls of your feet, stuff like that.

Running over grassland is usually excellent for that as well, although if you're prone to inversion injuries take your time and try not to injure yourself. I have terrible proprioception around the ankle and was always falling over when I first started running!

twostepsforward

Thanks, might just look into the wobble board, sounds like it would Target the areas I have problems.

ksavy

I had to do physical theraphy for repeatedly injuring one of my ankles. Standing and balancing barefoot on that ankle for 10-30 sec at a time and progressing to doing it with your eyes closed. Also exercises like these: http://www.shapefit.com/ankle-exercises.html can really help.