Ankle strengthening exercises

shardown

Hello all!

My right ankle is pretty weak so I was wondering if anyone knows of strengthening exercises for ankles?

shardown

bumpity

lwagnitz

I used to play soccer and have really bad ankles. I've sprained both of them at least 3 times each (lost count) and my left one I sprained so bad I tore things. Probably one of the best exercises I used to strengthen was stepping on a stair with the front half of my foot (near my toes and ball of foot) and the back of the foot off of it. Drop your heels slowly down, and then back up so it's like you are trying to stand on your tippy toes, and then stand on your heels. Make sense?

iluvprettyshoes

Great question! I'm dealing with an ankle tendon injury and would like to know this too.

jerber160

tap dancing. great for calves too

Keiko385

Working on mine after I rolled the ankle

http://www.wikihow.com/Strengthen-Your-Ankles

shardown

I used to play soccer and have really bad ankles. I've sprained both of them at least 3 times each (lost count) and my left one I sprained so bad I tore things. Probably one of the best exercises I used to strengthen was stepping on a stair with the front half of my foot (near my toes and ball of foot) and the back of the foot off of it. Drop your heels slowly down, and then back up so it's like you are trying to stand on your tippy toes, and then stand on your heels. Make sense?

I think I've got an idea. Like you're half on and half off a step and you move your heels up and down?

lwagnitz

Yup! lol. That's a simpler way to explain it than I did.:embarassed:

mlb929

One of the best ways to strengthen ankles is going barefoot. Flexibility of the ankle is super important too search you tube for ankle exercises. The range of motion is so important. Alphabets while sitting without leg straight out helps. Standing and rolling gently your foot out is good, and putting door behind you and rolling heel in circle with the top of the foot down go in both directions. Maybe also search tai chi ankle loosening.

chivalryder

Squats.

That, is, not full squats. Start with soldierstand squats, and progress slowly with jackknife squats, supported squats, and half squats before doing full squats.

Nothing will give your ankles (and entire lower body) a better workout than a good squat.

C00lCountry

My therapist gave me some exercises to do long ago from an injury.
It required a band to do it.
You ran the band around one foot ( say left one) while holding the ends of the band in your hands.
You loop the end around the other foot, kind of like making an L shape.
The you try to move you foot left and right. Not twisting your leg but movement in the ankle.

JMPerlin

Bump

medennison123

Id say mobility and stretching. Followed by a load bearing exercise that does not hurt your ankle.

triathlete5301

It depends on what you mean by strength. If you injure your ankles a lot, you could have proprioception issues- meaning your body doesn't know where your ankle is all the time. If it's literally strength I recommend therepeutic bands where you flex in, out, up and down to get them stronger. Calf raises off of a stair are also good. Balance on the one foot. Focus on walking right as well- most of the time if you have a weakness in an ankle, you will protect it, which will ruin your gait. Above all if you have weak ankles and you are going to do something extreme- wear a brace! Don't think that going without it makes you weak- if I had only had a brace (and strengthened it consistently) I might not be where I am today. I'm currently rehabbing a high ankle sprain. All in all, take it slow. You may wanna as a personal trainer or a physical therapist if it becomes a consistent problem though, because everyone has different issues, so be careful and good luck!

JMPerlin

I used to play soccer and have really bad ankles. I've sprained both of them at least 3 times each (lost count) and my left one I sprained so bad I tore things. Probably one of the best exercises I used to strengthen was stepping on a stair with the front half of my foot (near my toes and ball of foot) and the back of the foot off of it. Drop your heels slowly down, and then back up so it's like you are trying to stand on your tippy toes, and then stand on your heels. Make sense?

I think I've got an idea. Like you're half on and half off a step and you move your heels up and down?

I believe these are called calf raises and they work very well.

AZKristi

Well... the ankle is a joint so it isn't something you can necessarily strengthen. But, you can strengthen the surrounding muscles and focus on making sure the joint is flexible and has a full range of motion.

Calf raises - Raising up onto your toes and lowering back down is a great way to strengthen the gastrocnemius (calf) and anterior tibialis (front of shin).

Calf raises w/ Bent knee - http://www.teachpe.com/strengthening/bent_knee_calf_raise.php
Can strengthen muscles that flex the foot.

Flexing and pointing the foot is a great stretch!

If you want to increase bone density in the ankle, any of the aforementioned weight bearing exercises should help,

shardown

Thanks guys! I'm going to incorporate your suggestions in with my daily exercises.

_JR_

Trail Running!!!!

KeegansMomma

Great ideas! I rolled my ankle a few years ago. I find it hurts more when I wear shoes all the time. But when I'm barefoot I can go all day and not be bothered.

I think I'll have to try some of these ideas.

eliezalot

Stand on one leg on a fluffy pillow. Balance as long as you can. Repeat with the other leg. My doc gave me this exercise after yet another bad sprain...definitely helped me!

miriamwithcats

My therapist gave me some exercises to do long ago from an injury.
It required a band to do it.
You ran the band around one foot ( say left one) while holding the ends of the band in your hands.
You loop the end around the other foot, kind of like making an L shape.
The you try to move you foot left and right. Not twisting your leg but movement in the ankle.

I had physical therapy for a badly sprained ankle, and they used the band exercises. Basically use the band to work against to turn your foot up, down, in and out (just the foot). Also doing the leg lifts on the stair. And just standing on the one bad leg- you use lots of muscles keeping your balance.

shardown

It depends on what you mean by strength. If you injure your ankles a lot, you could have proprioception issues- meaning your body doesn't know where your ankle is all the time. If it's literally strength I recommend therepeutic bands where you flex in, out, up and down to get them stronger. Calf raises off of a stair are also good. Balance on the one foot. Focus on walking right as well- most of the time if you have a weakness in an ankle, you will protect it, which will ruin your gait. Above all if you have weak ankles and you are going to do something extreme- wear a brace! Don't think that going without it makes you weak- if I had only had a brace (and strengthened it consistently) I might not be where I am today. I'm currently rehabbing a high ankle sprain. All in all, take it slow. You may wanna as a personal trainer or a physical therapist if it becomes a consistent problem though, because everyone has different issues, so be careful and good luck!

I've found that if I'm going from a seated or lying position on the floor, to standing up, I get a shooting pain in my right ankle if I put more weight on it compared to my left. I've got issues with my left foot as well but not around the ankle area.

miriamwithcats

It depends on what you mean by strength. If you injure your ankles a lot, you could have proprioception issues- meaning your body doesn't know where your ankle is all the time. If it's literally strength I recommend therepeutic bands where you flex in, out, up and down to get them stronger. Calf raises off of a stair are also good. Balance on the one foot. Focus on walking right as well- most of the time if you have a weakness in an ankle, you will protect it, which will ruin your gait. Above all if you have weak ankles and you are going to do something extreme- wear a brace! Don't think that going without it makes you weak- if I had only had a brace (and strengthened it consistently) I might not be where I am today. I'm currently rehabbing a high ankle sprain. All in all, take it slow. You may wanna as a personal trainer or a physical therapist if it becomes a consistent problem though, because everyone has different issues, so be careful and good luck!

What he said!

shardown

It depends on what you mean by strength. If you injure your ankles a lot, you could have proprioception issues- meaning your body doesn't know where your ankle is all the time. If it's literally strength I recommend therepeutic bands where you flex in, out, up and down to get them stronger. Calf raises off of a stair are also good. Balance on the one foot. Focus on walking right as well- most of the time if you have a weakness in an ankle, you will protect it, which will ruin your gait. Above all if you have weak ankles and you are going to do something extreme- wear a brace! Don't think that going without it makes you weak- if I had only had a brace (and strengthened it consistently) I might not be where I am today. I'm currently rehabbing a high ankle sprain. All in all, take it slow. You may wanna as a personal trainer or a physical therapist if it becomes a consistent problem though, because everyone has different issues, so be careful and good luck!

I've found that if I'm going from a seated or lying position on the floor, to standing up, I get a shooting pain in my right ankle if I put more weight on it compared to my left. I've got issues with my left foot as well but not around the ankle area.

Now that I've typed that out, I think I need to pay my physio a visit.

Jynus

Much as LOATHE bosu balls and the like, when it comes to rehab, they have their place.

First of all I can`t believe noone has said this, as it`s ankle rehab 101. This place sometimes boggles me.

Anyway, proper rehab of any ankle injury will be instability training. period. This is core to any proper ankle rehab template. So to start, simply stand on a bosu ball. Thats it. Make sure you`re hand distance from something to catch yourself should u fall of course, but just stand on one. then once thats fine, with ball side down, do foot rotations where you try and rotate the outer edge around in a circle. Then move onto things like squats on one, lunges onto one and the like.

Shays0518

I'm just getting back to exercising after a full thickness ankle tendon tear and surgery. My sister is a PTA and she also recommended balancing on a BOSU. They have them at my gym so I'm good to go. In case you don;t know what one is, here's one on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Bosu-Balance-Trainer-Home-Version/dp/B00012PDMW

GiddyupTim

Calf raises are good.
Doctors say that one of the reasons you often sprain your ankle again, after doing it once, is because you lose proprioception. It is not a strength problem; it is a nerve problem. When you sprain your ankle, you tear the nerves. Until they regenerate, you are not sensing where your feet are with the same precision.
So, you need to stimulate the nerve regeneration. The calf raises, and any other simple exercises, will help you do that.
I once heard a talk by the orthopedist for the New York City Ballet. Ballerinas really sprain their ankles because they are up on toe. He developed a protocol to help them strengthen their ankles, and he said it worked. He had them do calf raises, but he also had them do exercises with a canvas grocery bag, the kind with handles. He had them put weight in the bag, between 5 and 15 pounds, depending on what they could do. To do the exercises, they would lie down on the couch on their side. They would drape their foot over the arm of the couch, and then they would hang the bag off their foot. They would point their toes and then flex their foot up, doing a set of 10, 15, whatever. Maybe a couple sets.
They would do both the inside and the outside of each foot.
He claimed they got so strong they almost couldn't sprain their ankle if they wanted to.
Those exercises are a good way to strengthen those parts of your ankle that get sprained.

shardown

All this talk has made me a bit worried about my ankle so I managed to book in an appointment to see the physio at the gym closeby to where I work. Hopefully I haven't got anything too serious

Thanks again guys. I really appreciate it!

nose6

Bumping for myself (high risk of osteoporosis). Thanks!

wattahead

Walking/Running barefoot or with minimalist shoes strengthens surrounding muscles.