Ankle strengthening exercises

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  • shardown
    shardown Posts: 258 Member
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    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
    miriamwithcats Posts: 1,120 Member
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    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
    shardown Posts: 258 Member
    Options
    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
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
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    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
    Shays0518 Posts: 51 Member
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    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
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    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
    shardown Posts: 258 Member
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    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
    nose6 Posts: 39 Member
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    Bumping for myself (high risk of osteoporosis). Thanks!
  • wattahead
    wattahead Posts: 2
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    Walking/Running barefoot or with minimalist shoes strengthens surrounding muscles.

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