We ask a lot of our ankles and they play a very important role in your kinetic chain. However, we often don’t put much thought into how we can keep them healthy. Keeping the muscles that surround your ankles strong and mobile will not only prevent injuries, but improve athletic performance and increase stability.
These exercises you can do at home to improve your ankle strength and mobility.
Ankle Myofascial Release With Ball and Foam Roller
Regular Self-Myofascial Release for your ankles will help to increase your range of motion. Greater ankle mobility will in turn reduce injuries and allow for more strength. This can be done by rolling out your calves with a foam roller as well as massaging the soles of your feet with a ball.
Save your feet and ankles with more exercises here!
Calf Raises
Your lower leg, which includes your feet, ankles and calf muscles, is a complex and integrated unit. In order to build strong ankles, you also have to look at the muscles that directly support the ankle joint. In fact, strong calf muscles are integral to preventing injuries like Plantar Fasciitis and Achilles Tendonitis. Calf raises are a very accessible exercise that you can do anywhere and with lots of variations to suit your needs.
Start by standing on a staircase with your front leg on one step and your back leg on one step lower.
Use a railing or wall for support.
The majority of your weight will be supported by your back leg positioned on the lower step.
While keeping the ball of your foot firmly planted on the step, slowly raise your heel upwards and then gradually towards the ground.
Continue to cycle through this movement slowly and with control 12-15 times.
Performing this exercise with a straight leg targets the larger gastrocnemius muscles. You can also do this exercise with bent legs to target the soleus muscle.
Resisted Ankle Inversions and Eversions
These exercises use a resistance band or thera-band to really target the muscles that support your ankle. Inversion is the movement of the foot turning inwards and eversion the foot turning outwards.
Resisted Ankle Eversion
Start in a seated position with your feet extended in front of you.
Create a loop with a thera-band and attach it to something stable.
Loop your foot through the hole and position it so that the band is against the outside of your foot.
Your foot should be perpendicular with the band.
Slowly and with control move your foot against the band and then return to the starting position.
The movement should come from the ankle and not the knee.
Repeat 10-15 times or until fatigue.
Resisted Ankle Inversions
The setup is similar to the Resisted Ankle Eversions, however the band is now wrapped around the inside of your foot. All movement should be slow and controlled with the motion originating from the ankle and not the knee.