Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Recipes for a Balanced, Strong and Flexible Ankle


In the last post, we talked about foot and ankle agility, and listed exercises from the Exercise of the Day Blog that help create a pliable and adaptable foot.  In this post, I hope to create recipe cards for both ankle strength and ankle flexibility.  Simple calf raises are a great place to start with ankle strength, but there are lots of variables to consider.  Deciding which exercises to do can seem overwhelming, so to get started let’s first answer a few questions. 

First, let’s start this with a marker exercise.


While doing this exercise notice if your kneecap is in line with your second and third toe.  Notice the pathway of the ankle as it rises.  Does it move smoothly in a straight line centered over the heel, or does the ankle fall to the outside or the inside? Is it easy to stand on your toes or are your ankles wobbly?  Are the backs of your legs cramping at all?  How is your balance?  Do you feel secure?

Now after performing the marker exercise and considering the previous questions, it’s time to decide which ankle exercises are the best for you!

If your ankle moves to the outside when you rise up on your toes, you may want to start the following exercises, follow the links for further explanations of each exercise:





After completing these exercises, try your marker exercise again to see if there is a difference.  If your ankle still feels wobbly, you might need to develop more strength in the tendons around your ankles in a non-weight bearing environment.  Follow the following links to see what these exercises can accomplish.








Next, let’s look at some variations that will help release cramping feet.  The increased range of motion in these exercises can help lengthen the muscles in the back of the leg, and so then release any hamstring, calf, or foot cramps.





But wait! What if your legs are cramping but your kneecaps are also having trouble staying aligned with the second and third toe?  Not to worry, you can address both of these issues at one time.





Finally what about balance?…Were you wobbly when you did the marker exercise?  If your goal is to improve your balance, it is important to put your body in situations that are a little more precarious.  To improve balance you must challenge the balance.  Try these exercises if balance improvement is your goal.


 Single Leg Balance on Full Foam Roller





Now that you have read these ideas try some of your own combinations.  The best part of having a variety of exercises at your disposal is to be able to vary your workouts from day to day.    Maybe one day you want to work on foot agility, and maybe on another day you’ll be improving balance.  Keeping the ankle strong, flexible, and the foot supple requires time outside of shoes.    Play with these exercises OR if you have one that you love even more than these, feel free to let us know in the comments! We might just post it on the Exercise of the day blog

Katrina Hawley C.M.A., R.S.M.E
Co-director of The Pilates Studio

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