Today I’ve decided to write about something that I had trouble with as a child. When I first started football back at twelve years old, I had massive ankle pain. Gave me a ton of trouble to start with, I had to wrap them every practice. Eventually, because I was so young, they just got tougher with time and the pain went away eventually. But if you’re older, weak ankles can lead to injury. That goes double if you’re going to start doing tough leg exercises like squats or deadlifts. That’s why I’ll tell you how to make your ankles stronger as to avoid that.
Having strong ankles can improve your balance and leg strength in general. Starting your workout journy with weak ankles can lead to issues like shin splints or even injury. Thankfully, there are a lot of different ways that you can strengthen your ankles depending on your comfort levels. So I’ll go over a few of those, from beginner to intermediate levels.
Exercising While Sitting
This is where you should start if you have no real background in exercise or sport. Like anything, you want to start by dipping your toes until your comfortable. Nobody wants to live with constant ankle pain from an injury.
Ankle Turns
This is probably the easiest exercise you can do to start with. Sit in a chair and slide an exercise band, or jump rope, under one foot. Then you can pull on the left side of the band so that your ankle is pulled to the left. Then, in this position, push against the band to turn your ankle slightly to the right. Reverse the motion and do ten reps each side. Don’t pull too hard if you’re not experienced in exercise, as you can pull a muscle in your calf. An old t-shirt can also work if you don’t have a jump rope or band.
Alphabets
While sitting down, use your ankle to write the letters of the alphabet. Cross your left leg over your right leg, and rest your calf on your thigh. From there start to “write” with your big toe. Then you can trace the letters from a to z. Alternate after you finish the alphabet.
Toe Taps
The last exercise we’re going to cover for the sitting position is toe taps. For these, you need to sit in the chair with your back straight and your heels on the floor. Keep your heels down, and tap your toes up and down. Start with one foot and then move to the other.
Aim for at least a minute of continuous, steady tapping per foot. Increase the time and speed each time you do this exercise. You can do this while sitting at a computer, too.
Standing Ankle Pain Exercises
Once you get a little bit stronger, you can move on to standing exercises. These are going to be a little bit tougher, so don’t rush into these until you’ve done at least a few sessions of the sitting workouts. And like I said before, don’t rush and end up with an injury and ankle pain.
Calf Raises
This is an exercise you’ll see performed by bodybuilders and non lifters alike. You can do this with three hundred pounds on your back. You can also do it leaning against the wall if you don’t have the strength or balance to do it freestanding yet.
Stand with your feet parallel to one another. I do it just less than shoulderwidth apart, but do it where it’s comfortable for you. Then raise your heels off of the ground so that you’re standing on the balls of your feet before lowering back to the ground. Like I said earlier, you can make this workout as tough or as easy as you’d like. Once you master it leaning against the wall, you can do it free standing. After that, you can move onto holding weights in your hands.
Best part of this is that you’ll also get a killer calf workout for this.
Squat Raises
Now, this one’s a little weird and you should only move into it when you’re a bit stronger. You wanna stand with your feet flat on the ground and shoulder width apart. Then drop into a normal squat with your feet pressed against the ground. As you raise up from the bottom position come up onto your toes.
Use a wall or chair for support. If you want to hit the outside of your legs as well during this workout, widen your stance.
Practice Balance
Stand on one foot. Raise one leg and bend it. Then stand only on the one you have on the ground, holding the position for as long as you can before switching legs. Forcing your body to do this will make your ankles stronger.
Finally- Stretch
You always want to stay limber to avoid pain. It’s no different for ankle pain, so we’ll go into a few exercises.
Point/Flex your Toes
Lay down onto your back with your arms relaxed and next to your sides. Space them evenly spaced apart. Point your toes down and away from your face. Then you’ll feel a stretch in your calves, but be careful not to overextend.
Opposite of this, you can lie in the same position with your arms and legs. Flex both of your feet, and then point your toes up towards your face. You’ll feel a stretch in your calves here as well.
Repeat this exercise as many times as you’d like, but make sure not to overextend- once again. If you feel pain, stop.
Wall Stretch
Place both of your hands on the wall at about shoulder height, and then place the ball of your foot against the wall. Lean forward until you feel a pull in your calf. Hold it for at least ten seconds, and don’t hurt yourself by going too far. Repeat this exercise with your other foot after.
Doing all of this together will make sure you avoid any ankle injuries and ankle pain, and make you stronger in the process.
