Weak Ankles?
12 November 2012
Does any kind of rough terrain scare you? Do you go over on your ankle very easily?
I see a lot of people who have weak ankles due to sprains and breaks from years ago. They rested the area and it healed up to a point but now they find that if there’s any small stone on the floor, their foot will find it, and they go over on their ankle
Maybe you are a sports person who wants to prevent weak ankles or getting a sprained ankle.
This is a very simple fix and I’ve even done these exercises myself after spraining an ankle. Since then I had 3 occasions inside a month where I should have gone over on my ankle but I didn’t!!! I didn’t even feel any pain at all!!
As with all exercises, make sure there is no pain. Pain suggests it’s too soon for the exercise. Each exercise should feel comfortable
Stage 1: Balance on one foot (no shoes) for 1 minute. You may stumble here but time a minute and do it as best you can.
Once this can be done fairly easily for a minute, stage 2.
Stage 2: Balance on one foot (no shoes) for 1 minute with eyes closed. Don’t be deceived. This is tricky. I suggest you have a chair near by to hold on you especially with your first few attempts as you probably will stumble.
Once this can be done fairly easily for a minute, stage 3.
Stage 3: Balance on one foot (no shoes) and rock side to side on the foot. Shifting the weight from the outside of the foot to the inside of the foot and vice versa. This builds up the stabilisers of the ankle and strengthens them tremendously
Once you can do stage 3 for a minute, the final stage, stage 4!!
Stage 4. Balance on one foot (no shoes) and rock side to side on foot with eyes closed!
This is the same exercise as above but the eyes are closed. Once again balance and shift the weight from outside of foot to inside and back again for a minute. This is the ultimate in building up the ankle!
Once all this has been done, your ankles will be a lot stronger and almost bullet proof. I’ve tried these exercises myself and can show they work so try it and see.
It takes about 2 minutes a day. Do both ankles. Balance on both feet. I will guarantee an improvement in your ankles inside a month.
(Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)