Techniques for Strengthening Your Ankle and Increasing Its Flexibility

An ankle sprain is one of the most common injuries most people will face, especially athletes. Unfortunately it's also quite debilitating and repetitive injury to your ankle can lead to permanent damage. The best way to deal with injury is prevention. A common way to prevent twisted and strained ankles is to strengthen them and the surrounding muscle. Stretching your ankle muscles can also reduce risk of some injuries, according to a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. These exercises are fun and easy ways to strengthen and increase the flexibility of your ankles.

Strengthening your ankle can also help if you've previously injured it. Previously injured ankles are especially prone to re-injury, according to a 1999 study published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine. Do not, however, begin any exercise routine on an ankle that is still injured except under the supervision of a doctor. These exercises are for people that are considered healthy enough to exercise by a doctor.

Always do exercises equally on each foot. If one foot is stronger than the other use the repetitions the weaker foot is capable of for both feet. Eventually the weaker foot will catch up to the stronger one. You don't want to encourage unevenly distributed strength as this can lead to injury. Running lopsidedly could cause you to trip, for instance.

Ankle Circles

Ankle circles increase the strength of all the muscles the control your ankle and increases the flexibility of them.

Directions: Sit down and lift one foot off the ground. With control, circle your foot clockwise until you feel a burn in your muscles, but stop before you feel any pain. Repeat in the other direction. Now do the same thing on the other foot.

Tip-Toe to Heel Balance (Standing Plantar Flexion to Dorsiflexion)

Standing on your toes (something ballerinas call going en pointe) builds your calf and other ankle support muscles and builds ankle stability. Doing the reverse movement builds your shin muscle, an under-exercised muscle that is very important for a strong ankle.

Directions: Stand near to a wall or next to a chair or table and hold on to it for balance. Standing up on the balls of feet, lift your heels up as high as you can. Hold this position for 5 to 10 seconds. Come back down. Stand back on your heels and lift your toes as high as you can. Hold this position for 5 to 10 seconds and then come back down. Repeat the whole exercise over again.

Calf Stretch

The calf is the largest muscle that controls the ankle. Keeping it flexible prevents ankle injuries by allowing the foot to merely flex rather than rip when it is twisted.

Directions: Stand near a wall or next to a chair or table and hold on to it for balance. Step one leg behind you. Bend your front legs and come down into a lunge. Lower until you feel a good, but not painful, stretch in your calf. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds. Repeat with the other leg. Do the stretch on both legs twice.

Sources:

Jamtvedt, Herbert, Flottorp, Odgaard-Jensen, Håvelsrud, Barratt, Mathieu, Burls, Oxman, "A pragmatic randomised trial of stretching before and after physical activity to prevent injury and soreness," The George Institute

Thacker, Stroup, Branche, Gilchrist, Goodman, Weitman, "The Prevention of Ankle Sprains in Sports: A Systematic Review of the Literature" The American Journal of Sports Medicine