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Old 07-18-16, 01:07 PM  
alisoncooks
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: TarHeel country
What has strengthened your ankles?

My ankles have always been weak. I badly sprained an ankle playing sports in high school (twice), as well as a couple of times in recent years.

I notice that during 1-legged, balance work I have intense burning in the ankle. Intense fatigue that requires shaking the foot out (most recently when doing a yoga video). I take this to mean that I should specifically focus on strengthening my weak ankles.

Have you used or done anything that you've noticed increased your ankle strength? Yoga, barre, traditional? More balance work? I'd be interested in hearing specifically what you did.
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Old 07-18-16, 01:13 PM  
PennyK
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Classical Stretch has helped strengthen my ankles. I feel more steady on my feet in general and have gotten better at balance work.
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Old 07-18-16, 01:20 PM  
yogapam
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Location: West coast of Canada, eh. ;)
Barre3 and other barre workouts, Balletone and other ballet style workouts, yoga, Ellen Barrett, Essentrics. For me it's balance work & releves.
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Old 07-18-16, 01:23 PM  
Eibhinn
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Atlantic Canada
I have ligament laxity in my ankles, which makes them unstable. They aren't weak, necessarily, just super wobbly. My ankles are probably actually really strong because it takes so much effort to keep me upright. Where my ankle problems are severe, permanent and caused by a physical defect, perhaps my experiences won't apply for you. Nonetheless....

I've tried a lot of different things to improve the problem, including trying lots of balance work like balance-focused yoga practices and V-core. Balance work only helps so much because the ligament laxity is a permanent issue that can't be repaired outside of surgery. And because balancing is so difficult for me, I have to be careful to not to injure the other parts of my foot and lower leg that compensate (I can easily get tendinitis in the tops of my feet, for example).

Oddly enough, the thing that most helped me was starting to wear Yoga Toes on a semi-regular basis. Spreading out my toes gives me more functional/structural stability, by giving me a broader foundation to stand on. Working on demi-pointe/releve like in Barre and Ballet workouts doesn't seem to help me much because it just puts excessive strain on my already tired ankles by reducing the point of contact for my foot. For that reason I also never wear heels and make sure I have nice, wide, foot-shaped shoes at all times.

I also read about how a lot of ankle sprains (formerly a frequent issue for me - several times a year) and knee injuries are caused by weak glute medius muscles, because they provide a lot of lateral stability. While I know that isn't the primary issue for me, I've also worked on the glute medius by doing traditional floor work (like buns of steel, Winsor Pilates Bun and Thigh etc.). This seems to have possibly helped as well, but definitely the Yoga Toes have been the most helpful thing for me.
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Old 07-18-16, 01:26 PM  
JackieB
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Minnesota
I have had severe sprains from my gymnast days that have come back to haunt me. What helped me:

physical therapy....almost 6 months straight of work with a PT on a balance board
Classical Stretch feet work and balance
V-Core....yes....even though it is annoying

I started adding balance sequences into the Essentrics classes this past month and I have improved a lot just in the few times I've had to talk and cue through hip cleaners, kicks, squash lunges, etc.
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Old 07-18-16, 02:24 PM  
Cafelattee
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Gulf Coast
I had bilateral Achilles tendon issues total out my ankles for almost a year. Its taken several years to get full use enough that I do high impact stuff again but in moderation.

I found for me balance work with yoga and weights. My right ankle is back 100% but my left ankle that was broken when I was younger and then again worn out with a couple decades of running will never be 100% again but I'm 90 % good with it.

I do lots of one leg dead lift and squats. I'm a bit wobbly with that left ankle but that's ok i'm just happy that I can still do the work. I figure as I age keeping that weak ankle strong is going to prevent old age falls.

I also to me forever to hold the the warror 3 on my left leg.

THe left ankle still has a burn if I over do it but that's just the nature of a chronic issues.
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Old 07-18-16, 02:29 PM  
FirmDancer
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I've had several ankle sprains and a break or two, from extreme sports. What has helped the most for me is: spending as much time barefoot, wearing minimal shoes, and when I do wear shoes: buy the most flexible ones possible. (Easy Spirit did have nice-looking flexible shoes for office wear.) I found that using my feet more naturally improves my posture and stance and stronger ankles are a result.
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Old 07-18-16, 03:46 PM  
tamib
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
I've been doing the new Walk Strong dvds from Jessica Smith barefoot and my weak ankles have really been sore so hopefully it will help strengthen them. Too soon to be sure.

Tammy
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Old 07-18-16, 09:03 PM  
PrairieGem
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
I had several ankle sprains from childhood through college, and then didn't have any problems for the next 20-some years. (...And then 2 years ago I turned my ankle during a run and continued to run another 3 miles on it, which is just plain stupid. But that sprain was mild and healed relatively quickly with proper rehab--which involved a lot of CS for me. Season 10 has a ton of great foot and ankle work!)

But when I had that latest ankle sprain while running, it occurred to me that the big difference in my fitness life was that I'd spent the last 20 years doing mainly aerobic-type cardio, with a lot of multi-directional and lateral moves, quick stops, pivots, high impact, plyos, etc. I honestly think that all of that work was a major factor in maintaining my ankle stability for my whole adulthood (so far), as well as increasing my kinesthetic sense and body awareness (ie, making me more coordinated! LOL).

I had a very severe ankle sprain with torn tendons in college, which was never rehabbed properly (read, at all) and I think it caused some issues with the rest of my leg (cranky knee and hip). When I was rehabbing my mild sprain 2 years ago, I noticed that my injured ankle still had better ROM, strength, and flexibility than the ankle I had injured in college.

Miranda says that the ankle is the strongest joint in the body, which does make sense, given all the work it has to do!
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Old 07-20-16, 12:06 AM  
tiffanywu
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Balance poses in yoga have always been helpful for me, as are one legged variations of classic strength training moves (deadlifts, squats). There are some good YouTube yoga practices that focus on balance so do a search and enjoy! It does get easier with time and practice
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ankles, balance, balance work, bare feet, barre, classical stretch, classical stretch results, easy spirit shoes, strengthen ankles, v-core

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