Here are some moves that can help strengthen your ankles, prevent injury and allow for better stabilization in your other movements.
1. Walk on the Balls of Your Feet
• Helps improve the arch of your foot and strengthens calf muscles.
• Start on the balls of your feet, lifting your heels off the ground
• Walk forward and backward, keeping the rest of your body tall.
2. Duck Walk
• Start by crouching down as low as you can into an air squat.
• Now start walking in this squat position, one step at a time (usually easiest to get moving by pushing your knee out to the side).
• Try to keep your heel on the ground if you have some flexibility. Otherwise, to start, you may wind up on the balls of your feet.
3. “Sissy” Squat
• Start with using a support, such as, the side of squat rack, with both hands wrapped around it
You can do this two ways:
• Start on the balls of your feet and squat down and hold for 5 seconds, then stand back up.
OR
• Squat down with feet flat, and at the bottom of the squat, come up onto the balls of your feet, hold for 5 seconds, then stand back up.
by Samantha Coogan, MS, RDN, LD
