By Patrick Gensel
Tonight I made it out to the local Climbing Gym, Wilkes-Barre Climbing Gym for my first climbing session in a while. I warmed up with some bouldering and stuck with that for about an hour or so until a friend of mine showed up and we did some top roping. To make a long story short, at the end of the night I was doing a final bouldering problem and I came off of it a little sideways and rolled my ankle of the landing. fortunately all I did was sprain it, but it could have been much more serious. this leads me to my point, what can be done to strengthen the ankles. After some research I came across a few Basic Exercises for strengthening your ankles.
1. Work Those Muscles!
Lay on a bed or flat surface where your feet hang out over the edge, then fully point your toes outward until you can feel the tops of your feet tighten up. repeat this about 15 to 20 times. With your feet still hanging, point your toes to the sky and draw circles with your big toes. Make sure to use your entire range of motion when performing this exercise. repeat this 15-20 times.
2. Just Walk.
Yep thats right. take a walk, or a hike for that matter. nothing strengthens a muscle better than using it. try walking a few extra miles a week to help assemble a strong muscle.
3. Balance Balance!
working on your balance will help strengthen your ankles. by standing on one leg, the muscles of the ankle are forced to work to stabilize the body. spend a few minutes per leg each day just standing around. this will certainly make a difference in ankle strength and balance. You can also step it up a bit by hanging on to free weights or barbells while doing this exercise.
4. Uneven Surfaces.
By standing on an uneven surface and lifting the opposite leg this creates even more resistance and requires the muscles in the ankle to work even harder.
Just a few minutes a day can really be hours of prevention in the long run. I have had my share of foot and ankle injuries in the past and would really like to avoid any future ones. by using the mentioned exercises, anyone with weak ankles can walk, hike or climb worry free.
