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Ankle Stability - Exercises & Workouts
To Strengthen Your Ankles
With working on athletes and injury rehab clientele, I have learned
that ankle stability is something which should be main stream as a functional
tool. As youth we need this to help with proper alignment growth and
posture. As young adults we need this to keep old injuries at bay, alleviate extra
weight gains and prevent further joint damages. As older adults we need this in
order to minimize crippling falls. The training variables and skill will vary
among these age groups but there are some basic tweaks you can do with your present
activities in order to enhance the ankle stability work you get in your day! Some
of the natural games we play as children already use ankle stability exercises
such as hopscotch, leap frog, and follow the leader done over rocks and balance
beam type park obstacles. Regimented exercises for child sports are used
in coaching such as bounding, single leg hops and side shuffling. Most children
already have a knack for balance so you can demand more of them than most other
age groups with the exception of some adult athletes depending on the sport. There
is also a lesser degree of fear in most youth which seems more prevalent in older
populations and young adults who have not previously been active. Adults
can incorporate ankle stability work while training in the gym by being creative
such as doing some exercises on one leg or using the various balance equipment
in between exercises. It is now common place to find balance boards, noodles,
or half balls in the gym; all which aid in strengthening the ankle joint while
also training stability. Older adults have a higher likelihood of weight
gains, fear of falling and poor balance which make your training choices tighter
but there are still options with ideas as simple as sitting on a body ball near
a wall for spotting then lifting a leg and holding for a count. Wrapping
a light ankle weight around the balls and knuckles of your feet then doing foot
circles both clockwise and counter clockwise is a simple exercise many age ranges
can use. Simply standing by a wall and doing a single leg knee bend can
be challenging if done with non stop reps while the other leg stays off the ground
throughout the full set. If youre a keener then hang on to a dumbbell and
try it away from the wall. Of course in order for these to work, form is crucial
so make sure to understand proper form, never let knees go beyond toes in knee
bends and always ensure there is NO knee knocking, knees should not fall inward
so ensure to pull them outward. It may feel as though they are way outward but
if you watch in a mirror you will see that it feels much father out than it really
is and that you will most likely just be keeping those knees inches from falling
inward! You would want to be most diligent in some form of quick weekly ankle
work if youve ever had knee, ankle, hip or lower back pain!
By
Linda Cusmano
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