Do you need to improve your ankle mobility?

The challenge

Do you find walking uphill challenging? Or going up and down stairs? Do you find uneven surfaces hard to navigate? And how about squatting down to stroke the dog?

You may need to improve your ankle strength and mobility.

So, what do we mean by ankle mobility? Ankle mobility refers to flexibility of the ankle joint and the surrounding muscles and tendons. When your ankle is flexible, you’ll have a greater range of motion during everyday activity and in your training programme.

Poor ankle strength and mobility can impact on your ability to walk properly, especially when going up or coming down stairs. Strengthening and mobilising your ankles will help you to walk properly. It will also prevent your knee and hip muscles from weakening.

I’ve been focusing more on ankle mobility and calf stretching with clients over the last few months.  Some are experiencing restricted movement in every day activities. For others, their restriction is preventing them from progressing some exercises. Lack of ankle mobility and strength along with tight and shortened calf muscles can prevent good technique. In a few cases, reduced ankle mobility can contribute to the inability to achieve a set up position. This is particularly common with squats and lunges.

Your posture is also affected by tight calves and poor ankle flexibility.

The solution

Ankle strength and mobility exercises can improve your balance and stability. This is important for preventing falls in our later years.  One of the benefits of strengthening your ankles is that it increases your proprioception. Proprioception is the body’s ability to know where it is in space when you’re moving. For example, if you were about to stumble, your body will be aware of this and try to prevent you from falling.

Here are a few exercises you can fit into your busy lives.  You don’t need any equipment or to be in a gym setting.

Plantarflexion and Dorsiflexion

• Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you with your feet together.
• Start by gently raising your toes towards your shins, hold for one second, before pointing your toes away from you and towards the floor.
• Ease into the movement. Your range of movement will gradually increase with each repetition.
• Change your foot position by bringing your heels together and turning your feet out.
• Feel the stretch in the back of the calves, ankle joint and top of the foot.

Half Kneeling, Knee to Wall

• Kneel in a split stance, use a towel under the downward knee if this is uncomfortable. The foot should be facing forwards.
• Bring the knee to the wall. The knee should track in a straight line with the toes.
• The heel of the working foot should maintain contact with the floor.
• Maintain the arch of the foot. Try not to let it collapse.
• Place a small rolled towel under your arch if you have trouble maintaining the arch to begin with.
• If the knee tracks inside of the foot the arch will collapse.
• If you turn your toes outwards the knee will track inwards and the arch will collapse.

Standing Knee to Wall

• Find a position where you can just touch the wall with your knee and then move backwards.
• Bring the knee to the wall. The knee should track in a straight line with the toes.
• The heel of the working foot should maintain contact with the floor.
• Maintain the arch of the foot. Try not to let it collapse.
• Place a small rolled towel under your arch if you have trouble maintaining the arch to begin with.
• If the knee tracks inside of the foot the arch will collapse.
• If you turn your toes outwards the knee will track inwards and the arch will collapse.

Half Kneeling Knee to Wall with Elevation of Foot

• Kneel in a split stance, use a towel under the downward knee if this is uncomfortable. The foot should be facing forwards.
• Elevate the front of the foot (ball of toes). I have used a 15 kg plate which is the perfect height for my foot length.
• Keep the heel on the ground.
• Bring the knee to the wall. The knee should track in a straight line with the toes.
• Maintain the arch of the foot. Try not to let it collapse.

Standing Knee to Wall with Elevation of Foot

• Elevate the front of the foot (ball of toes). I have used a 15 kg plate which is the perfect height for my foot length.
• Keep the heel on the ground.
• Bring the knee to the wall. The knee should track in a straight line with the toes.
• Maintain the arch of the foot. Try not to let it collapse.

Calf Raises

• Stand on a step with your feet together. Use a wall or chair for balance.  Try not to lean into these as you need to be standing ‘tall’.
• Position your feet so that only the balls of your toes have contact with the surface.
• Slowly raise your heels, making sure that you transfer your weight directly over the ball of your big toe.
• Try to keep your heels together to prevent them from ‘flaring’ outwards away from each other.
• Gently and slowly lower your heels together as low as is comfortable.
• Feel the stretch in the calves and the top of the feet.
• Ease into this stretch. Your range of movement will improve with each repetition.

Over to you

Think about your everyday movements. How well do you move? What do you find challenging? Are there positions you find it difficult to get into? Perhaps it’s time to improve the mobility and strength of your ankles. If you do these simple drills consistently, your mobility, stability, posture and movement will improve. Your ankles will not become the limiting factor in your movement capabilities as you get older and you’re more likely to enjoy an active old age. Start now. Regain your movement capabilities.