Swimming is a fantastic non weight bearing exercise with impact injuries being very rare but to avoid ankle injuries we can’t avoid the sports we love! We can however, ensure that we prepare our bodies for the force we put them under. Weightlifting is in fact one of the exercises with the fewest ankle injuries this is down to the type of shoes used.. The rigid design of the weight lifting shoes helps to properly align the ankle and foot bones helping keep the knee aligned properly during the squatting motion. For sports such as ice hockey were the ankle is put under a lot of tension the rigid design of the ice skates prevents knee injuries however the boots restrict the movement of the ankle and can lead to hip and knee injuries due to the transfer of stress to these joints.

Appropriate exercise specific footwear is key to avoid ankle injuries and this may mean owning more than one pair of sports shoes dependent on your exercise interests for example running shoes normally promotes pronation of the foot whereas a gym shoe is designed to support the foot through a range of motions. For example wearing a running shoe to play a tennis match could cause serious injury as the shoe is not designed for this activity. Investing in foot wear designed for each sport you participate may be more expensive however it will significantly improve your performance and dramatically decrease the chance of injury.

Are Your Feet Causing You Injury?

Some people suffer from collapsed arches, high arches and feet that rotate outwards or inwards. If you suffer from any of these this can increase the likeliness of sustaining an ankle injury. In the Motive8 studio we can conduct gait analysis to determine if you are suffering from any of these and offer you advice of exercise to help correct these issues.

What Exercise Can You Do To Minimise Ankle Injuries?

A fantastic way to strengthen lower leg muscles is to attend ballet. Individuals who attend or attended ballet are much less likely to experience ankle or leg injuries.

If the lower leg muscle, the Tibialis Anterior, is weak it can increase the chances of developing ankle injuries as well as shin splints. A simple exercise to strengthen the tibialis anterior can be seen by following the link http://youtu.be/DoOoXOqoyx0 the exercise should be conducted from a seated position as when its conducted from a standing position the individual tends to push the heel down during the exercise and this gets the quads assisting which you want to avoid.

A great exercise to strengthen the Soleus muscle the lower calf muscle is the seated calf raise. These can be conducted using a seated calf raise machine or by sitting on a bench with your toes on a lowered step adding weight using a dumbbell or barbell. The Soleus muscle is made up of slow twitch fibers so will respond better to higher reps than the gastrocnemius or tibialis anterior which are primarily fast twitch fibers. Stretching of the calves is key as tightness can affect the biomechanics of the ankle.

In conclusion, to help minimize the possibility of developing and ankle injury it is important to ensure that you wear the appropriate foot wear for the activity you are taking part in. Also by adding the tibialis anterior stretch and the seated calf raises to your workouts you can add that additional strength to the calf muscles that will help support the ankle. 

Follow these tips about how to prevent an ankle injury….preventing an ijury is much better than rehabilitating one!