Functional Ankle Home Exercises

Weak ankles often lead to ankle sprains, which, in turn, will make your ankles even weaker. According to Marc Bernier at the Alabama Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center, "Contrary to popular belief, ankle sprains are not necessarily 'minor' injuries." You need to rehabilitate them properly to avoid re-injury. Fortunately, there are many exercises available that you can do at home.

Isolated Exercises

• Warm up your ankles first. A good warm-up includes foot circles and range-of-motion exercises. Lie down on your back, lift up one leg, and grab it under your knee. Move your foot in big circles 10 times in one direction and 10 times in the other. Switch legs. Put a rolled-up towel under your ankles and point and flex your feet, using as much range of motion as your ankles are capable of. Repeat 15 to 20 times. Do both exercises slowly. Next, focus on both stretching and strengthening your ankle. You need functional flexibility in your ankles to walk, jump, run and climb stairs. Sit up, with one leg bent and the other extended, and hook a towel around the extended leg's foot. Pull the towel gently toward you, and feel a stretch in your calf muscles. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Switch legs. Stand up before a wall, one foot in front of the other. Holding onto the wall, bend the back leg. You should feel a stretch in the lower part of your calf muscles now--your soleus muscle. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, switch.

  Strengthen your ankles doing isometrics.
  Outside shin: Sit next to a wall. Place the outside of your foot against the wall and push for three seconds. Repeat 20 times for each leg for three sets. When you get stronger, hook a resistance band around your foot, stand on the ends with the other, and do the same exercise, using only 12 repetitions. Do three sets.
  Inside shin: Repeat the same sequence described above, but instead of pushing with the outside of your foot, push with the inside.
  Front shin: Sit on a chair, and put one heel on top of the front of the other foot. Push with the bottom foot against the heel for three seconds. Repeat 20 times for three sets. You can use resistance bands here too, but it is easier using them lying down.

Compound and Balance

• You must do compound exercises--multi-joint movements using various muscle groups--to make your ankles functional. Lunges and squats are good choices. Do squats first and then stationary lunges. When you master these, lunge in different directions. Start small, and make the lunges bigger and bigger as your control improves. You also want to do balance exercises. Start by standing on one leg for 20 to 30 seconds each leg for three sets. When you master this, stand on one leg and bend it--one-legged squat--8 to 10 times per leg for three sets.