6 Ankle Strengthening Exercises for Stability and Recovery

Ankle strengthening exercises help restore stability and function to the ankle, especially after injury. Strong, stable ankles help support balance and movement, which also helps prevent injuries. Start slowly and focus on good form; If you experience persistent pain or instability, seek medical advice.

Note: For optimal results, try doing the exercises below barefoot. This will help you access the smaller muscles in your feet and ankles.

Calf raises are a fundamental exercise for strengthening the ankles because they target the two main muscles of the calf (the gastrocnemius and soleus). Both are crucial for ankle movement when pushing off while walking, running, and jumping.

You can make this exercise more difficult by holding weights or doing it with one leg at a time to increase the intensity. You can also raise your calves on an elevated surface with your heels hanging off the edge to increase the stretch on the way down. This will improve your stability and prevent your muscles from being pulled during an injury.

Here’s how to perform calf raises:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Slowly press through your toes and lift your heels off the floor.
3. Lower your back with control and perform the following repetitions.

Similar to calf raises, standing isometric heel raises also target your calf muscles. However, they test your ankle strength without movement. This helps improve ankle stability (how strong and sturdy your ankle is during movement) and builds strength in the small ligaments and tendons in your feet.

You can hold on to something at first if you have trouble staying on your tiptoes the whole time.

Here’s how to perform a standing heel raise:

1. First, stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Slowly press through your toes and lift your heels off the floor.
3. At the top of the movement, stay on your tiptoes for as long as possible until you feel the muscles in your calves and feet fatigue.
4. Rest and repeat.

Your shin muscles – one in the front of your lower leg, near your shin and one in the back of your lower leg – are essential for walking, balance and stability.

Shin raises target the muscles at the front of your shins, which help you turn your foot inward and upward. This helps you avoid tripping when you walk, thus preventing injury.

When performing shin raises, you will need to experiment with how far you push your heels away from the wall. Further away is more difficult, closer is easier. Find the balance that challenges you, while still allowing you to get a full range of motion when you lift your toes.

Here’s how to do the exercise:

1. Stand against the wall with your feet flat on the floor and take a few short steps forward, moving your feet away from the wall.
2. Keeping your heels on the floor, lift your toes toward your shins without bending your knees.
3. Pause for a moment at the top to feel the maximum contraction in the front of your shin.
4. Lower yourself slowly and perform 10 to 20 repetitions or until you feel a burn and can’t lift your toes any higher.

A simple but effective exercise, the single-leg balance exercise targets all the muscles that support your foot and ankle. It also challenges your body’s ability to sense position. This is the key to catching yourself if, for example, you accidentally trip or lose your balance.

When doing this exercise, remember to press your big toe into the floor. This will help “ground” you to the ground and support your arch. Once you feel ready to progress with the exercise, try doing it on a soft surface or balance board for an added challenge.

Here’s how to balance on one leg:

1. Standing with your feet flat and sturdy, press your big toes into the floor, then shift your weight to stand on one leg.
2. Raise the free leg to about 90 degrees and continue to stand on your balance leg. Be sure to maintain pressure on your big toe to support your foot.
3. Hold as long as you can and reset as necessary if you lose your balance.
4. Repeat several times.

This exercise is gentle but effective, making it a good choice if you are just beginning to rehabilitate an ankle injury. This will help improve your mobility and strengthen the muscles and ligaments around your ankle joint.

Exercise will also help bring blood circulation to your foot, which is important if you are suffering from swelling from an injury. Use pain as a guide. If it still hurts to move your ankle, you are probably doing the exercise too soon.

Even if you haven’t injured your ankle, this exercise is still great for improving your ankle mechanics, strength, and mobility.

Here’s how to do the ankle alphabet:

1. While sitting or lying on your back, use your foot to “draw” the alphabet in the air, one letter at a time.
2. Go slowly and in a controlled manner, and complete A to Z on each foot.

This stabilization exercise targets the muscles that control the outward twisting of your foot (peroneal muscles) and those that control the inward twisting of your foot (posterior tibialis). This can help you resist ankle rolling injuries.

Strengthening these muscles will help you avoid rolling your ankle again in the future, as repeated ankle sprains are extremely common after sustaining them once. You don’t need a very heavy resistance band for this exercise, but once it gets easier, you can take it to the next level by upgrading the band.

Here’s how to do the exercise:

1. Anchor a resistance band and wrap it around your foot.
2. To target the muscles that help twist your foot outward, move your foot outward against the band.
3. Next, to target the muscles that help twist your foot inward (posterior tibialis), move inward.
4. Perform 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions in each direction.

When it comes to strengthening your ankles, especially after an injury, proper technique and pacing are essential. If you jump into aggressive exercises too soon or use incorrect form, it can delay your recovery or create new problems. Move slowly and intentionally when practicing each exercise; quality matters more than quantity and always listen to your body.

You may experience some muscle fatigue and slight discomfort, which is completely normal. However, if you experience sharp pain, stop immediately. These are signs that you may be overdoing it or stressing healing tissues. If you’re rehabbing an ankle injury, start with gentle, non-weight-bearing exercises (like the ankle alphabet) and gradually progress to weight-bearing and balance work as your strength improves.

Generally, it’s best to see a doctor if you can’t put weight on the injured ankle or have visible bruising, deformity, or excessive swelling. Other symptoms include numbness, tingling, or burning around the injury site.

Even if your symptoms seem minor at first, early medical attention along with a proper diagnosis and rehabilitation program can prevent the injury from getting worse.