Ankle Awareness

As a dancer, my feet and ankles are especially important to me. However, almost every dancer has experienced a painful sprained ankle at least once in their career.  The good news is ankle injuries can be avoided!  The best thing to do for dancing ankles is to take proper care of them, you can begin by strengthening them to prevent initial or further injury.

To prevent a sprained ankle, the tearing or excessive stretching of the ligaments that hold the ankle bones in position, consider these tips.

• Always warm up before class or work out, pay special attention to your calf muscles. Tight calf muscles can pull on the Achilles tendon and reduce your range of motion.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Strengthen ankles to avoid strain. Theraband exercises are excellent for preventing injury and rehabilitation.

• Exercise regularly. Inactive individuals are more prone to injury than those with strong muscles.

• Wear stable, supportive shoes, especially when walking and avoid shoes with heels or platforms, as they can easily throw feet off balance.

Your ankles are your stabilizers, so use these tips to ensure they stay healthy and strong. Taking proper care of your dancing ankles will keep them happy and working for you.

Here is a list of simple strengthening exercises to try:

1. TOWEL SCRUNCHES

Place a towel in front of you while sitting in a chair. With your heel on the floor and off the towel, scrunch the towel towards you using your toes. Repeat three times with each foot. If this is too easy for you, place a weight on the end of the towel.

2. ANKLE ALPHABET

Sit in a chair and stretch your feet out in front of you. "Write" the alphabet in the air using your foot. Use capital letters and go slowly. Be sure the movement comes from the feet and ankles, not from the knees or hips

3. HEEL RAISES

Stand with your feet in a parallel position and rise up on to your toes. Repeat 15 times. Repeat the exercise in a turned out position and a turned in position.

4. RESISTANCE EXERCISES

Wing and Sickle: Sit on the floor with one leg bent, foot resting on the floor, and the other leg bent, turned out with the shin resting on the other leg. Wrap the band around the free foot(towards the top, around the ball) and, putting the ends together, pull them towards you. Then, with your foot fully pointed(or you can flex the toes, as long as the ankle is fully pointed) slowly wing the foot and then bring it back to a neutral position. You can then either continue doing that, or you can alternate winging the foot and sickling it, but if you weaker ankles you probably just want to wing it. This will strengthen the muscles around the “ankle bone” on the outside of your foot(which really isn’t your ankle bone). Another way of doing this exercise is to flex the foot with the theraband around it and wing and sickle it, making a bigger half-moon shape.
Be sure to warm up before trying any of the exercises above.  If an exercise causes you pain, stop and readjust so the exercise is comfortable for you.

Taking proper care of your ankles can save you from a painful (and unnecessary) injury.  Always remember to warm up before any exercise, do strengthening exercises, exercise regularly , and wear supportive shoes.  If you follow these easy tips, happy healthy ankles can be yours!