How to Strengthen Weak Ankles

Weak ankles can be strengthened with moderate exercise.

Weak ankles often lead to many different problems, including ankle pain, a sprained ankle and other uncomfortable and often extremely painful ankle conditions. When ankle pain is present, even simple actions like walking can be difficult, but there are ways to help or even eliminate ankle pain, and it starts with strengthening the ankle.

Things You'll Need

• Free weights

Instructions

1. Do some walking. Like any part of the body, exercise helps and walking is a low-impact activity that will help build strength in the ankle. Walk a mile or more every other day and then keep building from there.

2. Target the ankle with specific exercises. Stand on one foot for as long as possible. Many times people say they have bad balance, but often it is weak ankles. Standing with one foot lifted off the ground will help build strength.

3. Follow Step 2, but this time pick up some weights. One way to do this around the house is to use two 1-gallon jugs of milk. Hold one per hand and stand on one leg. Then rotate to the other leg.

4. Create an unbalanced surface to stand using a pile of clothes or a rolled-up towel. Stand on the surface and stand on one foot. The unbalanced surface will create resistance and make it hard to stand, forcing the muscles in the ankle to work and building strength.

5. Explore yoga. Yoga offers numerous different strength-building stretching exercises, so join a yoga class.

Tips & Warnings

• These exercises can be done anywhere and at almost any time. They do not take much time, and the benefits are worth it.

References

• Bodybuilding.com: Your Keys To Rock-Solid Ankle Stability