The Best Exercises to improve Ankle Stability for Hiking

Hiking is a great way to get an excellent workout, see the beautiful nature in the area (with possibly some cool views) and best of all, it’s FREE!  Although it doesn’t require any money from your pocket, there is certainly a demand on your body.  Most commonly, we are challenged at the ankles due to the uneven terrain, change in elevation and random objects in your way that may cause you to be unstable.  In order to prevent ankle injuries, here are a few great exercises you can do proactively to stay strong and enjoy your hikes!

In order to maintain ankle stability, we need to train the small muscles on the inside and outside of the foot.  We can do that by using a simple resistance band to strengthen inversion (inward) and eversion (outward) movements.  Using a theraband wrapped around your forefoot, hold it to the side and rotate your foot away from the starting position.  Once at its full range, slowly return to the beginning and repeat for 10-15 repetitions.  After finishing all of the reps in one direction, change hands and rotate the foot the opposite way for another 10-15 repetitions.

To keep your calf muscles strong, we can utilize different heel raise variations.  The most basic would be a simple double-leg heel raise, where you rise up onto the toes as high as you can, then lower back down slowly for 10 repetitions.  For an intermediate version, rise up on both legs but only lower yourself down slowly on one leg, performing 8-10 repetitions on each side.  To try the more advanced version, rise and lower into your heel raise from a single leg stance 8-10 repetitions on each side.

Lastly, it is important to practice balance for hiking.  Try some simple movements when standing on one leg, such as airplanes (rotating your arms/shoulders), RDLs (hip hinge on a single leg) and hip circles (rotating one leg 180* in a semi-circle).  The ability to perform these movements while standing on one leg will improve ankle stability and hip strength at the same time!

If you, or anyone you know is an avid hiker and would benefit from physical therapy to improve their strength, endurance, durability and overall well-being, please click the button below for a FREE Discovery Session!  Here, our expert Doctor’s of Physical Therapy will perform a screening to determine if Physical Therapy is the right step for you to take, in order to reach all of your goals!