Whether you sprained your ankle running on a trail, playing basketball, or even playing soccer in yard with your kids, an ankle sprain makes your ankle weaker. If you want to continue to run and not sprain your ankle again you have to build stronger ankles.
Fortunately there’s a really simple exercise that can help you build stronger ankles in only three minutes per day.
The key is to strengthen the primary muscle that pulls your foot back under you when you start to roll your ankle. That muscle is called the peroneus brevis.
You can do this simple exercise while you are sitting in a lounger, on a plane, at a desk, on the couch reading, watching tv, or even suffering through some meeting in the board room.
Here’s how to do it:
Sit with your legs outstretched in front of you. Cross your legs. Press your feet together squeezing the little toe joints together. Gently apply increasing pressure. When you do this, you will fire the the peroneus brevis muscle and you will feel it working here.
Keep squeezing and hold for 10 seconds.
Relax your feet and switch sides.
Again cross your legs so the other foot is now on top. Again, press your little toe joints together and gently apply increasing pressure.
Cross your legs the other way and repeat.
Do 3 sets of holding steady pressure for 10 seconds.
You do 10 seconds on each foot, three times the entire exercise will only take you one minute.
You can do these exercises with shoes on, or with shoes off, it makes no difference.
Do these exercises three times a day. And in only three minutes a day you’ll start to build stronger ankles that can help support you better when you’re out running on trails.