Ankle Mobility

Bigger Stronger Leaner Injuries and Rehab
1

Hi Guys,

Just a quick one. I sprained my ankle a few years back and my ROM has never fully returned. Its got a bit better over recent months just from doing squats and lunges but i was wondering if there are any specific exercises any of you can recommend for improving this further?

I wasnt that bothered until recently when i started doing cleans and snatches and found that when catching the bar and lowering down into a half squat posisition i found myself coming up onto my toes to compensate for the lack of mobility in the ankle.

I think i’ve managed to avoid this when squating by taking a wide stance with feet pointing outwards but obviously this isnt a fix, just a way of working around the problem. Any help would be appreciated…thanks

2

I have the same problem of next to no ankle dorsiflexion due to an old injury. Mine was pretty bad, though, so I’ve been tapping away at this over a while. I posted how I warm up my ankles over here, and got some helpful feedback on how I can do a bit more as well:

It can help a lot to get Olympic Lifting shoes (if you don’t have them already). The slight heel raise helps a lot of people - even ones who don’t normally have difficulty with ankle dorsiflexion. I got my shoes altered to 2x standard height. Which isn’t a fix… But it does prevent me falling on my butt when Oly Lifting / Squatting. Wide stance hurts the anterior part of my femur so that wasn’t really an option for me.

3

[quote]dre1986 wrote:
i was wondering if there are any specific exercises any of you can recommend for improving this further?[/quote]
Building Indestructible Ankles by Jimmy Smith:
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/the_ankle_paradox_building_indestructible_ankles

Lots of good tips in there.

4

[quote]alexus wrote:
I have the same problem of next to no ankle dorsiflexion due to an old injury. Mine was pretty bad, though, so I’ve been tapping away at this over a while. I posted how I warm up my ankles over here, and got some helpful feedback on how I can do a bit more as well:

It can help a lot to get Olympic Lifting shoes (if you don’t have them already). The slight heel raise helps a lot of people - even ones who don’t normally have difficulty with ankle dorsiflexion. I got my shoes altered to 2x standard height. Which isn’t a fix… But it does prevent me falling on my butt when Oly Lifting / Squatting. Wide stance hurts the anterior part of my femur so that wasn’t really an option for me.

[/quote]

thanks Alexus, some really helpfull stuff in there. Will definately start encorporating this into my routine. cheers