Enjoy Healthy Feet By Stretching Your Ankles

Your ankles carry a lot of your body weight, along with your feet. Many activities will involve some distance of walking exercise. You may have a job that requires you to be on your ankles and feet all day long. Depending on how much you weigh, this could put a strain on both. Exercises that you may want to do can put a strain on your ankles.

Running for long periods, jumping rope, and climbing stairs are just a few exercises that involve ankle and foot movement. You may need to learn some ankle stretches to strengthen your feet.

Plantar Flexion Stretch
A plantar flexion stretch will strengthen around your ankle joint. To do this type of stretch you will need to sit with your leg straight out in front of you. Place a piece of rubber tubing under your foot. Use the piece of tubing to pull your foot up. Stretch the piece of tubing by softly putting the section of your foot called the ball down, with your toes pointed. Stop for a second, and then return to first position.

Eversion Stretch
To start this stretch you will want to sit with the bottom of your foot positioned on the floor. Then use your foot to push an object that will not move outward. Combine this with the Plantar Flexion Stretch above for a good stretching exercise.

Isometric Stretch
Performing this stretch requires that you sit down and position the bottom of both of your feet flat. Press your left foot inward so that it is against the right foot. Next, you will need to put the heel of your left foot on top of the right foot. Push gently in a down motion with your left heel, while pushing upward with your right foot.

Wall Ankle Stretches

You need to stand up for this exercise. Stand in front of a wall, with the wall being about three feet in front of you. You will then need to step forward with only one foot, leaving the other foot in place. With hands placed flat on the wall, you will need to lean towards the wall.

The knee of the ankle you are trying to stretch needs to bend, while your legs stay straight. What this exercise will do, is stretch your Achilles tendon,  which is the tendon in the back of your ankle.

Aerobic Ankle Stretches
If you have a set of stairs in your house with handrails, then they will be perfect for this aerobic exercise. Place your feet on the last step of your stairs, and leave your heels hanging off. You can use the rails for balance, but do not use them to help pull back up. What you will do next is to rise up on the tip of your toes, and then lower your feet past the last step.

These ankle stretches will not only help for strengthening ankles and feet, but they also help with ankle and feet injuries.