There is no debate on how important ankle health is in just about any sport, but certainly some sports (dance being one) will absolutely require greater than normal training to ensure high performance and injury resistance. Traditionally, ankle/foot training is often put by the wayside because let’s be honest, training your ankles/feet isn’t as sexy as training your glutes. That’s ok, I totally get it. I am guilty of this as well, but I promise if you can spend some time each week deliberately practicing ankle/foot strength, as well as balance and proprioception you will have less lower body injuries, and not to mention a much more aesthetically pleasing pointe’.  

By the way, I’m not just making this up, a study out of the Australian Ballet Company demonstrated a significant reduction in ankle injuries over the course of a dance season just by doing 24 single leg calf raises per day. TWNETY-FOUR! That’s it! That takes approximately two minutes to complete. That’s only like .083% of your entire day!

So, if just 24 heel raises a day can make such a big difference imagine if we did even more things to prevent injuries!? The results will be astronomical! 

In light of all of the aforementioned benefits there are to training your feet I am going to share 5 of my absolute favorite ways to build the worlds most resilient ankles/feet.

1. The single leg (SL) heel raise with over pressure. This is a progression to the previously mentioned heel raise. This allows for greater stress through the ankle and foot muscles which helps protect you against injury.

2. Posterior Tibialis heel raise. This particular exercise is going to more aggressively target the posterior tibialis muscle, which is one that has a significant role in controlling your arch and you ability to have a beautiful pointé!

3. Releve’ with perturbation (outside forces). This is going to not only train for muscle endurance, but also for reactive balance which protect us from injuries. This can be completed in many ways (passing a ball, having someone push you, etc.) see the video for an example.

4. Toe yoga. This sounds funny, but it is actually really challenging on the intrinsic foot muscles (tiny muscles that originate in the foot itself). Alternate lifting your toes individually (without bending your toes). It’s a lot harder than it sounds and can make a big difference in your arch strength as well. 

5. Jumps at wall. Lastly, building power is extremely important for your ability to get higher jumps and softer landings! This one is simple just stand at a wall and jump as high as you can for as long as you can before fatigue.

It should be noted that these exercises SHOULD NOT be done directly after an acute ankle or foot injury OR if you are having pain while performing them!

If this is the case you need to seek out an expert for advice on how to help you!

If you want more guidance from me about how to get your feet en pointé then click below to sign up for a discovery session (virtually or in person!) today!