How does your Ankle Mobility stack up?
Have you ever sprained, twisted, or even broken your ankle?
Do you suffer from poor ankle mobility?
Most of my students come to me asking for support with shoulder and hip mobility – not many ask for support with their ankles, even though a lot of the time this is the area that they might need to work on the most!
Ankles play an important role in helping our entire body to achieve better mobility, stability and strength for better movement patterns and range of motion – be that just day-to-day activities, or in our sports and fitness training.
All movements stem from the feet and ankles. Poor foot health and ankle mobility can lead to poor movement patterns that ricochet up the body. Poor movement results in stiffness and pain, as well as an increased risk of injury. If you have poor ankle mobility, you are likely to also suffer mostly in the knees and hips, but this can even be the cause for lower back pain too.
Find out how your ankles check out with my quick mobility test below.
Or if you would like to do a full-body check – download my FREE Mobility Test here…
ANKLE MOBILITY TEST
DORSIFLEXION – GARLAND POSE OR SQUAT
Standing with your feet slightly wider than your hips, toes pointing forward, lower down into a squat position keeping your torso upright and chest high.
Make note of your position, then compare it to the table below…
SO WHY ARE ANKLES SO IMPORTANT?
Poor ankle mobility prevents your glutes from activating properly during closed chain activities, which in turn results in inactive glutes and increased lower-body injury risk.
What is “closed chain” activity?
Definition from Wikipedia – “Closed kinetic chain exercises or closed chain exercises (CKC) are physical exercises performed where the hand (for arm movement) or foot (for leg movement) is fixed in space and cannot move. The extremity remains in constant contact with the immobile surface, usually the ground or the base of a machine.”
If your glutes are not fully activated in movements such as squats, then you won’t be able to achieve full range of motion in your ankles.
Basic core strength and hip mobility are also key for creating good movement patterns, but if your ankles limit you, then it is likely you will be limited on mobility and strength in these areas too.
More and more athletes and fitness professionals are now including ankle mobility tests and exercises in their programs to help achieve a better range of motion and support further training in other areas. Basically, if the experts are doing it – you should be doing it too!
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