Prevent Ankle Injuries
Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries. In the last few weeks I have had several runners spraining and twisting their ankles while running in the mountains. Here are a few ideas you can do to prevent ankle injuries.
1. Proprioceptive Training
That is a big word that is basically saying we need to teach your brain to react faster in sticky situations. We do this by helping your brain have a better connection to your body and react more appropriately in unstable situations.
Basic way to start doing this is by practicing standing one leg on something unstable like a foam pad or a bosu ball. You can increase the difficulty by attaching a band to your ankle.
2. Really good warm up
Do more than just run a mile for your warmup. Do specific warmups that target your hips, calves and ankles. Get those muscles ready to fire and move.
3. Proper nutrition
Being overly tired is the easiest way to get injured. Proper nutrition will help you have the needed fuel so that you feel energized throughout your entire run or activity.
4. Take care of pain early
Often we ignore the small pains until they become a problem. Make sure you take care of the small pain before it becomes worse or causes something else to be injured.
5. Stability training
We are often really good about strengthening the large muscles, but we often ignore the little ones. It is important that we do stability training to help support joints and improve balance.
I hope this helps and you stay injury free this summer,
– Justin
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