I had a car accident few years ago and injured my left ankle and had crack on my left foot. After I recovered from the injury, I found that I occasionally twisted my left ankle.
I am wondering whether it’s because I have weak left ankle and knee or I unconsciouly walk in some strange way so that I often make my left ankle injured.
I think I probably need some exercise to strengthen my left ankle and knee. Is there any exercise that can especailly strengthen knees and ankles?
It’s probably not a good activity when I have ankle and knee problem. That’s one of the reasons I want to improve the situation. I think I need extra exercise to strengthen them so I will be more competent for hiking acitivities.
I have ankle and knee problems too, but I love to hike and well, you just have to put up with aches and pains as you get older. Being sedentary is not going to help and most exercise only causes temporary inflamation of problems, it does not make them worse.
That said, stretching will help your ankle (as ligaments tighten after an injury thus making your more prone to further injuries) as well as a few strenghtening exercises with flexible tubing. I can show you some next time we meet, or if I can find some online I’ll post.
For the knees, you can’t strengthen them, you can only strengthen the muscles around them. One easy exercise is to lean back against a wall and squat down. This works the thighs and muscles around the knees. Streching the achilles tendon is important too. My knee problems pretty much went away after I started stretching.
Take panadol before exercising too and after if there is inflammation.
I think the physiotherapy department at Taida is recommended. You might want to go for a check. A lot of problems are not serious and there is not much to do but live with the aches, as I said. It’s really your choice. Live a boring comfortable life or a more robust one with some manageable pain.
Old hikers often tell you that when descending a mountain and the slope is steep try to walk sideways down the steps of a trail. I usually try to do this, unless it slows down the hikers behind me too much.
I have had some knee problems from time to time. My doctor in London told me to get a knee support with a hole that allows the knee cap to move freely. It worked very well. You can get knee supports like that in sports equipment shops in Taiwan e.g. the one on Shi-Da Road in Taibei.
I second Mucha Man’s advice to go and see a qualified physiotherapist. Search Forumosa for phyiotherapist, physiotherapy and physio.
With weak knees/ankles comes some disfunction in the hip complex as well. Without knowing the extent of the range of motion of your ankle I’d suggest you start with some exercises that work on stability and neuromuscular efficiency of the entire lower extremity. You also need to stretch the muscles that have taken over for the weakened ones; as well as work on core stability.
Here are some things you can do until you can go see a physiotherapist.
Stretch the calves /adductors of the hip/quadriceps
Single leg balance exercises are an excellent way to begin strengthening the ankle and knee.
1.Stand with feet shoulder width apart and pointed straight ahead keeping hips even.
2.Lift chest, pull back shoulders slightly tuck chin. Isometrically tighten abs and tighten the butt,
3. Lift one leg directly beside to balance leg-not too high off ground 1-2 inches is enough. Point toe upwards, flex the hip at a 90 degree angle so leg raises slightly higher say 3-5 inches and slightly bend the knee you are balancing on.
4. Hold for 5-20 seconds. Switch legs repeat 1-3 sets
Strengthen the hamstrings
Knee extentions-to strengthen quadriceps
You also need to strengthen your gluteus medius/maximus-Do Hip abductions/extentions.
Seated Toe Grabs
Walking barefoot on the outside and inside of the feet is an easy way to strengthen the posterior/anterior tibialis muscles in the lower leg. These muscles are the ones, along with others, that aid in the movement of the ankle and gives support to the arches in the foot.
If ankle is too weak turning the sole of the foot to the inside/outside using a towel as resistance is another way.
Heel raises are also ideal.
For the ankle, get a rubber band (the large exercise ones, not the office ones) -
foot in one end and hand in the other: Do rotary exercises clockwise and counter.
Sitting down, legs straight, one foot on each end of the band: each foot sweeps outwards stretching the rubber band. ie point toes out (left and right).
For knees, as somebody said, strengthen the muscles above and below. A good warmer up is to do rotary exercises.
Stand with legs together. Bend knees and bend forward and with back straight. Cup hands over knee caps.
Look straight (helps to keep back straight). Rotate knees in clockwise and counter. Sets of 4.
Advanced motion: Dip/deep bend so that you bum touchs your feet at the bottom of your rotation circle.
