The human body wonderfully made, its an integrated unit that functions with amazing unity to achieve incredible tasks. If you suffer from repeated ankle sprains or injuries, is the ankle the only thing you want to strengthen or could other muscle groups be letting you down?
The answer is that it is likely there is an imbalance in the pelvis that is creating extra strain on the ankle and causing it to have to work harder which in turn leads to it being the weak link. With any injury it is important to look at your body as a whole and how everything thing is worki
ng and being used, as an imbalance or weakness somewhere else in the body can lead to an injury in an area that is actually quite strong comparatively. An assessment of your posture and muscle function will highlight any imbalances contributing to the issue you may have.
But… back to the ankle and something for you to consider if you have been unable to resolve repeated injuries. The glute medius is a pelvic stabiliser, it keeps the pelvis level when the body is on one foot and indirectly stabalise the knee and ankle. Without a strong and dynamically functioning glute medius the body cannot stabalise lower leg effectively.
You would have seen people running down the street with either their knees rotating in, or their hips droping as they bound into their next stride, or even a torso sway from side to side? The reason for this which also contributes to poor ankle stability is a weak glute medius. When the glute medius is strong it keeps the pelvis level, the femur and knee in alignment and enables the ankle to stabalise perfectly bellow it. It can be a common weakness with lower leg injuries – in particular the ankle.
If you would like some help to prevent or rehabilitate ankle injuries get in touch as we can start by assessing your body with a full postural and muscle imbalance assessment so we can identify the weaknesses in your body that are contributing to some of the problems you might have. A refined, strong athlete very rarely gets injured.
