7 Exercises for Better Foot and Ankle Mobility

It’s no secret, your feet and ankles support you all day long. Combine that with stuffing your feet into shoes that weren’t designed with foot shape in mind, and having your feet in weird positions when you sleep and it’s no wonder your feet can develop a lot of disfunction.

If you’re living with pain or limitations in your feet or ankles, or you want to be proactive and take care of your body, here are some helpful exercises you can do. These exercises emphasize active movement in various angles and ranges of motion and help improve soft tissue quality.

Multi-Angle Ankle Mobility

1. Get into a kneeling lunge position

2. Drive your knee straight out over your toe as far as possible

3. Keep your heel flat on the floor

4. Repeat at other angles

Soleus Stretch

1. Place your hands against the wall with one foot behind the other

2. Drive the knee of the back leg down over the toes as far as possible

3. Keep your heel flat on the floor

4. Hold the stretch for a few seconds and repeat

Gastrocnemius Stretch

1. Place your hands against the wall with one foot behind the other

2. Keep the knee of the back leg straight and drive your hips forward as far as possible

3. Keep your heel flat on the floor

4. Hold the stretch for a few seconds and repeat

Toe Extension Mobility

1. Place your hands against the wall with feet in line

2. Drive up onto your toes as high as possible

3. Remain on your toes and bend your knees over your toes as far as possible

4. Hold the stretch for a few seconds and repeat

Big Toe Extension

1. Get into a kneeling lunge position

2. Place your big toe on top of a ball or other object to elevate as much as possible

3. Drive your knee straight out over your toe as far as possible

4. Keep your heel flat on the floor

PLantar Fascia SMR

1. Get into a kneeling lunge position

2. Place the arch of your foot on top of a ball

3. Flex and extend your foot over the top of the ball

Calf SMR

1. Sit and place ball under calf muscle

2. Roll through the calf until you find an area that feel tight

3. Press your calf into the ball on that spot and flex and extend your ankle

I love my pretty shoes as much as the next person, but if your feet and ankles aren’t moving right, it’s going to affect the way the rest of your body moves and can be the source of a lot of other pain and disfunction. In less than ten minutes you can improve the function and movement of your feet and ankles with these simple exericises!

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