Foot and Ankle Exercises?

[dancinginthemoonlight]

Does anyone do exercises (besides actually dancing) that specifically benefit your feet and ankles?

I used to do a lot of releves, pointing and stretching exercises for my feet as I used to have an instructor who was very adamant about having clean, precise and strong footwork. I did find them somewhat beneficial, but not at all necessary. Anyone else have similar or different experiences?

[elisedance]

One of my (pet) fears is to break an achilles tendon.  To minimize that I do stretches/contractions on a stair.  Face the stairs and osition your soles on the edge of a stair.  Then lower yourslelf at the ankle until you are stretching the achilles - then contract.  A few of those is a great workout for strong feet.

[Some guy]

If your feet can walk in dance shoes chances are they are already strong enough. I would say the best exercise is probably to dance in them, provided you don't use your feet when you dance.  

Welcome to right brained dancing!  

I worked with my coach working with a Latin dancer in 3.5 inch heels who wanted stronger feet.  My coach made sure she relaxed into the heels rather than push off or push into the floor.  That seemed to fix all the issues.  Also, when the lady just relaxed into her heels it automatically made her look taller, more statuesque, and relaxed. When the lady pushed off the feet, she looked shorter.  For men, there are no foot strengthening exercises because our shoes are already pretty comfortable and easy to walk in.  If you have trouble walking in them, then it's best to strengthen them.

[QPO]

very sound advice.....all I will add is that I do do a couple of stretches, hip flexes as my muscles are just learning to re-engage after not having to work for nearly one year!

when my leg was strong I was do slow dancing and then work our way up to full strength which is five minutes.

I thinking strecthing is good for those that are more mature and also recovering from injury.

[elisedance]

yup, as an excersize dancing is surely on of the most all-round you can find.  Perhaps the only sport that may be even better is swimming as it doesn't put too much stress on any particular joint.

OTOH, perhaps you NEED some stress to keep the joints strong...

[dancinginthemoonlight]

ee - I used to do something similar, where I would stand on the edge of a stair, lower my heels then raise them up as high as I could go and then do an eleve...at least I think that is what it's called. I only took ballet very briefly and often get the names mixed up. But it's like doing a releve except that you bend your knees.

[dancinginthemoonlight]

My coach made sure she relaxed into the heels rather than push off or push into the floor.  That seemed to fix all the issues.  Also, when the lady just relaxed into her heels it automatically made her look taller, more statuesque, and relaxed. When the lady pushed off the feet, she looked shorter. 

Interesting...I never really thought about if I was relaxed into my heels or not. Not sure I ever really thought about my heels, I'm too busy thinking about my toes! I will have to try that out!

Is it sort of like keeping your weight in your heels? I guess when I think of relaxing my heels, I think of them getting heavier.

[Some guy]

Is it sort of like keeping your weight in your heels? I guess when I think of relaxing my heels, I think of them getting heavier.

I would say I was vague in my previous post.  I meant, just relax into your shoes in general, not thinking about heels or toes. 

[elisedance]

Is it sort of like keeping your weight in your heels? I guess when I think of relaxing my heels, I think of them getting heavier.

I would say I was vague in my previous post.  I meant, just relax into your shoes in general, not thinking about heels or toes. 

Now there's an interesting image... SG relaxing into his shoes.... bye .... :

[Some guy]

 

[Dora-Satya Veda]

I used to do something similar, where I would stand on the edge of a stair, lower my heels then raise them up as high as I could go and then do an elevation

That is a great exercise to strengthen the ankles.

You can also stand on the floor strengthen the ankles. Stand on the left foot and raise to the "platform" and go back down to flat foot while holding the right foot first forward of you, second to the side and finally to the back (1). Repeat on the right foot. Change back to the left foot and repeat but this time go up and down two times (2). Change to the right foot and repeat. Do this on each foot until you have gone up and down on each foot 10 times with the free foot to the front, side and back. You might not be able to get to 10 the first time. Stop when you feel you had enough. Don't continue till you have pain. If you feel a little sore that is just fine. 
 
Just remember that you need to relax the ankles when you dance.

DSV

[elisedance]

Hi there DSV

[Dora-Satya Veda]

Hi back ee

[QPO]

I used to do something similar, where I would stand on the edge of a stair, lower my heels then raise them up as high as I could go and then do an elevation

That is a great exercise to strengthen the ankles.

You can also stand on the floor strengthen the ankles. Stand on the left foot and raise to the "platform" and go back down to flat foot while holding the right foot first forward of you, second to the side and finally to the back (1). Repeat on the right foot. Change back to the left foot and repeat but this time go up and down two times (2). Change to the right foot and repeat. Do this on each foot until you have gone up and down on each foot 10 times with the free foot to the front, side and back. You might not be able to get to 10 the first time. Stop when you feel you had enough. Don't continue till you have pain. If you feel a little sore that is just fine. 
 
Just remember that you need to relax the ankles when you dance.

DSV

do these too! glad I am on the right track! now just need to get the fluid out of my knees 

[dancinginthemoonlight]

DSV, that sounds like a great exercise too! I think I will add it to my list!

This question is really for anyone, but since SG and DSV both mentioned this, it made me wonder - could relaxing your ankles/heels also help with balance?