Simple Exercises To Prevent Ankle and Knee Injuries

Simple Exercises To Prevent Ankle and Knee Injuries

The Spine Pro is here to inform you about the best exercises to strengthen your ankles and knee.

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For most fitness enthusiasts, there comes a time when our exercise routine is temporarily derailed by some kind of sports-related injury.

The amount of time that it takes to fully recover can be increasingly frustrating. Switching to a Peak Fitness Program of High-Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, offers the highest levels of fitness results while significantly reducing the chances of future injury at the same time.

Of course, any form of physical activity comes with its share of risks. If we do not take simple body mechanics into consideration when creating our exercise routines, we can cause undue stress on our joints if we push ourselves harder than our bodies will allow.

This stress overload combined with a lack of proper conditioning can lead to a tearing of muscle tissue or a deactivation of the muscle entirely through a series of reflexes called proprioceptors.

If this occurs, other muscles in the body will take over as a means of protecting the injured area from becoming further damaged. Our brain chemistry can then “lock” into this newly adapted muscle movement, which can lead to a permanent alteration of everyday actions like walking, running, and climbing stairs.

Now the newly adapted muscles are under even more stress than they should be, which leaves them more prone to future injury as well. This is why so many fitness enthusiasts often witness one sports injury after another.

Exercises that Prevent Ankle and Knee Injuries

The ankles and knees are more prone to sports-related injuries than any other area of the human body. Here is a short list of simple exercises that can prevent these types of mishaps:

Ankle Exercises:

Use a resistance band to strengthen the arches of the feet through “plantar flexion.” This also helps to prevent the ankles from rolling inward when running or walking. Use “dorsi flexion” with the same resistance band to boost the strength of the front ankle. Include lateral hops into your routine to improve stability and strengthen the entire lower body as well as the ankles.

Knee Exercises:

• Side Lunges
• Wall Stretches
• Cross-legged stretches
• Single leg bridge lift
• Foam roller exercises

Other knee exercise options for the more experienced athlete include donkey kicks, wall squats, and side-lying leg lifts. Dead lifts are a wonderful exercise because they actually help to strengthen the entire posterior chain.

To prevent sports-related injuries and keep your exercise program on track, pay special attention to your ankles and knees. Including a few of these simple exercises into your workout routine can save extended periods of injury, pain, stress, and frustration.