Building Strong Ankles For Hiking

Ankle sprains and ankle pain are some of the most common issues many hikers face on their adventures...

But it is not something you have to live in fear of! With the proper training and preparation, almost everyone can make a genuine positive change to their ankles.

​ In this video, we explore 3 areas of training a hiker can use to help build strength and stability through the ankles - and get them feeling confident and comfortable on their hiking adventures!

How To Prevent Ankle Sprains While Hiking

​Inside, we cover:
​

• Why ankle pain and sprains are so common for hikers and backpackers 
• Why high-top boots and ankle braces are only a band-aid solution for hikers 
• 3 areas of training that can make a dramatic difference to your ankles on the trail
• A few of the best exercises to build strong ankles for hiking

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Video Chapters:

0:18 
Ankle Strengthening for Hikers
2:45 
Understanding Ankle Pain
3:58 
Strengthening Techniques Overview
7:55 
Direct Ankle Strengthening For Hikers
14:09 
General Leg Strengthening
18:20 
Balance and Proprioception Training
22:18 
Importance of Progression
25:02 
Additional Factors for Ankle Health
29:21 
Personalized Training Options
31:38 
Conclusion and Next Steps

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Want access to the free 'Strength Training For Hiker's Mini-Course?
​
You can access it here: https://summitstrength.com.au/strength-mini-course

Need some personalised help with your training for hiking?

Check out the Online Summit Program here: https://www.summitstrength.com.au/online.html

Video Transcript:

​[0:01] All right, hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. So in today's presentation, we are talking all about building strong ankles for hiking, which is such an important topic because there are so many hikers out there who really do struggle with their ankles on the trail and find that it holds

[0:16] them back on their adventures. So today we're going to be going into this subject a little bit of detail and talk about how you can build them up and get them feeling great for the trail. So before we get into things, quick little overview of who I actually am. If you haven't come across my stuff before. My name is Rowan Smith. I'm the founder of Summit Strength, which is an online personal training service specifically for hikers. Essentially, we help hikers in a few different situations. We help a lot of hikers who have a big trip coming up and want to be in a really fantastic position to properly enjoy their adventure. We work with a lot of hikers who do struggle with aches and pains on and off the trail, and that's the context we're talking through today. And we also work with a lot of hikers who may not have a big trip coming up, may not have an ache or pain holding them back, but they just realise their fitness, their condition, holds back their adventures in one way or another. Now, for myself, I've been doing this for years and years and years now. I've personally trained and prepared over 400 hikers for pretty much every adventure imaginable. These days, it's not just me as part of the team. We do have a few other people working as part of the Sun Strength family.

[1:15] Essentially, through the context that we're talking through today, I just want to be really, really clear on this front. My role, is I'm not a physiotherapist. I'm not a physical therapist. I do not do early rehab. So if you've just sprained your ankle, if it's all blown up, and if you have broken your ankle or whatever may be, this presentation, these ideas are not really for you.

[1:35] Essentially, where I come into this particular picture is I'm what's called a return to performance specialist, in the sense that when it comes down to aches, pains, injuries, there is often a bit of a gap between traditional rehab, which you'll go through a physiotherapist, a physical therapist, they'll kind of get you to a point where you're through your early stages of recovery, you're released for normal exercise. And there is a little bit of a gap between being released for normal exercise and being kind of pretty comfortable day-to-day life and actually being ready for the specific demands of the trail because hiking does have a lot of demands, uphills, downhills, long days, rough terrain, and this and that. And there is a big gap between those two things. So a lot of hikers do find themselves a little bit lost when they get release for normal exercise and they go out hiking again, they're in pain again, it ends up being this bit of a recurring cycle. So essentially my role is I sort of fill this gap. I help hikers bridge that early rehab to actually getting out on the trail and that's the context we're talking through today. So it's not so much if you just had an ankle incident, if your ankle's in a cast or something like that, still focus on your rehab and work with your specialist. But once you're out the other end, these ideas can definitely help.

[2:46] So, starting off with, yeah, ankle issues, really, really, really common for a lot of hikers. You know, typically when we're talking about ankle issues and kind of what I'm talking about today, it really falls into two categories. Number one is just general ankle pain. So, when you're hiking along and your ankle's just uncomfortable, either during the hike or after the hike, and you're like, hey, there's just a bit of pain here. And then the other side of things is actual ankle sprains. When you step on a loose rock in a pothole and you literally twist your ankle and it ends up getting a little bit uncomfortable. For some people, this will happen, you know, once in a blue moon and it'll just be a random occurrence. To some people, it'll happen again and again and again and again and again. Because the tricky thing with ankle sprains is every single time you are spraying it or roll it or whatever it may be, if you don't rebuild the ankles and put some focus into actually building up the structures around it, it gets more and more likely it'll happen again. So a lot of hikers out there are just in this recurring thing where the second they step in a pothole, the second they step on a rock, they just roll their ankle. It's just this long-term thing, which is not much fun. Now, when it comes down to the ankle pain and ankle sprains, there are a lot, a lot of factors which can go into preventing these two things.

[3:50] And when it comes to pain prevention and injury prevention, it's a massive multifaceted topic.

[3:55] And it's a much, so many different things that goes into this. But today we're going to be diving into specifically strengthening and how a hiker can use strengthening and specific exercises to help support their ankles on the trail. To be clear, there are lots more things that goes into this whole picture, but we're going to be honing in on the strengthening side of things. So, Before we go any further, I just want to cut out why ankle pain is so common for hikers. Now, honestly, because, you know, it is a really, really, really common thing. And this is for a few reasons. Now, number one, pretty obvious, but the uneven nature of the trail. Obviously, when we're hiking, we're not on nice, well-manicured footpaths. There's rocks, there's potholes, there's roots, there's mud, there's riverbanks, all of this stuff, which obviously puts us at a risk of taking a bad step and spraining a roll in the ankle, or just having to constantly having to stabilize the ankle in weird positions, which can lead to a little bit of pain.

[4:47] Fatigue. Now, fatigue is a pretty big risk factor, both in pain and sprains, in the sense of when we get to this stage where we're physically tired and we're not really paying attention, our legs are jelly, we're not really lifting our legs so well, or mentally tired when we're just not paying attention, it greatly increases the risk of just general pain creeping up, but also having an incident like an ankle sprain, because mentally we're just not quite there. Physically, our legs aren't really doing what we need, and the likelihood of taking a bad step greatly increases. Lack of concentration. So even outside of just the fatigue side of things, a lot of the times we're on the trail, there'll be things we want to look at. There'll be birds, there'll be nice visitors, there'll be just chatting away with friends. We're not always constantly looking down at the trail. And this can often lead us to taking dodgy steps. There's added external load. So obviously carrying weight in the pack, whether it's a day pack or a full pack or anything in between, for every extra kilo we put on our back, it puts quite a bit of extra, a disproportionate amount of extra force through our feet and through our ankles. So that's another factor there. And all of these things, you know, by themselves, they're not usually a big deal. If you were just tired.

[5:52] Walking around day to day, not a big deal. If you've got a pack walking around the local neighborhood, it's not a big deal. But you put these things together in the hiking context and they can kind of create the sort of perfect storm for ankle issues. So essentially what we want to be doing with our training is thinking, okay, what can we do to prepare the body for reducing some of these things creeping up, better be able to tolerate these things creeping up. And in the worst case scenario, if something does go wrong, having less chance of that turning into something bad. And that's kind of what we're looking at with our training.

[6:21] The typical solution for ankle pain, and this is something most hikers will tend to, is like they have a history of like rolling or sprain the ankles. They have a history of pain. Most hikers will typically fall into, you know, one of two solutions. And that'll either be wearing high top boots and really, really supportive boots like this picture here, or an ankle brace. These are sort of the most common things you'll see when you go online. You're like, hey, how do I prevent ankle sprains while hiking? They'll say, hey, wear high top boots or whatever maybe. You see it all the time.

[6:49] And, you know, these particular things can be beneficial because they do provide more external support to your ankles. If your ankles are a little bit weak, they don't have enough stabilising power, these things, whether it's a brace or high top boots, they can provide external support, which can be beneficial. But in all honesty, they are a bit of a band-aid solution in the sense that, you know, if you are not taking steps to build up and support your ankles, and actually developing the structures inside your ankles and you're just relying on these things then ultimately you're kind of stuck um and if you'll always have to wear high top boots and the second you sort of transition out of them or you forget them or they break then you're going to be at risk of pain again and while the same thing with the ankle brace maybe you'll just have to wear that for month after month after year after year it's a never-ending thing so ultimately you know these things are fine but we never want them as just the one solution we never want to be 100% relying on them because you do want to take steps to help support the ankles naturally so in the situation if you forget your boots or they break or you transition or you try something else or whatever may be you're going to be at a better risk of being comfortable.

[7:56] So spending time strengthening your ankles is a very good use of your time.

[7:59] Now today what we're going to be diving into is really three types of strengthening I personally think you should consider for your ankles. That's going to be direct ankle strengthening, general leg strengthening and proprioception, but all balance work. And we'll break these down. I'll give you exercise examples for each.

[8:13] So to start with, let's talk about direct ankle strengthening. Now, this is basically probably the first place to look, and it's the most logical thing that goes into building up ankle strength. And this essentially just involves doing exercises, which just strengthen up directly the structures of muscles which directly support the ankles. And they're pretty common sense, because you're like, ankles are weak, I'm going to do exercises to support them. Pretty straightforward. So these ones are things that people have probably come across before, like things like calf raises or banded exercise for your ankles and this and that. You may have seen them as online before, you may have been given them for a physio and this and that. I'll show you some examples in a second. In all honesty, this type of stuff can be a little bit dull and a little bit boring to do on their own. And one of the common themes that I often hear from a lot of hikers is they see a physio, they see a physical therapist, they're given these exercises to do, they're doing for like two or three weeks and then they'll just pull it out of their mind and they stop doing them, they fall out of them, they don't be consistent, they don't really get the best results. So, ultimately, the way that I like to use these particular exercises is basically.

[9:15] When you're looking at your other training and when you're looking at your training through the week, if you're doing strength training, if you're doing cardio, whatever it may be, is basically as opposed to worrying about these direct ankle strengthening exercises, just doing them at home as random sessions. I like to incorporate them into our other training. So if you're doing a warm-up before a session, you could spend two, three, four minutes doing these exercises. And that sometimes can be a really good way of both warming up, but also incorporating this type of thing as well. Or if you're having rest periods, if you're doing traditional strength training where you do an exercise, then you rest, then you do an exercise then he rests and they do an exercise and rest all that recipe you can be using productively you can do these type of exercises here and there i'll give you some um some ideas and you know a little bit further in the presentation um around how you can kind of figure that out and put these things together on your own but i just want to sort of say you know this stuff can be a bit boring so you want to get a little bit creative around how you can slip it into your week um so you can do it consistently and get the benefits out of this type of thing so to give you a few examples of this direct ankle strengthening. I'll give you three simple exercise examples. First and foremost, bent leg calf raises, a really, really simple exercise. Basically, what this involves is basically holding onto a pole.

[10:22] Bending your legs, and then pushing up into your toes. Really, really, really, really simple. Essentially, this particular exercise works the calves, and specifically, it works, it focuses a little bit more on what's called the soleus, which is the lower muscle on the calf, a little bit deeper in the calf. And then when we're having this bent leg version and really really focusing towards this now this particular exercise very very straightforward um if you do this and you're like ah actually this is really really hard um and it's very very difficult then you know just only do a few at a time um so do three or four or five have a rest and then do it again um if you do find this a bit easy and you give this a go um you can do one leg at a time so this is a double-legged version you do one leg at a time or you could even add a step so you get a little bit more range of motion or even add a little bit of weight wear a backpack on your on your back or hold a dumbbell or something like that very very simple but that's a very very it's very very common sense but this is a simple exercise which can play a pretty big role for the ankles.

[11:14] Now, on the other side of this, this is another variation of the calf raise, which a lot of hikers are pretty familiar with. And this is what's called a straight leg calf raise. Essentially, what we're doing is pretty similar movement, but as opposed to having the knees bent, the legs are pretty straight. Now, this particular version of the calf raise, it'll put a bit more emphasis into what's called the gastrocnemius, which is like the higher bit of the calf, which is just as important. So, to get the best benefits out of our calf strengthening, which will help our ankles, we want to make sure we're hitting both the soleus and the gastrocnemius. So there's bent leg stuff and there's straight leg stuff and the combination of the two go really really well now for this particular version this is a single-legged version of a step there's lots of different ways you can adjust around this if um if you do this you're like hey this feels pretty good you can start with body weight and then slowly add a little bit of weight and in this version you can see i've got a backpack on my back which can add a little bit of weight or you can wear whole dumbbells um if you find this is a little bit too hard um you can basically do this off the floor so you don't have to be on the step or you can do it two legs at a time whatever maybe be. But essentially, the idea is just to find a version that kind of works for you and then over time make it a little bit more difficult.

[12:17] And then basically the third sort of direct ankle strengthening. The first tool really being looking at the calves, which are probably the main priority in regards to the ankles. Now, this one is sort of working through the ankles in a few different ranges of motion. And it basically just involves you getting a TheraBand or an exercise band or something like that. And basically what you're going to be doing is you're going to do in little flexes in a bunch of different directions. So in this example, you've got the first one and kind let's see, let's skip, skip, skip, skip, skip. You wrap a band around your foot, and then you're basically just doing little toe points. And you're literally just pointing in and out, in and out, in and out. And you do like 20 repetitions or so. And then essentially the next version is we're.

[12:55] On the outside and go out in out in out in and then the next version we go the other way so basically wrapping the band another way and we're going to go in out in out in out and then we're basically just doing each of the ways each of the different directions so forward back side side very very simple now this particular exercise it just kind of just strengthens up the ankle in slightly different ranges of motion and different sort of areas which can be really really really useful because one of the things which i didn't mention before is for people who do have those of recurring ankle sprains and recurring ankle pains, typically these structures around the ankle is a little bit weak. So strengthening stuff up can go a really long way. Now, for this particular exercise, if you aren't doing this type of stuff, I would probably say this exercise, keep the reps a little bit more controlled and sort of, you know, is in this video demonstration. So you can see in the video, they're just like going in and out, in and out, in and out. I like to keep them a little bit more controlled, a little bit more steady. And ultimately, if you do this, you know, I hate this as super easy, then maybe you need a bit of a thicker band. and you can make this as easy or as difficult as you want using different types of intensity. So basically there are three types of direct ankle strengthening exercises that bent leg calf raise, stroke leg calf raise and that banded stuff covers most of our bases in regards to direct ankle strengthening very, very effective.

[14:10] Now, the next area we kind of want to consider when it comes down to helping support the ankle is what we call general leg strengthening. So we spend a bit of time on those other exercises on the direct ankle strengthening. This is general leg strengthening. And essentially, when it comes down to supporting the ankles, it is important to make sure that the hips and the knees are nice and stable as well. Because ultimately, if the supporting muscles of the hips and the knees are a little bit weak, or maybe a little bit unstable, or maybe just fatiguing too early on a trail. This can have a little bit of cascade effect down towards the ankles because the whole body is connected. And if the hips get really tired or they just aren't doing their job or the knees get really tired, then the ankles can end up being a little bit out of whack, which affects us. Ultimately, on the flip side of things, if these areas are strong, if the hips are strong, if the supporting muscles, the knees are strong, this gives the ankles a better chance of just staying stable, both when you're just walking along in a normal situation and also when things go wrong and if you step in a pothole or step on a loose rock or anything.

[15:07] And on top of this, building up your leg strength in general will improve your hiking in a variety of other ways as well. So in all honesty, I say all hikers should be doing this anyway, but in the ankle context, this can really go a long way. Now, when we're looking at ankle strengthening through general leg strengthening, what we want to be really focusing on and putting a bit more attention to is what we call closed chain exercises, which is basically just a fancy way of saying doing leg exercises where your foot is actually connected to the ground. Now, the flip side of this is what's called open chain exercises, where basically your foot is in the air. So this might be doing something like on a leg extension machine, where you're in the gym, sitting on your bum, you're on a machine, and your legs going up and down, up and down. Now, the foot itself is just in the air, and it's not connected to the floor. Now, there's nothing wrong with this type of exercise. It does have its place and it can be really beneficial. But when we're looking at this ankle context, ideally we want the foot on the floor and working on this closed chain so that ankle can get a little bit of work and we can teach the body as it's working as a whole to really support and stabilize it. So a couple of simple, simple exercises here. One exercise I love is the step down exercise. I get pretty much all my hikers doing this regardless if they've got ankle issues or not. But basically what this involves is standing on a step and.

[16:23] Step, box, whatever it may be, and just literally just slowly lowering down the floor, touching your heel, and then coming up. Really, really, really simple. This particular exercise is super beneficial at developing strength and stability through the quadriceps and a little bit of the glutes. On top of this, you can kind of see, like as we're going through the exercise before, you can kind of see knees wobbling around. So we're challenging knee stability, we're challenging hip stability, and also they're challenging ankle stability. And you kind of see the ankles are sort of wobbling around a bit as well. Very, very, very simple, but very effective. And in the hiking context, it can be really useful in a lot of different situations. Now, for this particular exercise, if you try and give it a go, and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm wobbling all over the shop, easiest thing is just use a couple of trekking poles to give you some extra balance or hold onto a chair or something like that. If you do it and you're like, oh, this is way too easy, then you can basically just use a higher step or you can even hold some weight, you know, in dumbbells or on your pack or something like that. You can make this as easy or as difficult as you want. so very very effective now another flip side in regards to general leg strengthening is this exercise the single leg deadlift so the step down we were talking about before works quadriceps which is the front of the thighs a little bit of the glutes which is a bump the single leg deadlifts basically works the flip side of that so the hamstrings which are the back of the thighs and a little bit more of the glutes as well so what this involves is basically one leg on the floor we're basically just tipping at the hips and coming straight down and then coming up and we're basically just doing this now this particular exercise again really great for.

[17:50] Hamstrings and glutes helps knee stability helps hips stability and also for the ankles again you'll be wobbling around quite a bit so they're getting quite a bit of work there now for this one if you do it and you're like hey i'm just wobbling around too much this is too hard then you can use trekking poles for balance again have one in one hand and use support if you find this a little bit too easy you can basically just load it up with a bit of weight hold a dumbbell one of the two one or two hands, just load that up a little bit heavier can go a long way. So there are just a couple of examples in regards to that direct ankle strength.

[18:21] Now, the third area of sort of strengthening we kind of want to look at when it comes down to ankle issues is what we call balance and proprioception and or proprioception training, which is pretty much the same thing. Essentially, proprioception, I'm not pronouncing that very well, but basically what that is, is the awareness of the position and movement of your body.

[18:42] Now, this is really, really, really important to help your body on uneven terrain, which we get exposed to a lot when we're on the trail.

[18:49] Now, essentially what this means is we will, if we can improve our proprioception, we'll better be able to sense if things are not right. So when it comes down to proprioception, it's not so much we just sort of see, hey, we step on a foot and we step on a loose rock and we see the foot go on a weird position, but this is whether the actual foot will sense what's going on. So in this sort of a situation if you're walking along and you step in a pothole now if you your proprioception is up to where it needs to be you'll probably have a better chance of catching yourself if things go wrong and basically we can't be able to reorientate reorientate yourself not fully follow through on a bad step or whatever it may be or if you're just unbalanced actually not being able to fall over which is good um on on the flip side of things if your proprioception isn't up to scratch maybe a little bit uh you know not quite where it needs to be then maybe you won't catch yourself, maybe you'll have a tumble, have a fall or whatever it is. So developing balanced proprioception, very, very effective. Now, one thing that's really, really, really relevant when it comes down to ankle pain is basically if you are one of those people I was mentioning before who does have a bit of a history in regards to ankle sprains and you regularly roll your ankle or you've done it a bunch of times in the past, essentially every time we sprain our ankle, it will significantly impact and negatively impact our proprioception and it will reduce it and get it worse and worse and worse. So if you're that type of person who constantly rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls, this more than likely probably does need a little bit of work. So it's something to really, really be important on.

[20:18] Now, when it comes down to balanced proprioception training, there's a million and one things you can do. You don't have to get too crazy, too complicated with this. So I'll show you a couple of examples I quite like.

[20:27] Now, this example is something that's called around the world. Really, really simple. You can do this pretty much anywhere. Basically, in this example, we're standing on one leg, ideally barefoot for this particular version. We've got some type of weight. So you can use a dumbbell, using a kettlebell. You can use a loaded backpack, whatever it may be. And literally, we're just standing one leg and then just rotating this dumbbell around. In one direction, a few repetitions. In the other direction, a few repetitions. Now, you'll notice when you do this is the ankle will be kind of wobbling around a little bit. and it will be quite hard to sort of keep stable. And as that weight's going around, that'll challenge us to stay stable in this range of motion. Very, very simple. And then if you do want to make this a little bit more difficult, as you can see in this particular example, I'm standing on a mat, which basically a folded up mat, which just makes it a little bit more difficult compared to the floor. You can use a thicker mat, you can use a pillow, you can stand on a BOSU ball, one of those sort of blow up balls, a stability disc or whatever it may be. Very, very, very simple, but very, very effective. Now, another example of this type of exercise, a balance exercise, is what we call a three-cone balance drill, which is really simple. So, you're on one leg, you put three cones out in front of you, and literally all you're doing is just reaching out and touching each cone, doing one leg and then doing the other leg. As you can see for me, I don't have too many issues in the past of balance proprioception, but I'm wobbling all over the shop here. It's a relatively challenging exercise and can be really beneficial.

[21:49] Now, if you do this version, as you can see, I'm standing on a mat here. So if you do this and you're like, hey, this is too hard, just do it from the floor and have directly on the floor. Or alternatively, if you feel like it's a little bit too easy, use something that's a little bit more unstable. So a thicker mat, a pillow, a BOSU ball, stability disc, anything like that. So there are a few ideas there. So essentially, so far, what we covered, we covered that direct ankle strengthening, giving three simple examples there. We covered the general leg strengthening, giving two simple examples there,

[22:15] and the balance and proprioception training, giving you two simple examples there. And kind of, if you cover those three bases, in go a long way.

[22:22] Now, when it comes down to this type of training, Any type of exercise done in isolation, either just by itself or just repeated on week after week, month after month, it's only going to do you so good. The long-term improvement to really make sure you are improving and getting the best results from this type of thing, progression is key. Now, what I mean by that is the body, when it gets applied and gets stimulus or stress or challenge, it gets used to new things pretty quickly. In the sense that the body gets a new challenge, it'll be like, I don't like that challenge. so the body will adapt, it'll change, it'll grow in certain ways to make that challenge a little bit more comfortable. And that's basically the essence of training. Now, if we just keep on doing the same thing over and over and over and over, the body will adapt to that same thing, but then it won't really want to adapt any more because we're not giving it a new challenge, we're not forcing it to get uncomfortable. So, to get the best results out of training, over time, we want to make things a little bit more difficult, a little bit more difficult, a little bit more difficult to ensure that it's constantly being challenged, getting the stimulus it needs and adapting again stronger and more resilient.

[23:26] So typically with these types of exercises that I recommend here, I usually recommend progressing these exercises in one way or another every three to four weeks. So essentially you would do these exercises, you choose one of these versions and you do it for three to four weeks and just work through the exercise, challenge yourself, push yourself. And then after three to four weeks, then we're like, okay, how can I make this exercise a little bit more difficult for myself? So examples of this might include changing from a double to a single-legged exercise. So, in that very first example, I showed you that bent leg calf raise. You might spend four weeks doing bent legs with two legs and do that for four weeks. And then the next four weeks, you go into one leg at a time. That's a progression and that's a significant extra challenge. Or you can increase the range of motion. So, if you're doing those calf raises, you might do four weeks on the floor and then four weeks off a step. Or if you're doing that three-cone balance, you might do four weeks using tones and then four weeks just touching the floor or something like that. Or you could do a slightly different version.

[24:23] Of an exercise. So sometimes it doesn't have to be the same thing where you just make harder, but you can choose a different exercise which works similar muscles. So an example of this is doing the single leg calf raise, which I showed you before. And then you might do that for four weeks or eight weeks or work through a series of progressions. Then you're like, you know what, I need a change. I work out at a gym. I have access to a leg press. I might do calf raises on a leg press. You know, that's an example. It's still working the same muscles, still very, very similar, but it's just a different change. Or you might just add weight or resistance. So you may do four weeks of body weight, then four weeks with a bit of weight, and then four weeks with more weight or whatever may be. Lots and lots of different options. But the main key is just making sure you choose something and regularly progress things.

[25:02] Ultimately when it comes down to this obviously i've given you a few example exercises obviously i've given you a few bits and pieces fully fully understand if there's a whole concept of okay that kind of makes sense but how does this kind of go into a workout what reps should i be doing what sort of how many sets should i be doing how should i be resting this and that um obviously i haven't covered that today um so if you were sort of interested in that type of thing um i do have something cool for you basically i have a free little mini course around strength training for hiking, where basically it covers the benefits of strength training for hiking. So today we've been diving into ankles specifically, but this talks about a bit more of the broader benefits. It talks through the understanding of the principles of effective strength training. So we just touched on progression there, which is one of them, but there are a few other areas that are really important to ensure you get the best out of your strength training. And it also teaches you how to create your own strength workouts and basically how you can take exercises like these or other examples that I sort of have in the course and how to actually put together your own workouts. So it's well structured, so it's going to be progressed over time, and so you're covering all your bases, which are going to help your ankles as well as your hiking. Now, if you do want to get access to this free course, you can basically just go to summitstrength.com.au slash strength dash mini dash course. From there, you can sign up. It's completely free, and it will help you fill in the gaps of some of the ideas around this presentation. So if you want to get access to that, go to summitstrength.com.au slash strength dash mini dash course and get your hands on that. No.

[26:31] Essentially coming into this, you know, we've covered direct ankle strengthening, general leg strengthening, and balanced proprioception work. And ultimately, if you do put these three types of exercises together, and you can string them into your weekly routine, and you can progress them over time, this will go a long, long way into building up and strengthening your ankles for the training.

[26:50] However, as we sort of said at the start of the presentation, when it comes down to preventing ankle pain and strains, strengthening is one part of the picture. It's a very important part, but it's only one part of it. and there are lots of other things you probably should be paying attention to. Now, other factors, if you do have a history of ankle pain and sprains, other factors you need to keep in your mind are conditioning and fitness. Because as we said before, fatigue and exhaustion is a risk factor, both for pain and ankle sprains. So essentially, you want to be thinking about how can I minimize fatigue on the trail and conditioning and fitness goes a long, long way. You want to be thinking about mobility. So when it comes down to ankle pain, some people will have super hypermobile ankles and they'll be that type of person, their ankles are really, really loose. And those types of people, you probably don't really need to do a huge amount of mobility. But on the flip side, some people that get ankle pain have really, really, really tight on their ankles and they're really, really restricted. So sometimes putting a bit of mobility work can go a long way there. Um, there's a whole concept of exposure to specific challenges in the sense that when it comes down to hiking, there are certain sort of triggers that can often lead to ankle pain. So specifically it may be going on, um, rock hopping, or it may be, um, carrying a heavy pack or maybe being on a, you know, a traverse or something like that. And essentially, if you're aware, there's certain triggers that cause ankle pain, then we want to think, okay, how can we expose the ankles to this in a controlled environment? so you can slowly but surely build up tolerance to these types of things.

[28:19] Footwear changes. There's a whole idea around full-supported boots, mid-tier boots, zero-drop shoes, barefoot shoes, all of this. And we need to be aware of, okay, there's pros and cons for each type of footwear, but one of the biggest issues a lot of people fall into is when they're dramatically changing their footwear and they go from high-top boots to another thing, the ankles do take a while to adjust to that type of thing. So there's a lot of thought that needs to come into that if you struggle with ankle pain and issues. Then there's a whole concept of load management in regards to how much hiking, how much walking, how much stress is actually going through your ankles on a weekly and monthly basis and how can I manage that? There are many, many, many other factors when it comes down to really getting on top of your ankles. And each of these are just as important as strengthening. And obviously, if we went into all of this stuff, I'd be talking for five, six, seven, eight hours. But it is stuff that is important to keep on top of your mind. And ultimately, if you do this strengthening and you stick with it and you're like, hey, I'm still struggling with this type of stuff and I'm not covering these things, there are other areas you want to look at.

[29:21] So hopefully, when it comes down to this, this has given you a few ideas around helping your angles for the trail. As I said, it's a big topic, but hopefully it just opened up your eyes, giving you a few ideas to work on and hopefully it can help. However, if you do need a little bit of help putting this all together and you're like, hey, you know what? I'm not 100% sure how to apply this into my particular situation. I'm not 100% sure about how to plan out a training week. I'm not 100% sure about how to figure out this progression over time. And I just want to make sure I'm doing exactly what I need to be in the best possible position.

[29:51] I would love to chat with you. Now, through Summit Strength, we offer personalized training programs for hikers to help them get fit, strong, and resilient for their adventures. Now, typically what our packages include, it will create a custom and personalized workout program to get you ready for anything the travel may throw at you. To not only build up the ankles, but build up the body as a whole. Incorporating strength training, cardio, recovery, mobility work, and also hiking training. And fitting that around you, your life, your needs, and your situation.

[30:18] We also do put a big emphasis into educating you around all the peripheral factors that will affect both your ankles and your hiking. So we have a big module around ankle pain prevention. We talk through fatigue management, conditioning, nutrition, recovery, and a bunch of other things that can help your hiking. And we also give you the coaching, accountability, and support to keep you on track through the ups and downs or whatever may come up. Because one of the biggest things you need to do is just be able to stick with your training and stick with your ideas and stick with your strategies over the long term so you actually see the results. So if you did want to learn a little bit more about our training um what you can do is go to summitstrength.com.au slash online um on there there's a big video which talks to our programs how we go about things and just gives you a little extra insight into how we help hikers and if it does sound like it's something you want to learn a little bit more about on that page you can book a free call with our team where we can sit down get to know you have a really solid chat around you your situation and your needs and ultimately if it does sound like something we may be able to help you out with, we can talk you through how our training works, talk you through one of our packages, and ultimately you can make a decision if and how it may be right for you. So if you were interested, go to summerstrength.com.au slash online, and you can check it out from there. But all in all, I hope you got some good ideas from today's presentation, and I really do hope these exercises, this sort of structure, and these insights can make a big difference for a lot of people who struggle

[31:37] with ankle pain on the trail. So thank you so much for watching. Hope you've enjoyed it, and we'll talk to you soon.

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