If I said I didn't need these exercises too...

I'd be lying.

Somewhere, somehow I've recently picked up a funky ankle ache. Yes, even PT's get "how did I do this?" niggles.

And I know a lot of runners are feeling the same thing as you ramp up for fall races, entering peak mileage, or are in the thick of peak marathon mileage.

And you might be saying things like:

"My right ankle has this nagging tenderness/soreness my past couple runs. What do I do about it?"

The most common not-so-great advice I see is:

• take more rest days
• get new shoes
• use a theragun and stretch it out. (seriously, if you figure out how to stretch your ankle, let me know. Because that's a joint, not a muscle).

None of this is "Bad" advice.

In fact, I realized part of my ankle-niggle situation is one of my newer running shoes. So, I rotate them and choose judiciously when to wear the potential-culprit pair.

BUT IN THE MEAN TIME...

I'm not just resting. And this applies to all you runners fighting the ankle ache, too.

Rest is helpful, but targeted exercises that actually FIX the problem are better.

My known suspect: my lateral peroneals have always been HOT GARBAGE *read that with a boston accent please*

My new shoes: definitely require total ankle-muscle engagement for surround-sound stability; no room for slackers.

oops.

FOR YOU: if you're in a training cycle and the miles are stacking up and the intensity is slowly cranking up to 10, your ankles may be crying out for help.

While your body is physically capable of accomplishing those punishing miles, your ankles are saying "we're NOT ready for this!"

Fancy PT science words: your ankle tenderness, soreness, and achiness are potential signs you're exceeding your tissue capacity and your ankles aren't able to recover and perform 100% to the high level you're demanding of them.

Normal people words: it's time to make your ankles stronger NOW so you can get ahead of the curve when workouts start getting VERY spicy. Because if you keep waiting, resting, and only thera-gunning, things might end in a dumpster fire that was totally avoidable.

Oh hey, that's what this week's blog and exercises are all about ;)

I've made sure to include 2 different kinds of strength training in this MEGA-circuit. (don't freak out, it's only 5 exercises)...

But I picked very specific ones that build on top of one another to get you the best results: decreased pain/discomfort, helping your ankles feel stronger, and helping them feel less/not fatigued during or after your workouts.

So let's go check it out together:

Dare to Train Differently,

Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit

P.S. hate to break it to you, but the ankle aches won't go away on their own. But they can start feeling better in 1 week. Pretty cool, right? Just go do those exercises ;)

Looking for MORE ways to work together?

• ​RUNNING RESCUE CALL: Save your run and your race. Work directly with me 1-on-1 at the first sign of an ache, niggle, or repeat running injury. We'll deep dive into the why behind your injury and create a personalized exercise program that gets you out of pain, keeps you running, and helps prepare you for race day!
• Grab my NEWEST FREE Strength resources for runners: The Calf & Achilles Cure Toolkit, made for marathoners sidelined by stiff, painful achilles and tight, injury-prone calves who want to protect their training cycle and show up to the starting line strong, pain-free, and ready to race.
• ​STRONGER FEET WORKSHOP: Losing the battle to plantar fasciitis, posterior tib pain, or reoccurring Achilles tendonitis? Not with this workshop ;)

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