Building strong ankles and feet

[pygmalion]

I was dancing around the empty house last night -- fun! And I got a great workout. The only problem is that, this morning, my right ankle is KILLING me. I'm not sure what I did, but I think I just used the ankle muscles differently than before, and, since it didn't hurt last, I didn't stretch properly. So now my muscles are tight.

So now I have a question for all you dancers (especially marathon salsa people LOL) How do you build strong ankles and feet? Do you have particular exercises you do, or do you just build endurance through dance practice?

btw, I'm just going to wrap my ankle with an Ace bandage for today, and keep going. It doesn't feel like a strain or sprain, just tight muscles. And it's not swollen.

[Sagitta]

Wear shoes that don't have smooth soles!! The friction between your feet and the floor will work at those ankles! That's the way many people do, unintentionally.

You can go to the gym and do ankle specfic exercises, use ankle weights... :) I have poor ankles too :(

[dancin_feet]

I have been working on this lately by just doing rise and fall exercises at home and also stretching my achilles by doing them, one foot at a time on the back steps as well.

Was practising a new step yesterday, and just basically mucking around at home and felt my achilles become really tight. I had to stop and massage my foot and put it up for the rest of the day. Not taking any chances that I may miss out on my private lesson tonight!

[pygmalion]

Yup. I missed dancing altogether yesterday, but the ankle is feeling fine today.

One of my former dance teachers suggested standing in relever (on your toes) while doing regular household tasks - brushing your teeth, or whatever -- then gradually increasing the time on your toes as your ankles gain strength.

[alfr dís]

stand with your toes on the edge of a stair and your heel hanging over the edge. starting from below stair level, bring yourself up to releve and go back down. just make sure you've got something to hold on to in case you lose your balance. :D

[samina]

i thought there was a longer thread on exercises for strengthening the feet, but it didn't come up on my search. this was the best candidate i could find, so am resurrecting it for anyone to add their favorite foot exercises.

last summer i very quickly improved the strength of my feet (from very weak to minimally betraying me...) by no longer going up & down steps with flat feet. ever since that time, i go both up & down the steps on my toes... the higher the better. also helped quite palpably with alignment from my feet, thru my knees and up my thighs -- i give credit to this change for having subsequently improved my thigh strength.

now i've added another exercise, again to my stair climbing. this isn't something i'm inclined to set aside time to do on its own, but is instead something i'm doing whenever i'm using the stairs... unlesss i'm in a rush. even then... i bet i can use it.

it's the challenge of the samba bounce & required control on count 2 of VW that have driven me to create this one: when i'm going up onto my toes as i climb, i pop up onto my toes rapidly & with strong intention, and then hold at the top without any sagging, with very stiff compression. the upward launch is as if i'm under powerful compression and then... *sproing*... am popped out of a can.

one week of the first exercise produced *immediately* recognizable results in my next lesson, without first telling my instructor what i'd been up to. am curious to see what a week of this new exercise will do when we hit up samba & VW again next week...

[yippee1999]

similar to the releve move, do that sorta like er...climbing stairs or riding a bicycle...? Stand on tippy toes, then drop one foot to the ground and then switch and drop the other foot to the ground...in other words keep rotating which foot is on tip-toes.

When doing stretches, if seated, flex your feet, then point your feet, then flex, then point, etc. Then rotate or make circles with your feet, starting from the ankle (and not rotating the entire leg). Hold your foot flexed, then start to rotate it right, point as you go down, then start to flex again as the foot turns to the left. Do this in both directions with both feet.

I'd suspect that wearing shoes with good arch support on a day-to-day basis wouldn't hurt either...

[waltzgirl]

My fav is slow toe raises. The basic is up on a slow count of 8 (or more), hold for 8, down on 8. I find it's the lowering sloooowly and with control (activiating inner legs) that really strengthens the feet. I do this every time I'm waiting for the tea kettle to boil (I drink lots of tea!).

Lots variations: One foot at a time. Side steps or waltz box step in same count. Continue lowering into knees for another 8 after coming down.

[wooh]

My fav is slow toe raises. The basic is up on a slow count of 8 (or more), hold for 8, down on 8. I find it's the lowering sloooowly and with control (activiating inner legs) that really strengthens the feet. I do this every time I'm waiting for the tea kettle to boil (I drink lots of tea!).

That's helped me a lot. And I like that I can do it in pretty much any shoes. So at work in my clogs I can do it. Or at home in my flipflops. Or wherever!

[chachachacat]

So, samina, you stay on your toes the whole way, no lowering the heel until after the Victory stance?

[Angel HI]

There are, as mentioned, several balletic and jazz exercizes that can help, as well as rehabilitation exercizes. Keep in mind also that the type of shoes that you were/are wearing and the type of flooring that you were/are practicing on play an important role, as well.

[samina]

So, samina, you stay on your toes the whole way, no lowering the heel until after the Victory stance?

Lol. Correct, no heel-lowering until ready to launch up to the next step.

[samina]

There are, as mentioned, several balletic and jazz exercizes that can help, as well as rehabilitation exercizes. Keep in mind also that the type of shoes that you were/are wearing and the type of flooring that you were/are practicing on play an important role, as well.

Details, details! :)

[elisedance]

One note of caution: a popped achilles tendon is NOT something a dancer wants to experience. Recovery takes for ever, even longer with surgery. Thus, start these excercises gradually and stop if anything hurts.

Achilles tendons usually break after a sudden stretch - for example trying rope-skipping for the first time in 30 years....

[Rugby]

Okay ED you are making me worried. I twisted my right ankle quite badly about a couple of months ago while carrying a heavy office chair down the stairs. The tendons on the side of my ankle are better and the two smaller ones in the front are not too bad of late. My problem is my achilles tendon which is still bad. I danced on it at the comp at Niagara and will have to do so again this weekend at the Ontario Closed. The good thing is that I could not walk up and down stairs unless I went up sideways until a week or so ago, but at least I can do that now to a degree. Remember all the stairs at Niagara? What a trial that was. Thought I was going to have to strap myself to my DP's back.
Actually I have a double thing going for me. I also injured the joint of my large toe in the ball of my left foot about three months ago and I am still having problems with it as well. The good news is that with a bad injury to both feet I can now hobble quite evenly. One must always look for the bright side.
My question is does anyone know of anything to help with either problem, or both?
My partner and I don't really get to practice much if at all and now I have not been able to practice on my own either for quite some time.
Perhaps a double foot bypass or transplant is the answer.

[chachachacat]

Oh, poor Rugby! I tore my achilles tendon ages ago, and it hurt like hell for months, years, then gradually, slowly lessening, but rearing its ugly heel quite a bit to bite my achilles.

Stretch, stretch, stretch those achilles tendons, ladies after you wear heels!

But not you, Rugby. Get thee to a doctor and stop dancing unless you want to end your career! I hope you didn't tear it entirely. RICE - rest, ice, compression, elevation!

[elisedance]

Fraid C4 is right Rugs. I suppose you will push it for saturday - but at least there is something of a hiatus here till April. Maybe you can get it looked at then? You do not want to get to the ruptured stage...

[elisedance]

The good news is that with a bad injury to both feet I can now hobble quite evenly. One must always look for the bright side.
......
Perhaps a double foot bypass or transplant is the answer.

:uplaugh: (but extend the feet first, OK?)

[Rugby]

I will have to have the doctor check it out. So frustrating. I am more worried about the joint injury though. Geez, I have a scar every square foot of my body. When the guys compared their scars in Jaws, it was childsplay to me. I have more than all of them put together, and some of those are from dancing.

[Joe]

Well, chicks dig scars.

Oh wait, you are one. ;)

[lcdancesport]

Speaking of ankles and feet, how often do the ladies of this thread wear heels outside of the studio? I really need to find a good pair of shoes, no heels, I can wear outside of dance because man are my feet feeling it.

[Laura]

I love to wear heels but don't often outside of the studio. I need to save my feet because I've already got bunions going on both of them. Fortunately the bunions don't hurt and my toes haven't displaced much. I wear the night stretcher thing from time to time for them. But the real reason for avoiding heels is because of the ankle I destroyed while partying too hard in China a few years ago. I seriously damaged something, but it only bothers me when I wear certain pairs of shoes. I've paired my enormous shoe collection back to being just "very large" because I got rid of all the shoes that made my ankle hurt. Oddly enough, I have a pair of 3" black patent-leather round-toe pumps from Taryn Rose that don't hurt. Who'd have thought I could ever wear 3" heels? I can't walk all over the place in them, but they're good for going out to dinner in.

This all reminds me that I've been meaning to order Yoga Toes for a while. Just I just did. I can't wait for them to get here!

[lcdancesport]

Laura have you ever worn Crocs? My sister, actually a lot of people in my family have them and love them. They're probably not the greatest for work though if you have to dress halfway decent. I was thinking of getting a pair for weekend use.

[Laura]

I absolutely positively refuse to wear them, I personally think they look hideous. Same goes for Birkenstocks.

I go around barefoot most of the time, and when I'm out and about I wear flats that don't have pointy toes, to which I add an extra foam insert to for padding. Right now my favorite everyday shoes are a pair of black lambskin patent leather Prada driving-moccasin style shoes. They are so soft they feel like slippers.

My Yoga Toes are coming in 5-7 days :)

[lcdancesport]

Prada, oh la la, love it. Maybe I can convince people at work to let us wear slippers since we are sitting at a desk. :p

[Gemini1357]

How do you build strong ankles and feet? Do you have particular exercises you do, or do you just build endurance through dance practice?.

As a newbie in salsa I discovered that my balance far less than adequate, so I bought one of these "wobble boards", or "balance boards" a few days ago. I feel it's very effective. At bought the first I found, and it was far to stable to give any decent exercise, so I changed it to a more wobbly one, which seems to do the trick. At first I could only manage 4-15 seconds, and now I'm up to 20-50, and it sure strengthens lot's of muscles I was not aware of, and I kind of assume it should make a difference for my sense of balance as well.

According to the research I found it is actually supposed to be quite effective at reducing the risk for injuries and for rehab purposes.

[samina]

Prada, oh la la, love it. Maybe I can convince people at work to let us wear slippers since we are sitting at a desk. :p

I usually change into men's latin shoes at work, doll... :)

[lcdancesport]

Ooh I never thought about that, those would be very flexible.

[samina]

Speaking of ankles and feet, how often do the ladies of this thread wear heels outside of the studio? I really need to find a good pair of shoes, no heels, I can wear outside of dance because man are my feet feeling it.
I love heels, but tend toward chunkier variety on daily basis -- comfier.

[lcdancesport]

Maybe I'll take a trip to the mall and find me some new shoes :p I always go for the heels though so I can look/feel taller. Doh.

[samina]

Ooh I never thought about that, those would be very flexible.

Yes! :) and obviously comfy. I don't have much practice time available to me, so...every toe raise counts. ;)

[Rugby]

I'm am always going around barefoot myself, even outside in the snow to get the mail or take the garbage to the curb. I wear 3" spike heels when I get dressed up to go out but either than that I'm a back to nature girl.

[Laura]

This all reminds me that I've been meaning to order Yoga Toes for a while. So I just did. I can't wait for them to get here!
I'm so excited, I got a notice from UPS this afternoon that they've been shipped.

[samina]

have you worn them before? always thought they'd be nice to try, just never ordered them.

[Laura]

Nope I've never worn them, but considering I often massage my feet by wedging each finger on one hand between each pair of toes, it sounds right up my alley. I took advantage of their volume discount and bought three pairs in cute colors.

[Joe]

I absolutely positively refuse to wear them, I personally think they look hideous.
LOL, that is the exact word I was going to use to describe them, but now I don't have to! ;)

[fatimarobs]

i've also heard about reducing the friction between your shoes and the floor will help. fortunately, i've never had this problem though.

goodluck!

[Laura]

I received my Yoga Toes today and am wearing them. They're exactly what I was looking for. What's been interesting is that the places in my feet that are tight when I wear them (and so now are getting stretched) aren't the places that I thought were going to be tight! Right now I've got them on over my toe socks :)

I had them on for half an hour this morning, then half an hour after gyro, and now I'm shooting for an hour post-dance lesson. I've read that some people leave them on overnight in their sleep, but I'm not quite ready to try that.

[fascination]

I absolutely positively refuse to wear them, I personally think they look hideous. Same goes for Birkenstocks.

I go around barefoot most of the time, and when I'm out and about I wear flats that don't have pointy toes, to which I add an extra foam insert to for padding. Right now my favorite everyday shoes are a pair of black lambskin patent leather Prada driving-moccasin style shoes. They are so soft they feel like slippers.

My Yoga Toes are coming in 5-7 days :)
I said the same thing til my shoes broke while I was at disney, during usdsc, and now, no matter how stupid I look, I wear them particularly when my feet are sore...it's like shock absorbers for your feet...and the rip-offs don't work...

[fascination]

my latest love fest with a shoe is a bloch practice shoe that is basically a ballet slipper with a bit of a heel....slips on like second skin and feels great...allows me to really see what my feet are up to

[Laura]

Either my Quickstep lesson last night (45 minutes of female teacher telling me to push the floor. Harder. No, move the floor not you!) or wearing the Yoga Toes too much has left my feet sore. But I'm oddly and immediately addicted to the Yoga Toes.

[samina]

ok... you have persuaded me. did you include a link for where you purchased them, perchance? i mean, i could google but... perhaps there are variants in production amongs the brands...

[Laura]

Google will show you the way to the official source for the real thing.

[samina]

gotcha. thanks!

[skwiggy]

I'm oddly and immediately addicted to the Yoga Toes.

Ditto.

:cheers:

[Dancebug]

I have my Yoga Toes now, and I have been wearing them about an hour a day for a week or so. I do not see any big benefit. Is it only me? Also I have tried to make my partner try mine, but he says what's the difference between Yoga Toes and the thing I put on to apply pedicure? You know man.....

[Laura]

Well, they might not do anything at all. I found a web site that debunked them and also had a bit to say about bad business practices of the people who run the place.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/248/RipOff0248508.htm

So maybe we've all been had.

But on the other hand, I was looking for this kind of stretching device. The foam separators for doing pedicures weren't giving me enough stretch. I can feel the muscles in the balls of my feet stretching, which is something I really needed.

[skwiggy]

Personally, I see a huge benefit. The pain in my feet has gone down tremendously. The visible redness and swelling has lessened as well. For me, they were worth every penny and then some.

[elisedance]

Do they make one for the face? Yoga-nose?

[Joe]

Um, breathe-rite strips.

[samina]

My favorite pair of chunky pumps are now officially too big to wear comfortably, and they're very sturdy, not stretched out...it's my feet that have gotten too lean for them. I wondered what was going on at my last comp when it felt like my new shoes were so loose they were gonna fly off, and now I see why.

I mean, this is a big change.

My feet have always been so wide and I'm thinking they're more average now. Am quite surprised, but I guess it fits with the trend of recent physical changes in the last couple months.

Anybody else's foot size change dramatically since starting to dance?

[and123]

I don't know about "dramatically", but I have discovered that I tend to buy street shoes about one size smaller than I did before I started dancing. Plus my Latin shoe size seems to keep decreasing.... gotta have that "toe hang" :p

[cshorte]

when social daning or seomthing picking up someone and dancing with them/by urself is a great work out haha, esp when throwing your weight around with your hips in standard

[samina]

I don't know about "dramatically", but I have discovered that I tend to buy street shoes about one size smaller than I did before I started dancing. Plus my Latin shoe size seems to keep decreasing.... gotta have that "toe hang" :p
I'd say one size smaller is dramatic difference, and123!

[fire_dancer]

Small feet from dancing isn't always a plus... I now take a size 4 1/2 or 5 (American sizing) and can rarely find shoes. :)

[elisedance]

I couldn't fit into WW shoes when i started seriously competing and now I fit nicely into a W. I suppose its like the Japanese foot binding! I suspect my bones are abrading against each other...

[LolaEden]

Ballet shoes are the hardest to fit, especially pointe shoes because they have to mould to the shape of your feet and they are made from plaster of paris!!! so it hurts but i think your feet mould to the shoes first because my feet seem to be constantly crushed lots and they are always bruised!



http://lolaeden-modellingphotos.piczo.com

[samina]

Small feet from dancing isn't always a plus... I now take a size 4 1/2 or 5 (American sizing) and can rarely find shoes. :)

But you musta had small feet before...what size did you start at? Surely not 8. ;)

My point in the change in size is that as my feet have gotten stronger, they've gotten much leaner, which is nice.

I mean, I still have feet meant for squashing grapes...I just wouldn't be as efficient at that task any longer, heh.:)

[samina]

I couldn't fit into WW shoes when i started seriously competing and now I fit nicely into a W. I suppose its like the Japanese foot binding! I suspect my bones are abrading against each other...

My guess is its the muscles fitting closer around the bones, as when muscles become lean & sinewy anywhere else on the body.

So you've got wide feet too...

[LatinDancer006]

My feet used to get bigger as they get strong. I first noticed it when i realized how tight the shoes are around the toes. But since I started icing them down after a long dance practice, they felt more comfortably in my shoes the next day.

[reb]

Anybody else's foot size change dramatically since starting to dance?

ok sam, I'm just answering the question . . . it seems the exeperiences here are feet getting smaller . . . my shoes are now a whole size larger than when I started dancing. I've had to swap out all my shoes (and don't forget a guy can keep his same comfortable and familiar leather shoes, with care, for decades! so I don't say this lightly!! :()

I started by moving up a half size and then did it all over again within a year for another half size
Had always prided myself on wearing comfortable shoes that fit (back to that guy thing . . . ) so I am not inclined to believe that I had been wearing shoes too small and I have none of the scrunched toes, etc., that come with wearing too small shoes for 40 years - feet are in good conditionuh-oh . . . maybe my feet are spreading under the weight over time . . . :rolleyes:

My feet used to get bigger as they get strong. I first noticed it when i realized how tight the shoes are around the toes. But since I started icing them down after a long dance practice, they felt more comfortably in my shoes the next day.
Maybe there's hope?

[samina]

ok sam, I'm just answering the question . . . it seems the exeperiences here are feet getting smaller . . . my shoes are now a whole size larger than when I started dancing. ...
I started by moving up a half size and then did it all over again within a year for another half size


somehow i missed this...

i think it might be as you said, that you're toes are less scrunched up now, and you've become used to feeling what it's like to use ALL of your foot... so it's the larger sizes that are feeling comfortable to you now. that's my take. :)

[samina]

I have my Yoga Toes now, and I have been wearing them about an hour a day for a week or so. I do not see any big benefit. Is it only me? Also I have tried to make my partner try mine, but he says what's the difference between Yoga Toes and the thing I put on to apply pedicure? You know man.....

any more updates on yoga toes usage from you guys? who's been using them on a regular basis?

i just ordered mine. pink ones. sounds like they take awhile to arrive.

[skwiggy]

I wear them regularly. They have made a huge difference for me. My feet both look and feel much better than before. If I wear them after dancing or walking around in high heels, the recovery time for my feet is much shorter and easier.

[lcdancesport]

I think my feet are smaller now, like it isn't hard enough finding shoes for narrow feet already! Now I find I'm picky when I look for heels because nothing supports my arch, which is really annoying. I was trying on some of my shoes the other day and they're definitely too loose now.

[Dancebug]

any more updates on yoga toes usage from you guys? who's been using them on a regular basis?

i just ordered mine. pink ones. sounds like they take awhile to arrive.
I think I should take back what I said regarding yoga toes. I had footache after dancing five days in a row. I had not used yoga toes because I did not think they helped me. But I decided to give another try. I found they do help. I guess I did not have much pain when I first tried them. Now that I had real pain, I see the difference.

[samina]

thanks for the reports. mine shipped yesterday... so looking forward to trying them out.

i don't have pain in my feet generally, but my toes are not straight and sometimes i feel a glitch in one of them. if they were straighter, i bet they would behave far better when i try to push them toward higher performance.