One Simple Practice for Healthier Knees & Ankles

The One Island Strength knee & ankle workshop participants and I are coming up on our the half way mark or our 6-week workshop focused on the body´s foundational joints and I wanted to share the simple homework practice that I have just assigned for the class. This one simple practice will offer endless possibilities and variety for the lower joints which set the tone for the rest of the body.

The feet and ankles are obviously the general first point of contact for most of the outside force that we place on our body. With each and every step, our joints must absorb at least the gravity of our bodyweight, one foot at a time. Our ankles´ efficiency (or inefficiency) to properly absorb this force will determine how much of that force is then passed on to the joints further up the chain. This efficiency will be determined by the mechanics and mobility of the ankle and the proper balance of strength present in the muscles responsible for absorbing the force. The best day to day practice to create an articulate joint—prepared for whatever life may throw at it—is variety: Lots of angles, lots of tasks.

The simplest solution that I have found to satisfy this prescription is to daily, or every-other-daily, find a hill and walk/run/tippie toe/whatever on said hill for 10-15 minutes. The uneven ground will challenge not only your knees and ankle, but your hips, low back and core as well. And if you are not too self-conscious to get down on all fours and do a bit of crawling, you´ve got a brilliant full body exercise that will challenge all of the joints and musculature.

Give it a go for 6 weeks, 3x a day and tell me that your knees and ankles don´t feel stronger and more stable. Below I´ve shared a video link from my Instagram profile with a few examples of what you might try, although simply walking up and down, forward and backwards will certainly do.

Knee & Ankle Hill Walking Variations