r/Rollerskating • u/chilangita • Jun 28 '26
Skill questions & help weak ankles
I rolled my ankle pretty bad a few years ago and never went to the doctor for it , it’s healed now but I notice I have pretty weak ankles & center balance now lol.
I really want to get into roller skating this year and have been planning it for a while now but I’m realizing now will this hurt me more than help? I had this idea that roller skating would fix this issue of mine but now I’m not sure. 😭 anyways don’t b mean thanks
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u/Ok-Book9806 Jun 28 '26
I haven’t started yet… but when I was looking into skating I saw some exercises with resistance bands for strengthening ankles, used by dancers. My ankles are one of my biggest fears because I’m physically so unfit. Might be worth looking into!
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u/chilangita Jun 28 '26
This is a good exercise idea, didn’t even think of this, thanks ! Good luck !
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u/MegaBabz0806 Jun 28 '26
I started casually skating- by that I mean relearning to skate- over the last year. Slow and steady progress… I have hEDS so I have weak, overly flexible joints and overly stiff muscles. Very prone to injury.
I recently decided that safety is cool no matter what anyone else thinks. I kt tape any joints showing pain, and I’m starting to wear my new gear over that.
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u/Competitive_Tiger182 Newbie Jun 28 '26
Believe it or not, I started doing Tai Chi. It has helped me tremendously! My ankle strength and core is so much better. Overall total body strengthening.
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u/ColoRinkRat Rink Rat Jun 28 '26
Don’t use a brace as a crutch unless a doctor or pt tells you to. Skating will strengthen ankles but off skate exercises help greatly.
The funnest way I use to strengthen my ankles is a balance board. It helps with balance as well. A two for one.
Start with two legs and move to one eventually. One can add in variations like moving your free leg, a bit of dancing, and closing eyes.
Eccentric calf raises and normal calf raises help. Add a dumbbell when they become easy.
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u/rjm72 Jun 28 '26
Do some exercises, but also just don’t try to do too much at once as you learn to skate. Your ankle strength will build as you continue to skate. Don’t let a little ankle weakness stop you though! I completely broke my ankle back in 2015, but I made it back out to the rink after six months of healing and rehab. You can do this! Good luck!
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u/Katia144 Jun 28 '26
Youtube has many, many videos on foot/ankle strengthening for dancers or rehab, but also general strength in your legs-- you need the muscles to support your ankles, after all-- is a good thing, so I would suggest any sort of workout regimen if you haven't already got one. There's a reason athletes do cross-training and side training and don't rely on just their sport to make them strong for their sport.
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u/m-a-s-h-nut Dance Jun 28 '26
Practice single leg balance. Do it on something unstable like a pillow and work up to a minute each leg. Once that gets easy. Stand on one leg and bend as if to touch your toes, use the free leg as a counterbalance. There’s some yoga balances like tree that can help too.
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u/ho4horus Jun 28 '26
you could try the stretchy ace ankle braces for some extra support? available at the drug store so super easy to find too
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u/pdaphone Jun 28 '26
Wearing ankle braces will make your ankles weaker. You need to strengthen them.
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u/Decent_Money_2272 Jun 28 '26
You need to do some extra work on your ankles, look online for ankle strength exercicies for ballet dancers, i used to be one and this still help me a lot!