With balance board exercises for the ankle, you significantly reduce your risk of injury during sports. Injuries to the ankle occur frequently, especially in all classic running sports, but of course also in cross trail, soccer, handball or tennis. Ligament strains and tears due to twisting are the classic here. Depending on the severity, they often take several months to heal. You can avoid this - and very easily, with the right balance board exercises for the ankle.

Exercises on the Balance Board

Before you start with your exercises on the Balance Board, we would like to mention a few basic things. Generally speaking, training with the Balance Board serves to improve your stability and coordination, which directly results in injury prevention. However, this assumes that - first of all - you are not currently injured. If this is the case, you should be patient and start strengthening your ankle joints with Balance Board exercises only after complete healing. Additionally, and secondly, you should already have a certain sense of balance before getting on the wobbly balance board to do balance board exercises for ankle. If simply standing and balancing on one leg isn't a problem for you, you're ready to go. Prepare your training area for balance board exercises for ankle as follows:

1. Be sure to use a base, such as a sisal mat. Not only will it protect your floor from scratches, but it will also give you more stability while boarding and improve the rolling characteristics of your board.
2. Position your mat near a table or a wall so that you can hold on to it during your first attempts. After a few sessions, if you are confident on the board, you can practice freehand.
3. Find a spot that you can fixate on with your eyes while training on the balance board. We recommend a spot on the opposite wall at eye level. If you keep it in view, it will be easier for you to keep your balance during the balance board exercises for the ankle.

Balance Board Exercises for Beginners

Once your training space is set up, you can slowly climb onto the balance board. Avoid jerky movements and try to roll very smoothly right from the start. Start your balance board exercises for the ankle with small movements ... the cool tricks will come later. Let's start with a simple exercise to improve balance. To do this, stand on your balance board, balance your body weight, and then hold your balance for as long as possible. Try not to wobble or tip over, and count towards your personal record. How many seconds do you manage on the first try? And how many on the tenth? You'll notice that the improvement is fast - and of course, that makes you want to do more balance board exercises for your ankle!

So let's move on to the second balance board exercise for the ankle, which is a good introduction for beginners: Squats. Again, go slowly and step by step. You don't have to make it all the way down right away. Rather, make sure you wobble as little as possible and that your knees never look past the tops of your feet. The soles of your feet are firmly and completely rooted to the balance board throughout the exercise. You are of course welcome to extend your arms for better balance, either forward or to the side, whichever helps you better. However, you should avoid wildly flailing your arms. You can easily repeat both beginner exercises ten to fifteen times.

Balance board exercises: Focus on the ankle joint

If you rock these two beginner exercises, you have "arrived" on your balance board - so now you can really start with the balance board exercises for the ankle. Let's increase your stability and improve your body awareness! Today, as already announced, we will focus on balance board exercises for the ankle. Of course, we don't want to deprive you of some background information about this sensitive part of the body: Your joints are surrounded by ligaments, tendons and muscles. The ligaments keep your joints and bones in contact with each other, so they connect. The muscles and tendons take care of your mobility. Your muscles transmit their power through the tendons to the bones and joints, which move as a result. All of the components together stabilize your joints, and the same is true for the ankle joint.

Stabilize the ankle joint: Exercises

Your ankle joint supports you not only when you jump or run. With its help, your entire body is stabilized, even in everyday situations. If you have problems with your ankle joint, your whole body becomes unstable, which is why the Balance Board exercises for the ankle joint are so important. With little effort you can achieve enormous results within a short time - try it out! You get a much more secure stance and can get more power and energy out of your movements. How is this possible? With Balance Board exercises for the ankle joint, you train exactly the deep muscles that are neglected in conventional strength or endurance training. The added bonus: balance board exercises for the ankle or in general are wonderfully versatile, so that you can enjoy the training for a long time. Get creative and diversify your balance board exercises for the ankle. We have a little inspiration for you.

Ankle exercises on the balance board or on the floor

• One-leg stand: Stand with both legs lengthwise on your balance board and balance yourself. Then lift one foot off the board and rotate it clockwise for one lap and then counterclockwise for one lap - preferably without wobbling. Then switch sides and repeat these balance board exercises for the ankle about ten times.
• Hand coordination: This balance board exercise for the ankle works better with a partner, but you can also do it alone by simply imagining a partner. The partner hands you their hand from different directions and at different heights. You touch the hand very lightly - again without wiggling, of course. Alternate your hands while doing this.
• Foot coordination: The same principle as in the previous balance board exercise for the ankle, but this time you try to touch your partner's hand with your foot. Feel free to switch sides, as everyone has a "good" and a "bad" side. In no case should you neglect the latter.
• Ball work: For this balance board exercise for the ankle you definitely need a partner. It's about catching and throwing a ball while keeping your balance on the balance board. Start the exercise in a two-legged stance and with a light ball, then increase the difficulty with a one-legged stance and/or a heavier ball.
• Squat with heel lift: If you are already very confident on the board, this is another Balance Board exercise for the ankle - but you can also do it on the floor. Do a normal wide squat and then lift your heels off the ground as far as you can - as usual: without wobbling.
• Calf raise: Again, you don't have to do this balance board exercise for the ankle on the board, but you're certainly welcome to try. Stand on one leg and then lift your heel as far up as possible. Sure, you'll have to hold on for now, but maybe you'll soon be able to do it freehand and maybe even with dumbbells in your hands.
• Small jumps: And as the last of the balance board exercises for the ankle comes the cracker: We now do a few jumps. Stand crosswise on your balance board and start with very small jumps. If this works well, you can jump higher and higher and come back up as gently as possible without wobbling. Alternatively, without a board, do one-legged jumps from a fixed position in all directions, forwards and backwards and to each side, and back again.

So, now you have "fodder" for your first balance board exercises for the ankle. Of course, you don't have to stick rigidly to these guidelines. Just try a little bit, with and without the board. Get creative and see what you can already do well and where you still need to train. We tend to practice what we already know how to do. Be wary of this mistake and rather challenge yourself by doing balance board exercises for the ankle that don't work out so perfectly yet. The more ankle balance board exercises you do, the better your stability will be, protecting you from injury. What's more, well-trained ankles also help you run more effectively. How? It's simple: your footprint will be stronger and you'll be able to call on your energy better, which means your leg muscles won't tire as quickly. ALSO: sticking with the balance board exercises for the ankle is definitely worth it. We recommend:

• Do your balance board exercises for the ankle regularly ... it goes so fast anyway.
• Practice at least three times a week, better daily.
• Do at least ten repetitions each, better fifteen.
• Feel free to do two to three sets of all balance board exercises for the ankle, if it doesn't strain you too much.

Balance Board Exercises for Kids

Finally, we would like to point out that prevention is always best. In this sense, we can tell you from experience: The Balance Board is also great for kids from the age of five. If you start training your balance intensively at an early age, it will be much easier for you later on - in all kinds of sports - and you will significantly reduce your risk of injury. For children, of course, the focus is on fun, which is why we do not want to list any special balance board exercises for the ankle here. The wobbling and light jumps on the board alone help enormously to increase the stability of the ankle joints and to achieve a better posture overall.

Our tip: Let your offspring customize the balance board. With our DIY Balance Board, your offspring canget creative (together with you). This is a lot of fun and leads to the fact that the balance board - and thus also the training on the board - immediately takes on a completely different value. Maybe also a good idea for all adults and not only for the kids?