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Dr. Marie Whitt / Strength Coach and Physical Therapist for Runners

Chasing High Fall Mileage? Dynamic Ankle Warm Up to the Rescue

Published about 1 month ago • 2 min read

Got 5 minutes?

I deliberately made this dynamic ankle warm up fast and furious because you never know...

we could always have another round of "fake fall" and get slammed again with hot, humid, slogging runs.

So we have grab every minute and mile we can! Get the warm up in, done, and get out the door!

But in all seriousness...

I struggle with occasional tight, twingy ankles too.

In fact, I'm probably a record holder for "the most ankle sprains in a year".

Yes, my feet are flat, my ankles are trash-ish, and I continue to run.

No implosion, no feet falling off mid-mile.

But they do require some TLC that I'm not always consistent with. If I'm going to take of my body in any routine way, it has to be quick and effective.

I know you're in the same boat:

  • you're busy with work, family, back-to-school..
  • the general chaos that is September (it's always this busy. every. year.)
  • and the last thing you need is a cranky, nagging ankle holding you back from you-time, training, race day,...

I got you.

I've been playing around with these 3 exercises with myself, some runner clients, and patients.

They're my current top 3 because they WORK. ​

They fix tightness in the front of your ankle, help to dynamically warm up your ankle + entire lower leg with little bit of explosiveness, and even begin strengthening your gastroc and itty bitty foot muscles.

Because let me make a small confession (...ok, two).

  • I recently did some continuing education courses so I can keep my PT license (if you watch my IG stories, than you know...), and I learned why I dislike the bland, vague "PT advice" of IG: "just do some calf raises." I've seen more runners hurt then helped by this statement, because we've been doing them wrong. The last exercise in this circuit is my gentle way of introducing how to do calf raises correctly. So go check yourself before you wreck yourself.

​

  • This morning while in the warm up stage of my run, I stopped and did these exercises because of a stupid, spicy twinge in my L foot. Didn't go away, so I did a soleus stretch. Ta-da! All fixed. Does that mean I'm a liar and this warm up circuit is garbage? I hope not. But it does demonstrate that our bodies are NOT excel spreadsheets. Some days your body will need different exercises or stretches. And that IS OK! Learn you body; build your toolkit; Dare to Train Differently.

Work smart, not harder running fit fam.

And check out that dynamic ankle warm up circuit to keep your fall mileage climbing and the temps dropping.

Dare to Train Differently,

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

P.S. TLDR: Tight ankles during glorious fall runs are stupid. Prevent that. Do these exercises. ​

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Dr. Marie Whitt / Strength Coach and Physical Therapist for Runners

Your solution to repeat injuries and trash training cycles: Dare to Train Differently and Get STRONG like a runner!

Hey runner, I'm Marie, @drwhittfit. Never feel like all your hard work was all for nothing ever again. I coach strength training for runners, helping YOU identify your weaknesses and fix them with strength exercises designed for runners to help you build the exact strength you need to run your best, strongest, fastest, most injury-resilient race yet. Subscribe and come join the Running Fit Fam!

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