♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet ♪
- Howdy folks, I'm Bob Schrupp, physical therapists.
- Brad Heineck, physical therapists.
- And together we're the most famous physical therapists,
on the internet.
- In our opinion, of course, Bob.
- So why do we wanna strengthen our ankles?
- Well, Bob, we need to understand
that the ankle is the most injured joint in the body
statistically throughout the United States.
- A lot of ankle sprains.
- And I have a feeling it's probably a worldwide statistic.
And also keep in mind,
the ankle has 26 bones that all articulate intrinsically
with each other. - They all gotta work
together. - And four layers of muscles.
- We got little intrinsic muscles,
we got large muscles that go up into our calf,
and we need to really understand and do some exercises
to encompass everything.
- So this is later after you had an injury maybe,
or maybe before the injury.
- Right.
Or maybe you're gonna progress,
you're gonna start to do an activity
like hiking in the mountains and you know you've got
weak ankles. - But the pain
would be gone by now.
- Right. - Pain in the ankle, right.
- Right, or it's just coming back into normalcy.
So there are eight exercises.
The last two are for you people who are advanced,
you're maybe playing softball, playing tennis,
those activities.
You definitely wanna wait to those two.
So hold on, you can fast forward.
The other ones are gonna get you there if you're weak
or more the beginner phase.
- So we're starting with number one.
- Number one.
I like this one because you simply,
you just lean like this up against the wall.
You gotta do more than that.
- That's (indistinct). - Can you focus
down here, Mike?
This is critical and you're gonna just go up like this
and we're gonna strengthen
the dorsiflexion. - We call that dorsiflexion.
- [Brad] Yeah, and this is a nice way to put resistance on
without wrapping rubber, you know,
the bands around your ankles, is much easier.
And it depends on how far you go away from the wall
changes the motor resistance.
You have to do with shoes on,
something that grips the floor,
and you can go, oops!
To one ankle, and that makes it more difficult
if you wanna go to the advanced mode.
10 repetitions is a good number to go to.
- [Bob] So you really don't need to add weight.
- [Brad] No, no.
I think you'll do adequately- - You get plenty with that.
- Exactly.
Number two, okay?
Now this one we're gonna go just simply up and down.
You might need something to hold on to,
a chair, a stick, a stick, a canyon (indistinct) stick,
something for balance,
and you're just gonna go up on your toes.
Now, the thing about this is this might be too easy.
So then you go to one foot and this also encourages
the balance aspect of it, which you want.
Now it's important.
This is where separates the average strengthening
to the complete strengthening.
You're gonna either use a step,
not a stool, necessarily.
A stairway is best,
we don't have it here. - With railings.
- [Brad] And hang on to the railing
and then you're gonna- - You want two, Brad?
- [Brad] I got one.
Two, well, yeah, that's all right.
There you go, Bob's always concerned
about me falling off steps. - Yeah, that's right.
- [Brad] So we're gonna go down.
So the edge of the step is right about at the toes
where you got your tire soles-
- [Bob] I do this every morning
when I'm warming up. - You do?
- [Bob] Because it's a great stretch
and strengthening at the same time.
- [Brad] Yep.
And you can do them, start with two feet,
then go to one foot as strength allows.
By the time you get to 10 reps,
you should feel fatigue in the muscles in the calves.
- [Bob] And again, you really don't need any extra weight
to start (indistinct) for sure.
- And if you have one of these,
I really like using these.
It works a little bit better,
but obviously you have to, if you got a narrow one,
one foot at a time,
that will be more for the advanced person.
All right, number three.
Now this is not so much for strength all it is,
but it's for balance.
Up on your toes and then back on the heels.
And this is really important because a lot of people,
you can go up on the toes with a little struggle,
but then going back this way.
Whoa! - A lot of people fall back.
Yes. - Yeah.
So have something to hold onto, sticks, a good chair.
Not the chair like this, but something solid.
Countertop. - (indistinct) by the sink.
- Yep.
And work those and try to just get to the point
where you don't have to hold on.
Just fingertip balance, and if you're advanced,
see how you do like this.
If you're really advanced, one foot.
- I think that's gonna work on your proprioception
a little bit too.
- Yeah. - Your a sense
of where the ankle is in space.
- Which is really critical for-
It really (indistinct) for ankle sprain, yes.
- All right.
Now the next one we're gonna work, this is a fun one.
- Ziggy zaggies. - The ziggy zaggies.
You need no weights or anything for this.
- Probably better with shoes.
- Yeah. - They'll give you
a little resistance.
- Yeah, you could start with socks.
- Sure.
- And slide a little more.
And then put shoes on.
Now we're on carpet so it slides a little easier.
If I want it to progress,
then I would go to a shiny floor
where the shoes, the soles grip.
- [Bob] Sure, it makes it stick a little bit
and its harder.
- Advanced.
Have something to hold onto, cupboard top, stick,
whatever it is.
And this, it really works a lot of intrinsic muscles
around the ankle.
- Well, its all the muscles
of the ankle lining and foot. - Exactly, Bob!
It's a wonderful, the old ziggy zaggy.
You can't go wrong with that one
and it always should be included in ankle strengthening
for the lateral movement.
Now the next one is strictly a balanced line.
So you're gonna hold onto something, countertop, wall stick,
balance on one leg and get a timer go for 30 seconds.
The average person should be able to go 30 seconds
without touching anything.
And then you just compare right leg to left.
You may find that one side doesn't have
as good a balance. - Well, I found always
the ankle that you sprain was a lot less.
- Exactly.
If I sprain my-
- It might be five seconds and you're off.
- And when I do it in 30 seconds,
I'll just touch, then I'll go back to balancing.
Then I count how many times I have to touch in 30 seconds.
Might be eight times, do some ziggy zaggies.
- You might Do it while you're brushing your teeth
if you want a challenge.
- I got a story about that, Bob, coming up.
- Oh, I can't wait.
- So work on one leg balance,
minimal assist of balance, okay?
And then when that gets too easy,
and you can go 30 seconds on either leg,
now this is strengthening and balance.
They juts work together.
Get yourself-
- I can't wait.
- A cushion, right?
- Yeah.
- A cushion off of the chair,
or we're using a pitch choice balanced pad.
- Yeah.
- We need something squishy.
And then you're gonna
find out. - But not too squishy.
- Yeah, not too soft.
It's gotta have a little beef to it.
And then you'll find out the changes,
things get more difficult, and then go.
And look at my ankle.
It's really working in order for me to maintain balance.
- Again, safety first.
We wanna make sure nobody falls based upon the exercise
we recommend, so-
- If you're pretty wobbly, elderly,
do this with a second person next to you
to help you and hold you.
And then you're gonna work on this for 30 seconds.
Now, you talked about doing this while you brush your teeth.
- Right.
- I just gave one of these to my brother and sister-in-law
and you know what they do?
They put it on the floor next to the microwave.
- Oh, to warm up?
Oh, I thought maybe the wanted to warm up-
- No, they put it on the floor next to the microwave
and they usually do 30 seconds clicking it.
So for 30 seconds
while the food- - They work on balance.
- They work on their balance.
- Wow! - Yeah.
Its' pretty fun- - What a family!
- Yeah. - What a fun family.
- Oh, absolutely.
They're in the early sixties,
so they're getting to that point in the life.
- Yeah.
- So, work your balance. - It can make a big difference
and it's a waste of time.
- Exactly!
You're staring at your coffee getting warm
or the donut or whatever it is.
You might as well work on your balance.
You may wanna stand like this (indistinct).
(Brad laughs)
- What do you mean?
- (indistinct) "Everybody Loves Raymond."
- Oh! - Like, protect themselves
from radiation.
- Yeah, You really need to be careful
about those types of things. - So the two stood-
- Why, Bob, why? - Yeah, why, why?
- Okay, now we're to the exciting part of the program.
This is where I said, if you're advanced,
you're gonna play tennis, baseball,
go running up and down mountains, or whatever it may be,
this is what you're gonna want to do
to strengthen your ankles.
Okay, I'm gonna start with a stick
and you'll know 'cause you'll-
- Yeah. - if you need balance,
use a stick, a wall, or whatever.
- Yeah, be safe.
- Use good judgment and simply hop up and down
for 15 seconds.
If you can do that without any problem,
no pain in your ankles, no weakness,
just getting a little fatigued,
then go forward and backwards to work different muscles.
And then we're working strength,
we're working balance, and we're working proprioception.
15 seconds, if that's okay.
Then be careful on this one, go right to left.
This is usually the most difficult motion.
This is where you sprain your ankles
with the lateral muscles.
And if you can do this for 15 seconds, life is good.
Now-
- Again, no pain either.
- Right, yep. - Right.
- You should feel comfortable while you're doing it
and afterwards. - Right.
- Now the next thing to do is the big one,
one test, or one leg.
Say if my left leg here,
my left leg is the one that's injured with the blue sock,
I'm gonna go up and down for 15 seconds.
I'm gonna count how many times
I can jump and up and down in 15 seconds.
Then I got to go to my injured leg
and it's like, oh, oh, oh!
I can do 27 jumps on here and only eight jumps on this one.
- That kinda gives you a sense of whether or not
you're ready to get back to an athletic endeavor.
- Exactly, Bob. - So if you can only do
eight seconds on that one, 15 on that one in 15 seconds.
- Yeah, 15 seconds.
27 is that a pretty common number of jumps.
And if you only can do eight
and your fatigued and this leg is too weak.
- You're not ready yet.
- Right, you need to work on the other exercise we did.
Some jumping exercises. - You're not ready
for Volleyball, you're not ready for soccer.
- Exactly!
But it gets better yet, Bob.
- Oh, it does? - Don't stop there.
Do forward and backwards.
- Right. - 15 seconds,
try the other leg.
15 seconds.
And again, same number of hops each way
and then right to left.
And this is always fun.
I love doing this with patients.
- What we're trying to determine
is if your ankle is up for the forces
of a earth-like endeavor.
- Exactly. Bob.
No kidding.
- While you're under control.
- Right, right.
And if I have patients, if they only do 27 on the good leg
and 12 on your other leg-
- It's too soon.
They're gonna re-sprain their ankle.
- Exactly.
- But it gets better, Bob.
Just wait, there's one more thing.
And this is where,
I never did this with patients in the old day
'cause- - Right, we had loops.
- Yeah, but now with loop bands,
you need to find something to hook it up on the wall.
- This is advanced for the athlete.
- Yes it is.
But you know,
everyone, all these athletes
and you could be a 60-year-old athlete
and you may wanna do this.
And now this, you do exactly the same thing.
Hop up and down.
One leg.
- The loop is pulling over
so can really keep your balance.
- Yeah, and then I'm gonna go this way,
forward and backwards.
And you can hear me starting to breathe more.
This is to the point where you can do
the same number on each side without the band.
This is conditioning for the activity if you're in tennis.
You can imagine, tennis,
you have to go side to side pretty aggressively.
So if you can do it with the band on, pulling you over-
- Very impressed, Brad.
- Yeah.
Get some music going, Bob.
♪ Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh ♪
- Yeah, you can do a little bit of,
you know that one "Kramer" episode where he's-
- Yeah. (Brad laughs)
- Trying out for being a ballet dancer, or whatever it was.
- Awesome. - So just another way
to work the ankles in a very entertaining way.
Be careful with those ankles. - Nice job, nice job.
- (pants) Anyways, Bob, once again we can fix
just about anything.
- Except for a broken heart,
but we can work on your cardio.
- Yeah, yeah.
Cardio, ankles. - Yeah.
- It's pretty close. - That's related.
- Yeah, be careful.
- Thanks. (gentle music)