Step Lively

Strong and supple feet and ankles can reduce the risk of sprains.

By Laura Shin

When Portland, Oregon-based yoga teacher Diane Wilson began rock climbing at age 43, she immediately began with intermediate to advanced climbs, levels many people never reach. Nine years later, she's still at it, and says that having practiced yoga for more than 30 years has given her many advantages over her younger fellow climbers, most noticeably strength and flexibility in her feet and ankles. "If you pull from your arms, you get really wasted, so you always push from your feet," she says. Wilson also finds friction climbs, where the rock has no obvious hand- or footholds, easier than most people, because she can stretch her toes up and press her heels down.

Strong and supple feet and ankles are important not only for climbers; they help all athletes take on greater challenges--vertical jumps wouldn't be as high, nor would sharp cuts and quick stops be possible without them. But although strong ankles are vital in sports, many athletes ignore that area, making ankle sprains the most common athletic injury. Many competitors rely on the wide variety of high-tech footgear available these days for support, and health clubs typically offer few, if any, machines designed to stretch and strengthen the feet and ankles.

Yoga can help fill these gaps. Certain asanas can prevent sprains, because they develop strength and flexibility equally around the ankles. Yoga also increases one's sense of joint position. The better one's proprioception, the easier it is for the body to make minor adjustments in balance to keep upright. And the more flexible the joint is, the better it can make the necessary adjustments.

One of the biggest problems with ankles is that they tend to be tight in the front. Bicyclists, runners, and basketball players, for example, overwork their shins, which causes the muscles in the front of the ankle and the top of the foot to tighten. Paula Kout, director of White Iris Yoga in Evanston, Illinois, discovered this when she taught yoga to the Chicago Bulls for the 1997-1998 season. Not only were the players' ankles tight in front from constantly leaning forward, but the players often taped their ankles and tightly laced their shoes, which disconnected their feet from the rest of their body.

"The ankle is not a big joint, but it's so pivotal," Kout says. "I think injury occurs where the body is not able to freely respond to whatever it is called upon to do at any time. [The players] have to make a lot of sudden moves. Are they ready? On those kinds of tight ankles, they're not.

Although she tried teaching the Bulls poses that would give them more flexibility in the fronts of the ankles, such as Virasana (Hero Pose), they found them so difficult that they refused to do them. As usual, the most challenging poses are the ones that target the spots that need the most work. But these asanas don't have to be unbearable.

Although Kout didn't have any props at her disposal, Virasana can be made gentler by placing a block or folded blanket under the sit bones, with the knees and shins remaining on the floor. Bhekasana (Frog Pose) allows the practitioner to focus on one side at a time and control the amount of pressure used to stretch the ankle. Balasana (Child's Pose) is even more comfortable, because it is a resting posture; it can be done with a blanket under the shins and knees, with the ankles and feet on the ground.

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