5 Science-Based Exercises for Sprained Ankle Recovery

Trying to rehab an ankle injury but getting conflicting advice? Should you get moving or take a load off? Apply ice or heat? Our science-based approach will cut through the noise and teach you simple exercises for sprained ankle recovery.

Ankle Sprain 101

Inversion ankle sprains are the most common – this happens when you roll over the outside of your ankle, damaging the lateral ligaments and tendons.

This is common in sports with a lot of lateral movements – like basketball, tennis, or soccer.

Which Rehab Strategy is Best?

The old guard for ankle sprains was the RICE method – Rest, Ice, Compression & Elevation. But the newer model, and the one I suggest focusing on, is POLICE – which swaps “Rest” for “Protection” and “Optimal Loading.”

You can incorporate a wrap to protect the joint, but the main idea is to prevent re-injury while incorporating movements within a pain-free or tolerable range.

One 2023 study compared RICE vs POLICE for ankle sprains, and found POLICE had better outcomes starting after just 3 days, and continuing 2 weeks post-injury [1].

Simply moving your ankle through its range of motion (being careful with inversion, since that causes the biggest stretch to the injured area) can encourage blood flow, strengthening, and healing.

Once the initial 48 hour period has passed, you can start to progress the exercises further, as I’ll teach you below.

While ice is a part of both RICE and POLICE, heat isn’t, which has become a bit controversial.

I suggest sticking with ice to help relieve pain and prevent swelling during the first 48 hours.

After that, try contrast therapy – alternate between cold and hot for 30 second bouts. The cold will provide pain relief and the heat will encourage blood flow as you heal.

Exercises for Sprained Ankle Recovery

There’s one foundational movement we’ll use for all of these exercises – the short and skinny foot. This activates the intrinsic muscles of the foot and creates an active arch.

Use the muscles in your foot to pull your metatarsals (the bones in the ball of your foot or forefoot) closer together, making your foot “skinny.” Then pull your metatarsals toward your heel, making your foot “short.”

So activate your arches and let’s learn the exercises. Follow along on YouTube here.

Exercise 1: 4-way MTP Slide

MTP stands for metatarsal pressure. In this exercise, you’ll maintain pressure at the forefoot to get your intrinsic foot muscles working in all the ankle ranges of motion.

This also activates hip internal and external rotators, which will prep you for the next move.

1. Sit with your foot flat on the floor
2. Activate short and skinny foot and maintain metatarsal pressure underneath all 5 toes throughout
3. Slide your foot forward
4. Slide your foot backward
5. Return to center with your ankle neutral
6. Slide your foot out laterally
7. Slide your foot in

Hold at the end of each range of motion for 5 seconds, and perform 2 sets of 4-6 full cycles on each leg.

Exercise 2: Midline Rotation

This exercise activates your hip stabilizers, which helps prevent excessive hip shift – often involved in the movement patterns that cause lateral ankle sprains.

1. Stand on your right leg with a band pulling laterally, just above your knee.
2. Activate short and skinny foot on the right as you hover your left leg
3. Externally rotate the right hip, turning your torso toward the left
4. Internally rotate, turning toward the right

Hold at end range for 5-10 seconds, and complete 2 sets of 3-5 reps on each side.

Exercise 3: PM 1-leg Wall Squat

This exercise utilizes a very functional movement pattern. It integrates foot intrinsics with the ankle dorsiflexion required to squat all while activating your hip abductors and maintaining great leg alignment!

1. Stand with your left shoulder against a wall
2. Take your left arm forward and bend your left knee, lifting your foot behind you
3. Activate short and skinny foot in your right foot
4. Push your right shoulder against the wall as you squat down, driving your right knee forward
5. Extend and return to the start

Hold at the bottom for 5 seconds, completing 2-3 sets of 4-6 reps on each side.

The first three exercises are great for the acute phase – they work on muscle activation, alignment, and active range of motion in fundamental movement patterns.

After you’ve left the acute phase (60-90 days post-injury) you can start to progress to the next sprained ankle exercises. These are performance-based moves that incorporate dynamic elements like power and speed – getting you ready to get back in the game.

Exercise 4: Crossunder Inversion Reverse Lunge

This exercise introduces controlled loading to your lateral ankle tissues, training and strengthening the ligaments to help prevent future sprains.

1. Stand on your left leg and take your right leg back and toward the left
2. As you lower into a lunge, move onto the lateral edge of your left foot while maintaining a neutral ankle
3. Return to the start and repeat on the opposite side

Perform 2 sets of  2-4 reps on each side. Build up your reps slowly over 6-8 weeks.

Exercise 5: Lateral Hop & Stick

When you’re ready to progress further, add in this last move. It works on control and agility in lateral movements – the movement pattern usually involved in ankle sprains.

1. Stand on your left foot with slightly bent knees
2. Jump laterally, landing on your right foot
3. Stick the landing, holding for 2 seconds with good alignment
4. Repeat, jumping laterally towards your left foot

Perform 4-6 sets of 6-8 reps.

These exercises for sprained ankle recovery should help you progress from the acute phase to preparing your tissues to get back to more dynamic activities, like sports.

For a more detailed road map for recovery, check out the Lower Limb Control Course. This course will help you get back to doing what you love after an ankle sprain or any other lower body issue.