Welcome to a special 3-part free mini-series from RNH on Ankle Strength.

Statistics show us that over 70% of Irish dancers get injured at some point in their career, with over 50% of those injuries happening at the foot. For this reason, it makes sense that if we were ever to focus on improving our base level strength that we should start at the foot and ankle.

Unfortunately what we tend to find is that strength exercises are only added in AFTER an injury occurs rather than before, and so through our new program we aim to provide a common blueprint that every dancer (and teacher) can work from during their early years of development. 

Check out exercise 1 from Rob and Alliyah and let us know how you get on...

Part 1 - Barefoot Jump Rope

Before we move on to exercise two, you should know that not all exercises are created equal, but instead, are specifically chosen to represent an area of strength that we are trying to improve.

Our 4-week program focuses on three main areas - impact, balance, and strength, and across this mini-series, we will be showing you a perfect example of each one.

Part 1 was a great example of IMPACT. A barefoot jump rope exercise that forces you to take off and land repeatedly, absorbing forces as you go.

Part 2, however, is where BALANCE comes in.

Balance exercises focus on the position of your foot on the floor.

When balancing, we are less focused on using our main muscles (required for taking off and landing) and more focused on using our smaller, stabilizing muscles that surround the foot and ankle. Our goal here is to hold the perfect arch, maintaining a gap under the foot base to the floor.

Exercises like the kettlebell pass (shown below) should be a staple in all Irish dancers training, especially those who are new to the sport, those who are injured, and those who have an existing weakness from any injuries in the past.

Enjoy!

Part 3 - Kettlebell Foot Lift