How to Build Ankle Strength From the Ground Up

The ankle is busy.

It sits between the foot and the rest of the lower body, performing two important functions.

1. Mobility to get where you’re going
2. Stability to keep you upright while getting there

The muscles surrounding the ankle, such as the calf muscles, play a vital role in ankle stability. The calf muscles act on the ankle joint; their strength provides the ankle stability needed for all lower-body activities.

But mobility matters too. It helps you move over the foot, react to ground changes, and maintain balance when you’re on one leg or two.

Here, I’ll explain the importance of the ankles, their functions, the muscles involved, and the movements they allow. I’ll also discuss how to recognize when your ankles need extra care and share some of the best exercises to enhance their mobility, strength, and stability, keeping you active and on the move.

Why The Ankles Matter

It all happens from the ground up.

The ankles work when you do because they have to absorb and transfer force while maintaining mobility to make that happen. That combination of mobility and stability makes the ankle vital for everything above it.

If ankle dorsiflexion is limited (knees over toes), it can affect squat depth, running stride, and overall stability. If ankle mobility is limited, it will come from somewhere else, often from a joint that doesn’t want the job.

Calf strength matters here too. The gastrocnemius and soleus muscles both contribute to lifting the heel, which is evident in many locomotion activities. The ankle needs enough mobility to move and enough strength and stability to maintain control of that movement.

That is why ankle training should never be just stretching or calf raises. You need both.

Ankle Anatomy & Muscles

The lower-leg bones—the tibia and fibula—articulate with the talus beneath them to form the main ankle joint (talocrural joint). The heel bone sits below and behind that, serving as the attachment point for the Achilles tendon.

The talocrural joint primarily controls dorsiflexion and plantarflexion, while the subtalar joint helps the foot move side to side. That combination lets the ankle adapt to whatever is happening downstairs.

The Gastrocnemius

The gastrocnemius is the visible, diamond-shaped calf muscle. It starts above the knee on the femur and inserts into the heel through the Achilles tendon. Its primary action is taking your heels off the ground.

The Soleus

The soleus lies beneath the gastrocnemius and originates on the tibia and fibula below the knee, inserting into the heel via the Achilles tendon. Like the gastrocnemius, its primary function is plantarflexion. The key difference is that the soleus does not cross the knee.

The Other Calf Muscles

The tibialis anterior lies on the front of the lower leg and helps lift the foot towards the shins (dorsiflexion). The tibialis posterior and fibularis (peroneal) muscles help control the foot and ankle during side-to-side motions (inversion and eversion). Together, these muscles help mobilize, stabilize, absorb force, and produce force.

That brings us to the four main ankle movements: dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, inversion, and eversion.

The Four Major Ankle Movements

Here’s the lowdown.

Dorsiflexion: This happens when the shin moves toward the foot, such as when your knee travels forward over your toes during a squat. You don’t need world-class ankle mobility, but you do need enough to get after it.

Plantarflexion: It’s lifting the heel from the ground. It helps you move forward when you walk and run, and it contributes to jumping and other powerful movements.  

Inversion: That’s when the sole turns inward. Inversion is part of the ankle and foot’s ability to adapt to changes in the ground.

Eversion: The opposite motion, with the sole turning outward, but it works alongside inversion to help the foot and ankle adjust to what’s happening on the ground.

This leads to the bigger training question: Should you focus on ankle mobility, stability, or strength?

What Your Ankles Need

Your ankles need enough mobility to move, enough strength to produce and absorb force, and enough stability to keep that movement under control.

Mobility: Ankle mobility is all about dorsiflexion. When your knee moves forward over your toes while your heel stays on the ground, that’s dorsiflexion. You need that for squats, lunges, walking, running, and going down stairs.

Stability: When you land, change direction, balance on one leg, or lift something, the muscles around the ankle must make constant, small adjustments to keep you balanced.

Strength: Strong ankles perform plantarflexion to keep you on the move. And don’t forget the muscles on the front and sides of the lower leg. Strengthening those areas helps balance out all that plantarflexion work and gives the ankle better control in multiple directions.

Combine All Three: Eventually, better ankle mobility, stability, and strength need to show up somewhere other than in an ankle drill. That means carrying those improvements into:

• Squats
• Lunges
• Step-ups
• Loaded carries, etc.

The big picture is simple: mobilize what needs to move, strengthen to generate force, and challenge the ankle to stay stable while the rest of your body moves around it.

Signs Your Ankles Might Need Work

The open and close signs are obvious, but signs that the ankles need more love are not so obvious. The trick is knowing what to look for.

One sign is the heels leaving the ground during a squat. If you cannot keep the heel planted as your knees travel forward, limited ankle dorsiflexion may be the big part of the reason.

Other signs include:

• Difficulty driving the knee forward over the toes while keeping the heel down
• Poor single-leg balance
• Frequent ankle rolling
• Calves that tire quickly
• Difficulty descending stairs
• Trouble lifting the front of the foot toward the shin
• Excessive foot turnout during squats or lunges
• Losing your foot position when landing or changing direction

It is also worth paying attention to differences between sides. If one ankle lets your knee travel over your toes while the other feels like it hits a brick wall, that is worth addressing. These are clues that your ankles may need some work.

Persistent pain, swelling, repeated sprains, or a feeling that the ankle regularly gives way is different. Those symptoms deserve an assessment from an appropriate healthcare professional.

That sets us up for the six exercises that will help.

The 6 Best Ankle Exercises

Enough talk, time for action.

Half-Kneeling Ankle Dorsiflexion Mobilization

Exercise Type: Mobility

Why It Works: It improves ankle dorsiflexion by training the shin to move forward over the foot while the heel stays planted. That is the same motion you need during squats, lunges, walking, and stair descent.

Where It Goes: Warm up or superset it with any lower-body exercise.

How to Do It:

1. Get into a half-kneeling position with your front foot flat on the floor.
2. Keep your heel down and your foot pointing straight ahead.
3. Drive your front knee forward over the toes.
4. Move only as far as you can without the heel lifting.
5. Pause briefly, then return to the starting position.

Sets and Reps: 1–2 sets of 8 reps per side.

Big Form Tip: Keep the heel glued to the floor.

Tibialis Raise

Exercise Type: Anterior lower-leg strength

Why It Works: The tibialis anterior gives the ankle strength in the opposite direction of calf raises and helps round out lower-leg development.

Where It Goes: Use it toward the end of a lower-body workout.

How to Do It:

1. Stand with your back against a wall and your feet slightly in front of you.
2. Keep your heels planted.
3. Lift your toes and the front of your feet toward your shins.
4. Pause at the top.
5. Lower slowly until the feet are flat again.
6. Reset and repeat.

Sets and Reps: 2–3 sets of 12–20 reps.

Big Form Tip: Move from the ankle, not your hips.

Standing Calf Raise

Exercise Type: Plantarflexion strength

Why It Works: The standing calf raise strengthens the gastrocnemius and emphasizes plantarflexion. Because the knee remains relatively straight, the gastrocnemius does more of the work.

Where It Goes: Use it toward the end of a lower-body workout, or earlier if calf size and strength are a priority.

How to Do It:

1. Stand tall with the balls of your feet on a slightly elevated surface.
2. Keep the knees straight but not locked.
3. Drive through the balls of your feet and raise the heels as high as possible.
4. Pause briefly at the top and lower your heels slowly.
5. Reset and repeat.

Sets and Reps: 3 sets of 12–20 reps.

Big Form Tip: Do not bounce through the bottom. Pause at the bottom and feel the stretch before rising. 

Seated Bent-Knee Calf Raise

Exercise Type: Soleus strength

Why It Works: Bending the knee places greater emphasis on the soleus, the deeper calf muscle beneath it.

Where It Goes: Use it near the end of the workout or superset it with a standing calf raise.

How to Do It:

1. Sit with your knees bent to about 90 degrees.
2. Keep the balls of your feet planted on an elevated surface.
3. Place a dumbbell on both thighs.
4. Lower your heels toward the floor.
5. Press through the balls of your feet and raise the heels as high as possible.
6. Pause briefly, then lower with control.

Sets and Reps: 3 sets of 15–25 reps.

Big Form Tip: Get the stretch at the bottom, then finish with a squeeze at the top

Banded Eversion & Inversion Drill

Exercise Type: Lateral ankle strength

Why It Works: It trains the muscles responsible for the ankle’s side-to-side motion, providing ankle strength beyond typical up-and-down motion.

Where It Goes: Warm up or superset it with any lower-body exercise.

How to Do It:

For Eversion:

1. Sit with your leg extended and loop a resistance band around the outside of the forefoot.
2. Anchor the band toward the inside.
3. Keep your knee and lower leg still.
4. Move the foot outward against the band.
5. Return slowly, reset, and repeat.

For Inversion:

1. Reverse the band setup so the resistance pulls from the outside.
2. Keep the lower leg still.
3. Turn the foot inward against the band.
4. Return slowly, reset, and repeat.

Sets and Reps: 2–3 sets of 12–15 reps in each direction per ankle.

Big Form Tip: Move the foot, not the entire leg.

Single-Leg Balance With Reach

Exercise Type: Stability

Why It Works: The single-leg stance requires the foot and ankle to make constant small adjustments. Adding a reach shifts your center of mass and increases the stability challenge.

Where It Goes: Warm-up, superset with any lower-body exercise when improving balance is a priority.

How to Do It:

1. Stand tall on one leg.
2. Keep your foot planted and your knee slightly bent.
3. Reach the opposite hand forward or toward the floor, while the non-working leg extends behind you.
4. Return to the starting position without putting the other foot down.
5. Do all your reps on one side before switching.

Sets and Reps: 2–3 sets of 5–8 reaches per side.

Big Form Tip: Feel your little toe, big toe, and heel against the ground at all times.

Wrapping Up

Ankles need mobility to let the knee travel over the toes, strength to push the ground away, and enough stability to keep you steady as the rest of your body moves. When one of those qualities is missing, it can show up in squatting, striding, or balance.

The good news is that ankle training isn’t complicated. A few of the exercises here will go a long way. Strong feet give you a solid foundation. Strong, mobile ankles help you use it.

Next up in the Joint-by-Joint Series: the knees.