I wore these ankle braces for the first time on a 1.5 hour, off-road ride. I had to take out the plastic pieces right away. After about an hour they were really bugging the top of my feet. Anyone use these? Have you had any trouble or have any suggestions for their use? I found them uncomfortable. They are the ones that lace up the front.
661 is pretty good at selling garbage. I have not tried their ankle braces, but I can tell you that going with something like McDavid would have been a better option.
I dont think you are meant to wear any sort of ankle brace unless you have had recent ankle injury, in which case it is going to be uncomfortable anyway. I have been under the impression that using an ankle brace when you are active will actual weaken the ligaments in your ankle.
I used a McDavid brace when I sprained my ankle… I used it to heal, but also would use it as I started riding again. The goal was always to ween off of the brace, as I wanted my ankle to heal strong.
If you are worried about your ankles, rather than just popping them in a brace, you should be doing ankle exercises to increase both balance and strength, as well as the reflexes.
Just thought I would share the info I have… if you are infact using the brace for a sprained ankle then you should not really be all to concerned with comfort. Those things are designed to support a weak ankle… comfort is second priority.
What are you trying to get out of wearing ankle braces? Did you injure your ankle or trying to prevent an injury? Overuse injury? (I have ice on my knee as I type this)
Through my years of sports injuries (gymnastics, skateboarding, martial arts, to name a few) I have found that a good tape job is almost always better than a brace for the ankle unless it’s a soft warmth/compression brace. Three times (wrist, ankle, ball of foot) of have had to tape up for months to keep working out or to rehabilitate an injury. Me and cloth tape are old, old friends (going back to high school)
Here is some ideas about what is possible for ankle taping.
http://www.muellersportsmed.com/taping/taping.html
It can suck to have to tape yourself though and there is a learning curve until you find what works for your needs. Luckily we have the internet to learn how to do this stuff now. It used to be the black magic of coaches and sports trainers.
But it really comes down to what you want to achieve with ankle support.
Some good advice from AgentQ above. I whole heartedly agree that strengthening the ankle is the long term goal and that real brace makers are the way to go even though you will spend more.
I was thinking of using them for prevention of ankle injuries. I was only planning on using the braces for MUni. They actually feel like they could cause an injury. I see what agentQ was saying about weakening your ankles if you restrict them. 2 years ago, I broke my leg snowboarding. I wore a cast for six weeks. While wearing the cast I would ride my bicycle everywhere. I did a lot of hill climbing. My thought was that my leg would be strong when they took the cast off. I was surprised and disappointed how weak my ankle was for several days.
Ditch the brace. Keep it for when are recovering from an ankle sprain.
I could fill a page with ankle and foot exercises but I’ll mention two basic ones.
Single leg quadriceps stretch, done while balancing on one foot. As cyclists we need our quads stretched anyway. To do this exercise right, keep the pelvis tucked under and the buttocks tight. Do not pull the foot in. Stand up straighter, turn towards your other leg, pull the knee in closer to your other knee, and keep the buttocks tight to increase the stretch. As you get better at this one you can add all kinds of variations, or instance a single leg Piriformis stretch. Or swinging the leg forward and back, leaning forward while still holding the foot, etc.
You are going to feel that lower leg burn and you will feel muscles you didn’t even know you had but that’s a good thing.
Another really good one when the single leg balance gets too easy, is to stand on one leg with your other leg and arms out for balance Then hop forward a little bit and resume your balance without putting your other foot down. A couple of times forward and a couple of times back.
Next one, and easier but still very effective:
While sitting sitting down ‘draw’ the alphabet with your foot. Upper and lower case letters with each foot. It may seem silly, but if you walk into any physical rehab place you will see people doing the ‘alphabet’. After my high ankle sprain I did my share of the ‘alphabet’. You are trying to work the range of your foot so slow and deliberate is the right way.
Of course a google search on ankle exercises, ankle stretching, foot exercises, foot stretching, standing yoga stretches, single leg balance, etc will turn up all the info anyone could need. Even 5-10 minutes a day is enough to improve ankle strength. I do my standing quad stretch in the shower. As long as im just standing there… why not? Plus the hot water loosens up this old mans body.
Agility drills are going to help the ankles and lower legs as well. Here are some examples: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/plyometricexercises.html