Since the advent of trail running more runners appear to be coming down with ankle sprains and twists. To remedy the situation many are now wearing ankle straps. However, doing this may also exacerbate the problem.
When you wear ankle straps, the muscles do not function to hold the foot in place or to enable it to do his various actions. In time, the muscles become weaker making you even more susceptible to injury.
Runners who use ankle wraps all the time invariably come down with injuries when the ankle wrap is not tight or they think they can do without it for a day. To prevent ankle problems it is best to strengthen the muscles that are involved in ankle sprains.
These are typically the peroneal muscles on the sides of the ankle and shin. These muscles are not strengthened when you do the common exercises such as toe and calf raises. These exercises only affect the muscles in front and back of the shin.
To strengthen the muscles on the sides of the shin you must do what is known as ankle abduction and ankle adduction. These exercises are effectively done with the Total Athlete System™ in which you turn the foot inward and outward against the resistance of the cord.
These muscles can also be strengthened when using wobble or a balance boards but there is a disadvantage to this type of equipment. They have a limited range of motion.
To strengthen these muscles it is important that you go through as full a range of motion as possible. This is much more effective than merely strengthening the muscles in the initial range of motion.
For more information on the role of the ankle in running see Explosive Running