I am getting back into weight lifting after the covid pause. During covid I ended up losing a lot of muscle through a combination of not eating enough and not going to the gym. So I am trying to get back onto the right path.
My challenge in leg training is really weak ankles. I have very weak ankles because of really flat feet. I have done training on my feet in the past, but my feet just never got strong enough to handle the heavy weight. Now I am training ankles/calves once a week on leg day, and hopefully that will help.
But in the mean time, I was trying to think about how to train my leg adductors and abductors. I can manage my ankle issues with things like hip thrusters and cable pullthroughs for glutes and hamstrings. but adductors and abductors are tough. I really can't do the side lunges, reverse lunges, or side step ups because my ankles buckle pretty quickly under reasonable loading and volume.
So I was hoping someone might provide some suggestions as to how to train adductors and abductors given my ankle limitations. Here is what I am currently trying to do.
My current plan is to include the ankle strength and calf work on leg day in a superset. That is pretty good. And then I was thinking of using the leg adductor and abductor machines at the gym for training those muscles--at least until my ankles are strong enough to allow some better exercise selection. In reading blog posts it seems like those leg adductor and abductor machines have fallen out of favor, so I figured I would see if anyone saw any obvious problems with my exercise approach.