14 DAY TRIAL // As women’s obsession with their ankles persists and the fear of having cankles pushes them to go under the knife at the first sign of that happening, below are some tips to rid of them without surgery.
A little over a year ago, surgeons noted an increasing demand from women looking to have surgery on her ankles to get more definition and rid themselves of the much-dreaded cankle.
The “cankle,” we were also telling you back then, is a slang term coined of “calf” and “ankle,” which is basically used for a woman’s heavy ankles – the lower portion of the leg, where calf meets ankle has no definition.
Surgery is an option to get more definition, though health experts usually recommend against it because, unless the woman is overweight, the “cankle” is genetic.
Still, American Health and Beauty points out, there are other ways as well to keep the leg toned and prevent the cankle from appearing – and, of course, they involve working out more.
These, however, are not solutions to be taken in the 11th hour, but pre-emptive measures to assure that the ankle remains well-defined.
The best exercises we can do to ensure that we maintain definition in our legs are toe raises, says the e-zine, citing a report by Self magazine.
They’re both easy and very efficient.
“Balance your toes on the edge of the steps, touch a rail lightly for balance only. Slowly rise up to your tip-toes and then lower them past the step. This is 1 rep, repeat 10 times for 1 set,” the e-zine notes.
If you have gym equipment at your disposal it’s even better, because you can add another series of exercises to toe raises.
The Stairmaster and the Stair Mill are ideal for working out the legs, the aforementioned e-zine says. If you take “deep fast steps,” results will be noticeable even sooner.
If you’re a fan of working out outdoors, the best way to keep your legs in top shape is to run on hills or sand, which further stimulate the muscles by increasing resistance to your every step.
“The instability of the sand and the incline in the hills causes your calves to work harder. Incorporate this into your regular running workout and you’ll be sure to see those cankles melt away,” AHB writes.