5 Ways to Stretch Your Ankles so You Can Move Easier Laura Williams Bustos, MS, ACSM EP-C 5 Plank Variations for a Full-Body Workout Replay Video Why you need to stretch your ankles It's pretty easy to get through a whole day without thinking twice about your ankles. Until they don't work quite right, that is. Maybe they feel stiff. Maybe you're experiencing pain related to a recently sprained ankle or flare-up of an old injury. Or maybe you're not quite sure whether your feet, ankles, or calves are causing you problems; you just know you're not moving the way you usually do.