Tight Calves - Wrap Up

Now that we’ve spent the past three weeks talking about chronically tight calves and how to beat them, I wanted to finish up the series by taking a step back and drawing you a formal road map with all of the pieces. Your big take away from the preceding posts should be that recovering from anything “chronic” is a process. There is no magical overnight cure or gear change. The reason for this is that you are not only dealing with an injured area that has gotten stuck, but you are also dealing with all of the compensation patterns you’ve developed to work around it.

The good news is that all of that can be reversed. It just requires expanding your self treatment areas and focusing on the different parts of the problem versus where the symptoms are. The best way to start that process? A thorough self evaluation to identify and assess the potential problem areas.

Self Evaluation

Click here for the post.

**Click here to download the PDF check list that goes with it**

I can’t emphasize enough how important this step is. Knowing where you are starting at from a mobility perspective is half the battle and the only true way to measure your progress. It’s that mobility that is the key at the end of the day. Without it, all of the strength work in the world won’t matter.

In the post you’ll see that we’re focusing on the entire leg chain. More specifically, we’re breaking up that focus into the following areas:

  • foot (toes/forefoot, arch/midfoot, rearfoot/heel)
  • ankle
  • knee
  • hip

The thing to remember is that a “tight calf” includes two layers of calf muscles. The deep layer includes your posterior tibialis and toe flexors, all of which wrap around behind the inside of your ankle and under your arch. The superficial layer includes the better known gastrocnemius and soleus. At a minimum, a “tight calf” is affecting three areas: 1) the knee due to the gastroc crossing the joint where it attaches to the femur, 2) the ankle, and 3) the rear and mid foot due to the long tendons wrapping under the medial arch.

The importance of those three areas is that they are your shock absorption. The minute your foot makes contact, it works to adapt to the surface you are on and starts the process of transmitting that impact up the leg. If that process is interrupted, it makes it very difficult for your foot and ankle to make the switch from shock absorption to propulsion. In other words, that difficulty rushes things, whether that’s your stride, a pedal stroke, etc. Instead of being able to stabilize and recruit the bigger muscle groups upstream, you get stuck with less time. The only thing your body can do is compensate to keep you from falling over your own two feet.

One of the common ways that it does this is by using rotation. This is why we look at the toes and the hip. Your mobility in these areas is a good indicator of how much you’re compensating. The biggest problem with compensation is that the muscles it uses are not designed for that kind of workload. It’s why they burn out and stiffen up. In most cases, these can be the most stubborn muscles to loosen up, especially if they’ve been stuck like that for a period of time.

Treatment- Level One

Click here for the post.

From the self evaluation, we moved onto level one in our treatment posts. The levels are set up based on how far away from the calves we are working. That means level one focuses on the ankle and knee and everything that moves those two joints.

Treatment- Level Two

 

Click here for the post.

Level Two expands the treatment areas from the first level to include the hip and foot. Depending on your self evaluation, you may find that these areas are actually tighter/more restricted than the areas in level one. Remember what we said about compensation! It can be tough to restore motion to areas that are overworked and locked up as a result. The back of the hip in particular can be stubborn! There are big rewards for getting your hip rotation back. First, it makes it much easier to loosen up the hip flexors. Second, it also makes a night and day difference in terms of unlocking your hamstrings. Remember, the hamstrings and gastroc criss-cross behind the knee. Loosen one and you will be default improve the other.

The same can be said for the foot. We know that muscles strictly within the foot are the intrinsics. We also know that there are long tendons that come down into the foot as well. Both groups of muscles will impact each other.

Treatment- Level Three

Click here for the post.

The last level of our treatment shifted gears from mobility work to strength work. Like I said above, it’s important to work both parts. More often than not I hear athletes talking about strength work instead of the mobility component. If it can’t move, the strength work will likely reinforce those compensation patterns you’ve been developing. Loosen things up and then focus on technique and relearning the right movement patterns. That’s the key to truly restoring mobility, strength and muscle balance to your legs.

Another thing that this post talks about is the importance of posture and it’s impact on how you propel yourself forward. Chronically tight anything will change how you carry your body and where your center of mass is. It doesn’t take big changes to fix this, but it does take some focused effort.

 The next steps!

As you restore mobility and balance, you can shift the work above into more of a maintenance mode. That means you can start targeting key workouts for “recovery workouts”. The great thing about going through the work above is that it will give you valuable insight into where your legs are tight. It will also give you insight into what a good day feels like and what a bad day feels like in terms of overall stiffness/tightness.

Sample recovery workout (using the same techniques from the above levels/links):

  • Start with the foam roller. 1 minute per group for the following: bottom of foot, shin, toe flexors (inside shin behind ankle), calf, hamstring, adductor, back of hip, front of hip and quad, low back. Total time- 10 minutes per leg.
  • That foam roller is your self evaluation. You should be taking note of what’s more sore than normal (which you should now know!).
  • Follow up the roller with stretching. 20 seconds each for the following: shin, calf (with knee straight + bent and with rotation variations; yup that’s a total of four!), hamstring, adductor, hip flexor, quad, and back of hip.
  • Reassess? Did the tightness improve with stretches or not?
  • If yes, you have the option of using the tennis ball mobilizations to try and release any of those sore spots you found while rolling.
  • If no, time to use the joint mobilizations. Focus on the hip and ankle first. Then you can expand to include the big toe and knee.
  • Follow up additional techniques with a second round of stretches.
  • Ice anything that’s sore for 10 minutes and call it a day.

When should you be using “recovery workouts”?

  • Target your hardest workouts and your longest workouts.
  • Try to sneak in a recovery workout between these workouts and your next workout. If you schedule multiple hard workouts in a row, then wait till your rest day for the full routine.
  • On the other days, stretching is a must. This can be done throughout the day using the one stretch per hour. Just cycle through your list and the work is done before you even get home from work. If you have the time, follow it up with a rolling session. If not, maintain your stretches and roll on days where things are stiff or just to check in with your legs and see how they’re feeling.

Closing thoughts

The last thing I want to mention before finishing this series up is the importance of form and technique to your longevity as an athlete. As endurance athletes we literally take millions of steps and pedal strokes. For some us, unfortunately that means millions of repetitive actions that are reinforcing bad technique. Remember, for each person bringing a life time of experience to the table, there are three of us coming to endurance sports with a team sport background or none at all.

Continued injuries and problems year in and year out are a warning. At the very least they are worth having the following discussion with yourself:

  • Do I have the mobility to perform my sport?
  • Do I have the strength to use that mobility? If I had a dollar for every high mileage runner I’ve worked with who couldn’t perform a full squat, deadlift, situp etc, I’d be retired! Simply because you put in mileage doesn’t mean you have an ounce of functional strength. Strength and endurance are two very different things.
  • Are mobility/strength limitations preventing me from using good technique?
  • Are my gear choices or setup getting in the way? You may want a minimalist shoe or a super aggressive bike position, but you’re body may be waving the white flag to tell you it isn’t ready for it.
  • Is it a lack of knowledge about what good form/technique is? Most of us didn’t have coaches analyzing and tweaking our form as we grew up when we came to endurance sports. Most of us hopped off the couch or are coming back to sports after a break. Maybe we’re changing sports all together?

The great news is that it’s easier than ever to find what good technique is. Get on you tube or google. Look up running technique or cycling posture and technique. There are countless coaches out there who talk about this stuff all day long. Have a friend video tape you and then compare. In other words, don’t just stop with the mobility/strength work. Continue building on that new foundation by learning how to apply it properly.

Calf

Important structures in this region include: 1) Gastrocnemius, 2) Soleus, 3) Posterior Tibialis, and 4) Achilles Tendon.

In this section you will find our available treatment plans as well as the different self treatment techniques on this site.

Injury Treatment Plans for this area:

(* note. each treatment plan includes a free downloadable PDF. Here’s a post on how to use them.)

  1. Calf strain. Click here.
  2. Achilles tendonitis.  Click here.
  3. Posterior tibialis strain. Click here.

These are part of our “Injury of the Week” blog series. Each post will talk about what the injury is and how it can happen. It will then take you through all five steps of the ATA self treatment system.

Blog Posts:

Chronically tight calves: self evaluation and treatment. This is a four part in depth blog series.

 

Individual Parts of Self Treatment System:

Part 1. Self Muscle Massage

  1. Blog post with anatomy review, video and picture demonstration of self muscle release techniques for the calf using a foam roller and tennis ball. Click here.

Part 2.Mobilizations

  1. Ankle mobilization techniques. Click here.
  2. Blog post on gastroc/soleus/achilles mobilizations using a tennis ball. Click here.
  3. Blog post on posterior tib mobilization using a tennis ball. Click here.

Part 3. Stretching

  1. Calf blog post with video for beginner, intermediate and advanced stretches. Click here.
  2. Five favorite stretches for runners. Click here.

Part 4. Kinesiology Taping

  1. taping application for pain and swelling in the calf.. Click here.
  2. taping application to decrease muscle activity and allow for recovery for the gastroc/soleus + achilles tendon. Click here.
  3. taping application to decrease muscle activity and allow for recovery of the posterior tibias. Click here.
  4. taping application for medial tibial stress syndrome. Click here.
  5. taping application to decrease pain and swelling following an ankle sprain. Click here.

Part 5. Strengthening

Right now our strength advice is specific to our “injury of the week” blog series (see top of this page for injuries affecting this area). However, all of our strenghtening videos can be found on our youtube channel (link at top of website).

 

Foot

This region contains all of the small muscles of the foot, the plantar fascia, and the sesamoid bones under the big toe.

In this section you will find our available treatment plans as well as the different self treatment techniques on this site.

Specific Treatment Plans for this area:

(* note. each treatment plan includes a free downloadable PDF. Here’s a post on how to use them.)

1) Plantar fasciitis. Click here.

This is part of our “Injury of the Week” blog series. Each post will talk about what the injury is and how it can happen. It will then take you through all five steps of the ATA self treatment system.

In-depth Blog Series:

In this section you will find links to an in depth series on foot muscles, self evaluation, and treatment:

Self evaluation + basic mobility treatment

Foot intrinsic muscles (four posts: big toe, little toe, middle toes, top of foot)

Foot extrinsic muscles (four posts:shin, peroneals, deep posterior compartment, superficial posterior compartment)

Blog post: Plantar fasciitis or something else?

 

Individual Parts of Self Treatment System (aka these are what are used in the treatment plan PDF’s):

Part 1. Self Muscle Massage.

  1. Blog post with anatomy review, video and picture demonstration of self muscle release techniques for the foot using a foam roller and tennis ball. Click here.

Part 2. Mobilizations

  1. Blog post on tennis ball/active mobilization for the foot and plantar fascia. Click here.
  2. Blog post on joint mobilization of the big toe using resistance band. Click here.

Part 3. Stretching.

  1. Blog post on stretches for the foot and plantar fascia. Click here.

Part 4. Kinesiology tape

  1. Blog post on taping for plantar fascia. Click here.
  2. Blog post on taping for foot pain, pain on top of the foot, or pain under the ball of the foot/toes. Click here.
  3. Blog post on taping to decrease pain and swelling following an ankle sprain. Click here.

Part 5. Strengthening

Right now our strength advice is specific to our “injury of the week” blog series (see top of this page for injuries affecting this area). However, all of our strenghtening videos can be found on our youtube channel (link at top of website).

 

Tight Calves- Treatment Level Three

Now that we’ve had time to work on level two, it’s time to shift gears from mobility to strength and function. In other words, this is where we start focusing on using that mobility in the most efficient way possible. This means working on postural control and learning how to properly use your muscles in a coordinated way. While every magazine and blog post out there would have you believe that there’s a magical carryover fairy, it’s not as simple as building strength and waiting for it to trickle down. It’s building the motor patterns and coordination to actually use that strength.

Posture

Let’s talk posture first! One of the things that having a chronically tight posterior chain does is push you’re center of mass back. Now every step you take has to overcome that resistance just to get you back to neutral. That means you have to work before you can even move forward. It may not be a big deal walking down to the mail box, but how about this weeks long run? How many steps does that have? The same goes for you pedal stroke on the bike. Tight calves and ankles will directly impact how you sit on your saddle. Here’s a little visual of what I mean.

(**Note: if you’re someone who’s been battling injuries/restrictions for a long time, the reality is that your form and body awareness have changed. Don’t skip through this stuff! )


Strength Routines:

The first thing that I want to emphasize before going into the three different routines is that you should be looking at these as technique first, strength second. As athletes, we are always skipping ahead to the hard stuff. The problem with that approach is that it tends to reinforce all of the bad habits we’ve developed during our years of training and racing. That being said, the focus of these should be to learn the technique first. Worry about the reps and difficulty level later!

I’m arranging these routines into levels one, two and three. This gives you two options. 1) you can work on the first two levels while working on mobility or 2)  or you can save it until the mobility work is in maintenance mode before beginning (meaning the big sessions are based around your training versus every day).

In terms of times per week?

  • The exercises in level one and two can be every other day if they feel okay and aren’t leaving you sore/muscle fatigued. If they are, back it off to 2-3x/week. They can be completely independent of your training.
  • Spend at least 2 weeks on levels one and two. Get a feel for this stuff and really focus on that technique. If you jump ahead to three without doing so, you’ll just be reinforcing bad habits.
  • You can alternate level one and two or just focus on one at a time. If you do this, you can do one workout per day and allow recovery from each as you’ll be alternating.
  • When you get to level three, start conservatively in terms of frequency. These have the biggest chance of leaving you sore and impacting your training/racing. Save these for easy days or rest days and avoid doing them on on hard or long training days.
  • In other words when you get to level three, shoot for three workouts per week (one core, one feet/balance, and one leg strength. When that gets easy, shoot for 2 x leg strength, 1 x core, and 1 x balance. You can also alternate each week and spend one week working on legs and core and one week working on legs and balance.
  • If you’re in a heavy training cycle or have a lot a intensity in your training week? 1x/week is plenty for leg strength. We want this to complement your training/racing, not kill your legs.

Level one

The first batch of exercises are our base. You may find some of these easier and others harder. The key here is technique, technique, technique. The exercises below are all about masteringthe pelvic tilt and engaging the lower abs so that no matter what your legs are doing, your core is working the way that it should be. With chronic tightness in the legs and hips, the core and hips start to work together instead of as two independent areas. We want to restore that independence and balance our strength back out.

**When done right, the abs will be shaking half way through the reps. Doesn’t matter if you have a six pack or not. These get everyone. If they don’t, stop, start over and really focus on that tilt before adding in the rest of the movement. Put your hands under your back to really make sure the small of your back is pressing down into the floor.

The video has five exercises: 1) pelvic tilt, 2) tilt with straight crunch, 3) tilt with oblique crunch, 4) dying bug and 5) bridge. In terms of reps. Let’s start with 2 x 10 reps with a 5 second hold each. The video shows several ways to advance the difficulty, but I would work up to 3 x 10 reps, 10 seconds hold before moving onto those.

In addition to working the front part of our core/trunk, we’re also going to be working on the backside in this level. Healthy muscles are able to not only shorten (known as concentric contraction), but they are also able to lengthen/slow down the opposing muscle group (known as an eccentric contraction). To have a healthy core, we want both our abs and back to be able to function in both ways to better control our pelvis and free up our arms and legs to work independently.

The video has layers of exercises. The first move to master is engaging the low back while moving both the arms and legs. This is a superman exercise. The next two exercises challenge this position by working on the arms and legs. From here, we change gears to talk more about total body posterior chain strength. Here’s what it looks like in terms of reps/sets:

Level Two

While level one takes care of the core/postural component, level two focuses on the complete opposite end of the chain. Our goal here it to create a stable platform to push off regardless of surface type. That means we’re working on relearning motor patterns and improving our balance.

The video has four levels of exercises. Moving from one level to the next means being able to do all of the criteria in the last column. Again. This is all about technique, technique, technique. Don’t sweat what level on you’re on. Work on getting that arch up and having full balance along the ball of your foot. Here’s what it looks like in terms of reps/sets:

(note: sorry for the lack of demo on the wobble disc. After the day’s interval run, my legs were cook and all I could picture was toppling off my coffee table. 🙂

Level three

In this last level of exercises, we’re going to be working on the whole leg and balancing out those muscle groups. This does NOT mean you can forget the previous levels. They’re even more important as you move onto leg specific strength. This is your chance to break out of bad habits! And yes… you have developed them if you’ve been dealing with injuries, chronically stiff/tight/sore anything. That’s what compensation is and why it takes unlearning to break the cycle.

The video has four exercises. Here’s what it looks like in terms of reps/numbers. As you’ll see in the chart, there are also recommendations for ways to progress these as you get stronger.

That’s it for this week! In next weeks post we will wrap up this little series on beating tight calves and talk about how to maintain your new strength and mobility. Again, the goal of this is to complement your training and racing, not detract from it. That being said, go easy with this stuff. A little leg fatigue is fine, but being sore for three days is not. If muscles are getting sore/fatigued during one of the routines, call it a day there and try for more next time.

Click here to continue to part 4 (coming soon!)

Click here to go back to part two

Click here to go back to part one

Click here to go back to the self evaluation

 

Review: Stick Rollers

Stick rollers have come a long way over the past few years. Not only do they now come in all shapes and sizes, but a quick search on Amazon also produces 13,000 hits. I thought I’d take a few minutes to go through some of the features available and what you should thinking about if you’re looking to add one to your self treatment tool kit.

So why a stick roller versus a traditional roller?

Let’s face it. Using a foam roller is hard work. It’s taxing to the whole body to roll around all over it. If you have old wrist/shoulder injuries or a bad back/neck, it can be down right impossible. Enter the stick rollers! These are a great compromise to help you loosen up those muscles and stay on track recovery wise.

Here’s what to consider when buying:

  1. Handles. Up until recently, handles on stick rollers were all the same size and make. In newer models, however, you have some choices. Several manufacturers including trigger point are starting to offer wider platform like handles. If you’re someone with wrist/hand mobility restrictions, then this is definitely something to consider!
  2. Length. Most stick rollers come in two varieties- long and short. The smaller, “travel” versions range from 14 – 18 inches while the longer, “total body” varieties range from 20-20 inches. When choosing a length, it’s important to think about what you’ll be working on. If you’re only concern is legs, for example, the shorter version is fine. If you’re looking to use the stick on your back or upper body, the longer the better.
  3. Firmness/Density. Most stick rollers come in two varieties- regular and extra firm. You may also see this as – firm or flexible. This is definitely an individual preference! However, just a word of caution. Extra firm is not always the best option. In fact, if you’re relying on beating up your muscles with the hardest thing you can find, then you aren’t working on the right areas to loosen up that muscle. As a general rule of thumb, if you’re someone who has a number of tender spots or gets sensitive to rolling easily, then regular firmness or flexible is the best option. Personally, I can’t see a reason why you’d need an extra firm or super dense option. Regular density should be plenty.
  4. Features. While most stick rollers look the same, there are plenty out there using different shapes and textures to help you better work on trigger points and sore muscles. Again, this is an individual preference. If you find yourself using cross friction techniques or looking for ways to dig deeper, then this is where you’ll want to be. In the video below you’ll see a few of the different options in terms of the standard segments, a straight, uniform surface, knobs, etc. My advice? Start with the traditional setup and work your way up to the more aggressive shapes!
  5. Price. The price range for a stick roller is anywhere from $15-$50. The more features it has, the pricier it gets.

Here’s a video of some of my current favorites:

The stick rollers used in the video:

  1. Seek gains
    1. Handles- Thick, rubber handle with gripper dots. Very comfy and slightly wider than standard sticks.
    2. Length- 18″. Long enough for leg use and small enough to easily travel with.
    3. Comes in a regular density that is firm, but has a little play between the segments.
    4. Features- none. This is a standard stick that is sturdy and will last forever.
    5. Price $20
  2. The Original Stick
    1. Handles – Standard rubber grip. However, the “big model” does have a thicker grip similar to that of the seek gains model.
    2. Length- The Stick company has the most options in terms of length, ranging from a compact travel model at 14 inches to one that is 30 inches.
    3. Firmness- The Stick company has it’s standard firmness models, as well as, flexible models.
    4. Features- none. These are your standard, segmented sticks.
    5. The middle of the line 19 inch model is $35. The largest model is $50+.
  3. Tiger Tail
    1. Handles- Standard, foam handle that is very small for the travel model.
    2. Length – This is available in three lengths: 14, 18, and 22 inches.
    3. Firmness – All tiger tails come in one firmness. Unlike the other sticks, this model utilizes a single foam piece in the middle giving you a more uniform pressure than the segmented types.
    4. Features – none. Again, this is a standard stick without any trigger point tools or shapes.
    5. $25 -30 dollars depending on which length you go with.
  4. Trigger Point Grid STK
    1. Handles – nice and wide for anyone with hand/wrist restrictions.
    2. Length – 21″
    3. Available in regular and extra firm density. This stick had the thickest roller section making it possible to use this as a mini foam roller all by itself.
    4. Features grid technology with multiple shapes/patterns.
    5. $35-40 depending on which firmness you go with.

Verdict?

If you’re looking for a starter stick that will be primarily used on the legs, then the Seek Gains model is a great choice. It has a good firmness and features the standard segmented design we see in stick rollers. It’s limitations are that there is only one length available which rules it out if you want to use it on the upper body. If that’s the case, then you will want to spend the couple extra dollars on one of the longer Stick models. If you’re looking for a stick roller that can do more in terms of self massage techniques, then the extra thickness and grid patterns of the Trigger Point will make this a nice addition to your self massage tools.

 

Tight Calves – Treatment level two

Now that we’ve had a week to work on level one, it’s time to expand our work area by adding another joint on either side. That means we’re now including the foot and the hip. Think of the first week or weeks (however long you spend on level one) as your baseline. Those are the muscles and joints directly affected by chronically tight calf muscles. As we move onto level two, we aren’t forgetting those muscles, we’re just looking further away to increase those improvements and increase the mobility of the entire leg chain.

Treatment Protocol:

  • 10 minutes with foam roller or stick working the following areas: bottom of the foot (big toe, middle toes, little toe), front of shin, inner shin/toe flexors, outside of lower leg/peroneals, adductors, hip flexors, glutes/external hip rotators, and low back.
  • Start with muscle relaxed. Add in movement, working with the muscle fibers and against. Remember- we’re looking for sore spots as we warm up.
  • Follow with stretches. 1 x 20 seconds of each
    • toes (with ankle relaxed and ankle in dorsiflexion/plantarflexion)
    • long tendons (shin and peroneals)
    • calf (gastroc + soleus with rotation)
    • hamstrings (standing with three directions. key is the tilt!! )
    • frog stretch
    • standing hip external rotation
    • hip internal rotation (ballerina stretch)
    • hip flexor progression (half kneeling + combo stretch)
  • Reassess. Did you feel a stretch?
    • if no? Move onto joint mobilizations
      • 2-3 reps of the following: 1) big toe + middle toes, 2) hip flexion, 3) hip extension, 4) hip internal rotation and 5) hip external rotation.
    • if yes? Move onto muscle mobilizations
      • 3-5 reps for each of the following muscles (feet (big toe, middle toes, little toe) shin, peroneals, inner shin/toe flexors, hip flexor, back of hip)
      • Choose the sorest spot you found with the stick and do 2 reps above and 2 reps below.
  • Reassess. How is mobility now versus start of session?
  • Total time = set a timer and cap it at 30 minutes. As you learn the order and routine you should be able to get this to 15-20 minutes (5 with stick/roller, 5 stretches/reassess, and 5 mobilizations).
  • Bonus points for finding the time to stretch during the day! Trust me, 20 seconds an hour goes a surprisingly long way. Don’t believe me? Give it a week.

Frequency/Recommendations:

  • Prior to starting level two, make sure you have spent at least one week on level one. This isn’t to be cautious. It’s to be honest about whether the sessions are making a difference. You should feel an improvement in that first week! Stay on level one until you feel like that progress is leveling off.
  • The goal remains daily sessions so go easy and build into this stuff. You want everything to be repeatable!
  • As you move onto level two, you will start by alternating your days with the level one program. You should already have some new mobility from level one. Think of level two as your way to build on that and to restore normal mobility to the whole leg chain.
  • Spend at least one week alternating the days between level one and level two. After a week, you will have a good idea of which day makes you feel the best.
  • In other words, after that first week you can start combining the days or simply adding certain areas to one of the days. This is where your self evaluation comes in. We went through every area of the leg chain to see where the restrictions were. While I want you to spend time working on each area, as your mobility improves you can shift your focus to what problem areas are specific to you and which ones give you the best results. For example, if focusing on the foot and hip make your legs feel best, focus on those areas and just keep an eye on the others.
  • As things loosen up, you can start tapering off on the daily sessions. Instead you can move to more of a maintenance mode. Target your longer workouts and interval sessions. Following those, try to fit in a full session to ensure that those legs are staying loose. The rest should and can be maintained by stretches throughout the day.

Next week, we move onto level three. This means that we will be talking more about shifting your mobility into maintenance mode. It also means that we will be turning the discussion to strength and function to balance everything back out.

Click here to continue to part three

Click here to go back to part one

Click here to go back to the self evaluation

 

Tight Calves- Treatment Level One

By now you’ve hopefully taken the time to go through the self evaluation post to see where you stand from a mobility perspective! Simply put, we started at the ground level and worked our way up to the hip to evaluate the entire leg chain, joint by joint. In this post we’re going to put it all together and talk treatment to loosen up those calves once and for all. Let’s start with some ground rules!

  1. Like I said in the evaluation post, this is not geared towards a new/recent injury. For detailed advice on how to heal a calf injury, click here.
  2. Instead, this post is geared towards those slow onset, chronically tight calves that develop over time. They don’t exactly stop us from training/racing, but they do make themselves known. They’re also prone to flare ups on occasion in the form of muscle strains and spasms.
  3. If you are currently in a flare up, start with the link above to help calm down the symptoms and heal the injury. Then you can come back to this, to problem solve what’s leading to the calves getting overworked. That should be the take away: a) fix the broken link in the chain and then b) fix the chain. It is and should be a two part fix as focusing on just the symptomatic piece will only ever give you short term relief.

Okay! So now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to it. During our evaluation we focused on six individual parts. As we get into the treatment side of things, we’re going to simplify it a bit. In other words, we are going to combine the three foot areas and also add in the core giving us five parts altogether like so:

 

For most of you, the self evaluation turned up several restricted areas. This is common. Any time you’re dealing with chronic muscle restrictions, you’re dealing with muscles that have gotten stuck that way. Stuck muscles directly affect the muscles working in the opposite direction. Now you have two muscles stuck, one in a long position and one in a short position. This will lead to stuck joints and decreased efficiency/function. Other muscles are then called in to compensate. Bottom line? This is a cycle and that cycle will work it’s way up/down the entire leg chain which is why we need to treat the entire leg to restore mobility, balance and function.

The first goal should be obvious – restore mobility. The reason I say obvious is because for a muscle to contract to its full potential (both eccentrically and concentrically) it has be able to move through its full range of motion. If it can’t move normally, all the strength work in the world won’t matter. And yet, what is one of the first treatments you read about with calves? Eccentric calf raises! Do they have their places? Yes, but I want to have a mobile and stable foot and ankle before I add those in, otherwise I’m just reinforcing bad habits and hoping something shakes loose to relieve symptoms.

With that total leg approach in mind, we’re going to apply your self evaluation findings in three levels of treatment. Think of it like peeling back the layers of an onion. In each level we’re going to be expanding how far away from the calf we’re actually working.

Level One:

 

One of the reasons the calf can be so tricky to treat is because it is smack in the middle of two joints- the ankle and knee. In the picture above you’ll see that I’ve broken things down into what muscles are stuck in that tight, restricted position and which muscles are stuck in a long position as a result. I’ve also included where you’ll see compensation. In the case of the ankle and knee, as their normal mobility becomes affected you will start to see more rotation in the legs to accommodate the motion loss and keep you moving forward. This means we have to reduce the rotation, as well as, restore normal mobility to the joints.

What we are looking for with these sessions is consistency. You want to be able to work on this stuff every day. Let me say that again- every day. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a lifetime of this, it’s just the reality of battling chronically tight/stuck muscles and joints. Work at it and things will loosen up. Ignore it until things hurt/become limiting and you will remain stuck in that cycle. 🙂

 

Treatment Protocol:

  • 10 minutes with foam roller or stick working the following areas: front of shin, inner shin/toe flexors, outside of lower leg/peroneals, gastroc, soleus, hamstrings, quads.
  • Start with muscle relaxed. Add in movement, working with the muscle fibers and against. Remember- we’re looking for sore spots as we warm up.
  • Follow with stretches. 1 x 20 seconds of each
    • peroneal + shin (standing with ankle plantarflexed. without toes = peroneal, with toes = shin )
    • gastroc + medial shin (standing with knee straight and again with rotation)
    • soleus + medial shin (standing with knee bent and again with rotation)
    • hamstrings (standing with three directions. key is the tilt!! )
    • quad (start with standing. if no stretch, move to half kneeling and bend knee)
  • Reassess. Did you feel a stretch?
    • if no? Move onto joint mobilizations
      • 2-3 reps of the following: 1) ankle (standing with knee straight and half kneeling with knee bent) – with band pulling you back and again with band pulling your forward, 2) knee (towel behind knee to start. progress to using tennis/massage ball).
    • if yes? Move onto muscle mobilizations
      • 3-5 reps for each of the following muscles (shin, peroneals, inner shin/toe flexors, soleus/gastroc at junction of achilles, quads, hamstrings)
      • Choose the sorest spot you found with the stick and do 2 reps above and 2 reps below.
  • Reassess. How is mobility now versus start of session?
  • Total time = set a timer and cap it at 30 minutes. As you learn the order and routine you should be able to get this to 15-20 minutes (5 with stick/roller, 5 stretches/reassess, and 5 mobilizations).
  • Bonus points for finding the time to stretch during the day! Trust me, 20 seconds an hour goes a surprisingly long way.

Frequency/Recommendations:

  • Stay at level one for at least one week. This isn’t to be cautious. 🙂 It’s to be honest about whether the sessions are making a difference. You should feel an improvement in that first week! Stay on level one until you feel like your progress is leveling off. If you see no improvement, then move onto level two.
  • Shoot for daily sessions. This should be repeatable everyday so don’t push until things are so sore you miss a day.
  • If you stretch throughout the day, the main session does not need to circle around your workouts. In fact, I like to keep it separate so that things have a chance to calm down post workout.
  • If separating is not an option, post workout is better than pre workout.
  • Ice any sore areas 5-10 minutes after sessions.

Next we move onto level two. This means that we will be expanding our areas of focus, as well as, adding in strength to our routine to start restoring balance and function.

Click here for Level Two.

Click here to go back to the self evaluation