Sick of cramping calves?
How to build up your calf strength
Have you ever wondered about our calf muscles, and what makes some people so susceptible to cramps and others not?
Well, we all know our calf muscles are super important for our running speed. Plus, here’s a bit of trivia for you – calf strength and mobility (which presents as ankle stiffness) correlates importantly with injury in the lower limbs.
Having good calf strength enables you to have an efficient push-off phase when running, with power coming up through your foot, plus good foot bio mechanics helps you to propel forward. This, tied in with a snappy hip flexion and knee flexion enables the body to move as quickly as possible.
So, what can we do to improve calf strength?
I love to train athletes in a few different capacities…
Because Achilles injuries are so common and can be very devastating, I always like people to involve some isometric (long holds) exercises as part of their strength program. This means, literally rising onto your toes and simply holding for anywhere between 15 seconds and 45 seconds. This exercise should be the major component of the strength program until the Achilles pain is managed properly.
If there is no Achilles problem, then I like people to add concentric exercises to their program; this means up and down. It is important to strengthen the gastroc muscles, as well as the soleus, which are the two major muscles in your calf region.
With the gastroc muscle, it is easiest in standing with your knees straight and with the soleus it is easiest in sitting with your knees bent.
In regards to speed, reps and sets, I recommend playing around with this, as it allows the muscle to strengthen in different phases to better prepare your muscles for different forces which can help build resilient muscle tissue.
In addition to this, if you are a long distance runner, eccentric loading is super important to build up the capacity of the calf muscle, to better tolerate the impact forces when running.
Why is Lower Back Pain Associated with Your Hip Flexors?
Lower back pain and hip flexors - how are they related? Sometimes physios will treat the hip flexors when clients present with lower back pain. This is because the hip flexor muscles attach to the front of the lumbar spine and also to the femur bone. These muscles can...
Simple Neck Exercise you Should be Doing Daily
Sore neck, but have no time to go to the gym or see a physio? We have the perfect exercise that can be done from your desk. How is your neck feeling today? Take a minute out of your day and give your neck some much needed relief through stretching. You can even do...
Knee to Wall & Banded Ankle Mobilisation Exercises
Feeling stiff in your ankles? We have a range of Dorsiflexion and Ankle Mobilisation TechniquesDorsiflexion and Ankle Mobilisation Techniques: Knee to Wall & Banded Ankle Mobilisation Feeling stiff in your ankles? We test dorsiflexion (toes to the roof) by...