Easy Fixes for Calf Pain

Tight calf muscles are the most common cause of calf pain.  Excessive tension and chronic pain in calf muscles is an overuse injury and can be caused by lots of walking, running, exercise classes or playing field sports.  Achilles and heel pain can also be referred pain caused by tight calf muscles.

A recurring pattern of pain – tightness – pain – tightness is very common in cases of chronic calf problems.   Set out below is some of the strategies I recommend to clients for ongoing maintenance and rehab of calf strains and some achilles conditions.  Calf stretches should be done more frequently if feeling ‘tight’.

3 Stretches

Gastrocnemius & Soleus muscles

The two main muscles of the calf are stretched by pushing the heel into the floor and leaning forwards a) with a straight knee and b) bent knee.  You should experiment with toe pointing straight forwards and also slightly turned in and/or out to find the ‘tightest’ area.  It’s best to do these stretches immediately after exercise for approx. 30 secs each.

Foot and Toe flexors muscles

Just as important but often neglected are the smaller, deeper calf muscles which influence toe and foot-arch movement.  As the video shows the toes should be bent back against a wall and the front knee drawn towards the wall to feel a stretch in the arch of foot or/and lower calf.  Again try experimenting by pointing the knee straight forwards and also slightly dropped in and out to find the ‘tightest’ area.

When tight, doing these 3 or 4 times a day is recommended; first thing in the morning and last thing at night and always straight after any exercise.  It should NOT recreate your pain and seek professional advice if any stretch aggravates the condition.

Calf stretching during your day

We recommend incorporating other calf stretches into your day to help relieve calf pain…

Calf stretching can also be done on stairs or steps by incorporating it into calf raise exercises as shown in video below.  When walking up and down stairs you can incorporate ‘heel-drops’ to stretch them as well.   I would stress again only do these exercises if it relieves your pain.  If it aggravates he may be too acute so rest for 24 hrs by taking weight off feet would be best thing to do.

Calf Strengthening 

After a serious calf muscle strain or tear (and subsequent lay-off) the calf muscle may have weakened significantly and so the chances of re-injury are greatly increased.  Calf muscle strengthening is very important.  A routine using ‘heavy’ weights (relative to you) is highly recommended in scientific studies.    Calf exercises shown here are very good – they are designed for runners so they’re quite dynamic; if you’re not a runner/athlete I don’t think you need to do the plyometric lunges 😉   

The information above is not intended to diagnose or treat a particular individual.  Marlow Sports Therapy would always recommend a formal examination by a suitably qualified medical practitioner before undertaking any new exercise or treatment regime.