Summary: Dealing With And Preventing Injuries To Calf Muscles
A look at ways to prevent injury to your calves. Thoughts about what it means to stretch properly.
Ways to massage out the calves to release knots and remove excess strain and tension. A dialogue to
become friends with your calves and not strain your relationship with them
A Folkloric Core Dump On Calves: A Dialogue in Progress
c. 2000 Austin "Ozzie" Gontang, Ph.D. & Denny Anderson
Paul Doughty wrote to rec.running::
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:I have tried to start back running several times over the past couple of years. I will begin by
running 2 or 3 miles a day but within 3 weeks I have always injured my calf (it has occurred to
both my left and right calf). My calf will feel fine and then with one stride there will be a
sharp pain right in the middle of my calf. Even if I stop immediately, it takes at least 3 weeks
before the pain will go away.
Sylvan Smyth answered:
Quoted message said:Have you gone for any really deep massage? Maybe try Ozzie G's calf plan: lots of rolling. I use a
Stick(tm), because I got one as a present, but a rolling pin works just as well. See if you can
find some knots in there, and just grind them out. Whatever it takes, thumbs, knuckles, elbows...
Sylvan Smyth
This got me thinking and I brought together my thoughts over the past 20+ years as a beginning to
sharing my folklore about calves and running and injuries to calves.
As mentioned in an earlier post, your calves are being stretched more because there's lower heel
lift in a running flat. The problem is that the calf to protect itself will contract...and then the
fascia shortens around that portion of the shortened calf, and then the tension caused by the calf
only being able to partially stretch to its full tonic state will begin to pull on the tendons. The
tendons will take it for a while and then they'll start to get irritated.
You'll do some stretching as recommended by many and you'll find that you now begin to strain the
muscle fibers around either side of the knotted muscle encapsulated by the tightened fascia. The
end result is that the stretching most, likely improper, ( you can't stretch a weight bearing
muscle) will allow the overstretched muscle fibers to shorten to protect themselves...and they'll
join the knotted area. And then people will tell you that it's because of the fact you've run in
racing flats.
1. The up against the wall stretch where you push one leg back to stretch the calf is improper if
you can lift up your front foot. If you can lift up your front foot, the weight is on the back
leg, and therefore the back leg is weight bearing...and the calf can't be stretched. Feels great
but it's like opening your hand and trying to close it at the same time. Great isometric strain.
If you're up against the wall keep the weight on the front foot so that you can lift up the back
foot at any time. Stretch away from the back foot as if it's nailed to the ground and you're
attempting to pull the foot out of the nailed down shoe When you do that, then you'd be
stretching the calf.
Doing the heels off the curb in my mind's eye is causing the same problem. Once you're taking the
calves beyond the stretch reflex and if the fascia around the muscle won't let go, you end up
straining good muscle fiber and tendon.
Therefore here's a reason for using the railing to massage out the calves. Transverse Friction,
that is rolling the calf from side to side over the belly of the muscle to gradually work the
fascia and the knotted muscle (often referred to as adhesions [for the fascia] and scarred
microtears of the muscle).
Check out the picture: mindfulness.comof1.aspOpen ↗ for massaging the calf muscle. In that
article you'll realize that most Achilles tendon problems are calf problems. The Achilles problem is
the result the calf being too tight or knotted and unable to go through it's normal range of motion.
Also work out the anterior shin on the bar. Face the bar and turn your body 45 degrees. Put the
closest shin upon the bar and start making a small circle with the foot as you slide down the shin.
Often the shin may be overworked with the running in the racing flats. The reason for working out
the shin is that if the shin can't relax, the calf has to work against a semi-contracted muscle
which makes the calf strain all the more.
With the idea that Denny Anderson has been passing on about the short quick steps to work on form,
it may be that if you're overstriding the strain on the calves is due to the vertical lift and the
immediate deceleration as the landing foot touches down. I'd use Denny's technique to practice. He
mentions running on eggs, I think he meant egg shells so softly that you wouldn't break them or like
Caine upon the rice paper in Kung Fu style so no tears occur...or an image I use is running on a
extremely hot surface so that you are always focused on lifting up you foot as soon as it touches
ball/heel. The heel lightly touches and is instantly lifted up because your center of gravity is in
front of the foot as it lands under you
Picture yourself going "ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh," lifting your feet off the ground the instant the heel
of the ball/heel touches. Remember that the heel must be touching as it is the platform of the ball
AND heel from which the rest of the body is catapulted forward.
It would be the reflex you'd have when you touch your finger to an iron just before ironing to see
if it's hot, and the reflex pulls your finger away so fast because while you thought it was just
warming up, it was ironing hot.
Following in the footsteps of Denny and others, running in racing flats can be helpful to improving
your running style and becoming aware of how you land to become lighter on your feet...and therefore
the rest of your lower legs and then the rest of your body.
If you saw the Boston finish over the last few miles, you saw the way the upper torso leaned forward
on one of the Kenyans, to the erect posture of the other Kenyan. Minimal vertical lift, the foot
landing under the center of gravity, and keeping the body propelled forward in its fall at a 5 or
sub-5 pace.
If you learn to run lightly, you'll have a great time running fast. Flexibility will be your biggest
aid in getting faster once you learn the rapid turnover of the 180 steps/minute.
Remember when the foot touches the ground it should not stop the body but is like the pushing foot
of a skateboarder as he or she maintains a steady speed or accelerates. Or in crew, if you watch the
coxswain, his or her body glides forward when the rowers are maintaining the constant speed or
accelerating. If you see the coxswain jerking back and forth you know that every time the oars are
put in the water they're slowing the boat and then powering it ahead. You also know that the crew
are lacking somewhere in their form and style.
Another picture is you spinning a bicycle tire. Spin it with your hand. If your hand is slightly
slower than the spin of the tire, you slow it down and most likely will get a burn on your fingers.
That's where a lot of blisters on feet come from as people get tired in the marathon.
Anyway I hope the pictures are a little helpful to get your calves back into shape. Remember if your
calves are having to push your body forward then you've most likely stopped yourself from being
constant in your running speed.
Let us know what you experience.
Oh, run slowly up a hill with the quick steps so that your back foot or pushing off foot doesn't
weight the calf. Once you can do that, you've absorbed the other words. Now you have the feeling and
the experience. Your calf is being used to bring the lower leg off the ground quicker to get it
through the cycle faster as the knee goes back and then come up and forward with the lower leg bent
back at greater than a 90 degree.
So from the front, when the leg is coming forward, it looks like the runner for a short moment has
only a knee stump. As the knee comes forward and lifts, you see the lower leg and then it goes down
so that in the majority of great runners you don't see the heel of the shoe.
Now the above is a core dump. I'll have to go back and see what I said. I'm interested in finding
out where I'm wrong or am explaining it incorrectly. Help me clean up my word pictures.
Again, it's folklore. If it works for you, use it. If not, find someone who makes better sense and
whose ideas work for you and use them. Or create your own images that work great for you, and please
share them with me and others of rec.running so we can educate ourselves better.
In health and on the run, Ozzie Gontang Maintainer - rec.running FAQ Director, San Diego Marathon
Clinic, est. 1975
Mindful Running: mindfulness.commr.aspOpen ↗ faqs.orgrunning faqOpen ↗
In article said:I am a total newbie and maybe this is a really easy question maybe it is hard I don't know.
I started running about 2 weeks ago and last 3 or times I found that my calves hurt as soon as I
start to jog. With the first footstep.
I just happens with jogging not walking. Afterwards just pleasant tightness but as soon as I start
to jog pain.
I have been told not to run through pain at begining but this is really 'cramping my style'.
I have done stretch for calves where you lean hands on wall and push one foot backwards.
Any other good stretches?
Any hints or tips.
BTW I was running 2Km a few days ago and had 2 very exhilarating runs where I felt that I was
really improving then this.
lalloo
