Muscles need to be kept in good shape and it is better to do exercises to strengthen them. Some exercises can be pursued which help improve muscle condition.
Calf strength and ankle mobility are indeed very crucial for all athletes but particularly runners. When one’s foot does strike the ground, the functional stability of the whole kinetic chain does rely on a strong and agile base. Yet that base is often neglected in training routines.
And while calf strength is important, stretching as well as mobility are critical as well. In case, if a person has stiff ankles or calves, or significant lower-leg asymmetries, that could indeed reverberate up the limb and cause pain in the knees, hips, and back, as well as limit the performance. It is important to strengthen your muscles fast.
Along with the quads, the calves absorb the most impact when one’s feet land, whether one is dropping a cliff on skis or pounding pavement. The calf muscle group is mainly comprised of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles, which both connect to the Achilles tendon, on the backside of the lower leg. One’s calves do help bend one’s knees and are responsible for lifting the heel, a movement referred to as plantar flexion (think of toeing when rock climbing). They also control the opposite movement, dorsiflexion, while they are elongated. Eccentric loading when muscles elongate under load does impose the highest forces on a muscle and is a reason for a person to get sore calves and quads when in case one happens to run downhill for 2,000 feet. From this context, it is important to strengthen your muscles fast.
There is no one-size-fits-all training plan to build strength and resilience in the lower legs. It is important to assess general calf strength and ankle mobility.
1. Single-Leg Heel Raise
What It Does:
Assesses the concentric calf strength.
How to Do It:
Do stand barefoot on the balls of the feet with the heels hanging off a step. Hold on to a wall or doorframe for balance if necessary, but do not use the hands for upward assistance. Lift one leg off the ground, and perform single-leg heel raises, also known as calf lifts, with the other. Move through a complete range of motion, from as low as the individual can go to as high as he or she can go. Try to do this as many as times as it is possible with a full range of motion. Repeat it on the other leg as well.
2. Weight-Bearing Lunge Test (Knee-to-Wall Test)
What It Does:
Assesses one’s ankle-joint mobility (dorsiflexion range) and symmetry.
How to Do It:
In case of a having a restriction, or stiffness, in one or both ankles, this can indeed cause plantar fasciitis or problems in one’s calves, knees, hips, and back. This simple test is meant to assess the ankle-joint mobility at home.
With the toes facing a wall, place one foot roughly a hand width away. Keeping the heel flat on the ground, bend the knee as if one were lunging into the wall. In case the knee cannot touch the wall without the heel lifting, move it closer and try again. If the knee easily touches the wall, move the foot back and repeat. The idea is to find the distance where the knee can just barely touch the wall without the heel lifting. This is one’s dorsiflexion range.
When this point is found, measure the distance between the big toe and the wall. Do the same with the other leg. A distance of five or more inches is rather considered a normal range of motion; anything less and therefore it is important to add the Ankle Mobilization with movement exercise, below, into the routine. Symmetry across the ankles is another key. If one ankle is stiffer than the other, it is important to work on ankle mobility until they are even. This exercise helps to strengthen your muscles Fast.
3. Double-Leg Heel Raise
What It Does:
Builds concentric calf strength (only necessary if you cannot do ten or more single-leg heel rises with a full range of motion).
How to Do It:
As with the assessment test, stand barefoot on the balls of your feet with your heels hanging off a step. Perform full-range-of-motion heel raises (with both legs) for four or five sets of six to ten repetitions, with a minute rest between each set.
Heel-Raise Progression (Two Legs Up, One Leg Down)
What It Does:
Builds eccentric calf strength.
How to Do It:
Continue with heel raises, but now use both calves to rise, then lift one leg off the ground and lower the other leg slowly for three to four seconds. Like before, perform four or five sets of six to ten repetitions on each leg, with a minute rest between each set.
Once this exercise does begin to feel easy, it is necessary to retest oneself on the single-leg heel raises. In case it is possible to do ten to twelve (or more) single-leg heel raises with a full range of motion, one is ready to move on to the sport-specific exercise below. If not, then it is better to continue with this exercise.
4. Jump Rope
It is important to begin this exercise only if the person has developed enough general strength to complete ten or more single-leg heel raises with a full range of motion (see above test).
What It Does:
Loads the calves eccentrically as well as increases sport-specific muscular endurance.
How to Do It:
Simply jump rope. Begin with four sets of 15 seconds, progress to six to eight sets of 30 seconds, and then eventually plan on doing ten sets of 60 seconds, with a minute rest between each set of jumping. Remember to land on the toes, not flat-footed.
There is no need to jump rope for this exercise—it is possible to jump up and down on the toes in place—but a jump rope adds discipline and keeps you honest.
5. Walking Lunges with Windmill
What It Does:
Trains multidirectional, functional stability in the foot as well as ankle.
How to Do It:
Perform this exercise simultaneously with the calf-training progression. Stand upright with the feet together, holding a two-to-three-pound weight. Step forward with one foot as and reach one’s arms forward, and slowly lower into a lunge. (Keep the knee behind the toes on the front leg, and be mindful that the knees do not collapse inward as one moves as both patterns are correlated with knee pain.) Rotate the torso slowly to each side while maintaining a straight leg alignment. Then do step forward with the trailing leg to bring the feet together again. Repeat with the other leg in front. Five or six repetitions on each leg are a good starting point.
6. Roll Out
What It Does:
The myofascial release does flush tension in muscles as well as connective tissue to improve mobility as well as reduce inflammation created during the exercise.
How to Do It:
After a workout session or day in the mountains, make use of a lacrosse ball or myofascial-release tool. It is advisable to roll out the soles of one’s feet (plantar fascia), then work one’s way up the kinetic chain. Focus on the Achilles, calf muscles, and the muscle on the outside of one’s shin (anterior tibialis). Avoid rolling over any knobby bits or boney protrusions, since that is often where sensitive connective tissue anchors, as well as nerves, hide, too. Perhaps spending a couple of minutes on each leg to loosen tight tissues does help. It is possible to use a foam roller or massage stick.
In case the pain is felt then one’s brain can interpret that as a problem and involuntarily tighten those structures as an attempt to protect them. Gradually it is better to increase the pressure until it is firm but not painful.
7. Ankle Mobilization with Movement
What It Does:
Improves ankle-joint mobility (dorsiflexion range).
How to Do It:
In case a person has an adequate and symmetrical range of motion in both ankles, one can skip this exercise. In case of a restriction in one or both of one’s ankles, perform this exercise.
Try to girth-hitch an elastic band to an anchor at ground level, and then stand facing away from the anchor. Try to loop the other end of the band over one foot so that it can sit in the crease of one’s ankle, below the ankle bones. With that foot, step forward to be able to create moderate tension in the band. Gently drive the knee forward and over the toes in a straight line, pause, then return to the starting position. This does result in a posterior glide of the talus bone—the joint mechanics necessary for dorsiflexion. Hold the tension for a few seconds, then slowly do return to the starting position. If one’s range of motion is really bad, one can place the active foot on a box to improve gliding during the mobilization. Complete ten repetitions on each side, once daily (ideally after exercise or on its own, but not right before activity until it is possible to build stability around the new joint mobility). Avoid pain during this exercise.
These exercises strengthen your muscles fast.
(Hayden Carpenter)
Calf Stretch and Ankle Mobility
What It Does:
Lengthens the calf muscles and increases ankle and lower-leg mobility.
How to Do It:
Place the ball of your foot on the edge of a step, and lower your heel to gently sink into a calf stretch. Make sure you can relax into the position to optimize your tissue’s ability to let go. (Use your other leg as support to ease into the stretch.) Hold the tension for 30 seconds, then repeat on the other leg. Haas adds that the key to incorporating an ankle-joint glide while stretching is having your toes upward (or heel downward) as opposed to your foot flat on the floor where this can get missed. If you’re outside, use rocks, tree roots, a curb, or even your other shoe to achieve the stretch.
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