Major Calf Issues

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Live YBL wrote:

Any advice out there for a former runner whose calves wont make it more than 5 minutes into a run now? I had minor issues with them when I was competitive 10-15 years ago, but now I'm coming off of 5 years of inactivity and cannot make it down the street without a set back.

A little background- Im grossly out of shape but not over weight. Just soft. Over the last several years i've done bits of this and that, but nothing to get me in shape. I want to run!

So, any advice to get my calves back under me?

What's the problem?

I gave up competitive running and didn't run for almost 10 years. When I first tried again, I had horrible calf pain that would radiate throughout my lower legs. I saw a physical therapist and she had me shorten my stride and increase my cadence. It was a relatively quick fix and was able to resume running 3-7 miles with ease, albeit slower than I once ran.

You haven't given many details about the specific calf issues you are experiencing, but flat footed squat might help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqfGzbj3iU8

I had calf issues beginning in high school. Primarily, extreme tightness that never went away, which caused issues with my Achilles tendons. I didn't run in college, but ended up tearing both calves running post college (doing significantly more miles than in high school). The second time I tore my left calf it resulted in a permanent knot. I tried ice/heat, calf sleeves, traditional calf stretches, massage, and eccentric calf raises among many other things, but nothing helped. At that point I gave up running for a number of years. Eventually started back and had the same issues all over again. While searching for solutions, someone recommended the flat footed squat. When I first tried it my feet wouldn't touch the ground. After three weeks of working it on 2-3 times per day I could hold that position easily for several minutes, and the constant tightness in my calves was completely eliminated. The knot also disappeared. Haven't had a single issue since. I still do that stretch a few times a week holding for 3-4 minutes at a time.

I would also recommend the following stretches, as you probably have a tight psoas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfGV-65GaPg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObmPZu2YBn8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxStC0ANJ6E

A tight psoas was another issue that I struggled with after starting back. My main symptom was lower back tightness after 10-15 minutes of running. The tightness was worse and developed more quickly the faster I ran. The calf tightness was also related. I believe the underlying cause was years of prolonged sitting (with bad posture) at a computer for work.

Those psoas stretches, along with flat footed squats, completely transformed my running. I went from feeling like an old man - struggling to run 15 minutes at 8:30 pace with a tight back and constantly sore calves - to feeling better than I did in high school. I'm in my mid thirties.

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