We’ve all been there. You lace up your running shoes and take a step out the door. It only takes a few seconds before you realize something is up with your calf. It’s tight, and your stride feels like the spring has come out of it. Why does this happen? “Today we’re going to explain why calves get tight in the first place and then show how you can fix tight calves now and keep them strong and feeling loose in the future.
How do the calves work?
What we all call “the calf” is made up of two primary muscles, the Gastrocnemius (the big meaty part just below the back of the knee) and the Soleus, which subtly runs along the back of the lower leg down towards the achilles tendon. The calf muscles together handle more load than any other part of the body during running. At 8:00 per mile, an average runner will put up to 10x their bodyweight through the soleus with every stride! (study)
Why do our calves feel tight?
Ok, get ready for some mind bending stuff. Your calf doesn’t work through much range of motion when you’re running. It’s only churning out force from about 10* below parallel (toes slightly pointed) to 20* above parallel (foot slightly flexed back towards your knee) (study + study). This suggests that calf flexibility isn’t really relevant to the running stride.
But if if feels tight, it must be short… right?
Interestingly enough, feelings of tightness are not clearly related to measurable muscle shortness (study). That feeling of muscle tightness is actually a signal your nerves send to the brain to warn it that the muscle is overworked. That’s why when your calves are tight, you don’t want to run. Your body is trying to regulate itself so you don’t sustain a more serious injury!
How to fix tight calves
So if it’s not an issue of flexibility, how do we fix those tight calves? By making them stronger of course! Investing time into calf strengthening is one of the best things a runner can do. Indirectly related fun fact: calf size is one of the best predictors of stress fracture risk in young female runners (study). The best way to make a muscle stronger is to lift heavy weights 3 times per week. Here’s how you apply that simple maxim to your calves and reap the benefits in both the short and the long term.
Exercise 1: Heavy single leg calf raise off step
This mostly trains the Gastrocnemius (although it does load the Soleus to a lesser degree as well). The most important thing to remember is to pause at the top and bottom (so your very springy achilles doesn’t help too much). Also, remember that the calf is only active from the 20 degrees below parallel to the 10 degrees above parallel, so there is no need to go full ballerina and get to your tippy toes (that’s why ballerinas have great calves btw).
Exercise 2: Heavy seated Soleus raise
This exercise allows you to isolate that soleus. The soleus takes the most load during the landing (eccentric) portion of the stride, so make sure to control the load on the way down. As always, pause at the top and bottom to avoid bouncing.
Staying injury free in the long term
Former president Calvin Coolidge famously said, “nothing will take the place of persistence.” We can’t prove it, but he was probably talking about calf strengthening. Calves adapt slowly, but strengthening them will serve you well in terms of injury prevention, recovery time in between workouts, and just generally being a happier, healthier runner.
If you want a routine which includes these exercises and tools to keep you consistent and running healthily, try the Recover Athletics app for free!
To be totally honest with you, we want to start a revolution. A revolution against the old attitude that “injuries are a part of the sport.” Millions of runners miss training days due to injury ever year. It simply doesn’t have to be that way, and we’re going to change it. Get to know our team here.