GOTCHA.....
I really hope yet again that some folk have found there way over here
I think that most of us would agree that strength work is necessary if we want to improve our running and make ourselves less likely to incur injury.
This week.. I am taking a look at our calves...( not that kind)
So...
CALF RAISES
A great place to begin. Anytime... Any place... Anywhere!
Brushing your teeth...
Boiling the kettle...
Waiting for the toaster...
Strong Calves...mean strong running...
Running puts a significant amount of strain on the calves and some of the most familiar injuries in our running may be caused by weak calves.
How to do calf raises;
Stand up straight,
Push through the balls of your feet
Raise your heel until you are standing on your toes
Lower slowly back to the start
CALF RAISE with a HEEL FLICK
Stand with feet a shoulders width apart
Toes pointing forwards
Push gently up onto your toes
On your toes...turn your heels out
Turn heels back in
Gently lower your heels to the ground
Keep the legs straight but relaxed... do not lock your knees...
RAISED CALF RAISE
Stand on a step for the calf raise.
This allows your heel to drop lower than the rest of your foot at the bottom of the movement.
BENT KNEE CALF RAISE
Bending your knees slightly when doing any kind of calf raises switches the workload from the larger calf muscle – to the smaller muscle ( I am not going to us their proper names here, ( gastrocnemius and soleus, ).
The calf raise routine should include an equivalent number of bent-knee exercises to the straight-knee raises.
SEATED CALF RAISE
You can do this, sitting on a chair with your feet on a raised surface so your heels hang down.
Seated calf raises are especially good for working the small calf (soleus muscles ) and allow you to add weight to the exercise with less risk of losing your balance.
SINGLE LEG CALF RAISE
As a runner you can, and should, try standard calf raises, bent-knee raises, seated raises, or raised raises...but on each leg separately... on one leg, and progress to adding weight to the move.
For a more advanced exercise....
When you feel comfortable with the exercises...it can be helpful to increase the difficulty of calf raises with weights
Holding a dumbbell in each hand while doing raises will help bud up the strength of those calf muscles for the pressure on them during your runs.
A basic set of Neoprene dumbbells can be bought quite cheaply online... the weights may be too light for massive strength gain, but very useful for beginners;
E,g. Amazon sell them...
I have a set in a carry case, which suit my purposes perfectly. I have had them for many years !
So.... this is the first instalment... and this week, I will be adding a few more exercises to help us look after our calves... No farm visit necessary..
Floss x
P.S.
Sorry for the little trick I played on C25K
Double session 
Week 3 of the Plankety Plankathon ...2minutes routine