Have you been neglecting your soleus?

[CBDB]

Ever since doing a bit of gardening … ok, a lot of squat-rich gardening … a part of my left leg has been slightly achy. Not really pain, but just an ache that signalled me to take it a bit easy. Maybe stretch a bit more, use that lovely massage gun or do a bit of targeted strengthening before I take out my legs again for a full 8k spin of a run?

The achiness is at a point on my leg I couldn’t quite identify until now. Below the calves, above the ankle. Was it the Achilles or the calf muscles that were telling me something?

But having looked into it a bit more, probed and prodded, tried some exercises targeting specific muscle groups, I’m now sure my achiness is related to the soleus part of the calf muscles.

And this is where I realised most of my stretching was focused only on the Gastrocnemius part of the calf muscles.

So here is a ★ life hack ★ for me to use in the future:

Every time I stretch my calf muscle with a straightened knee, I'll repeat the exercise with a bent knee.

This should allow both gastric and soleus parts of the calf muscle to be targeted. And this should work for strengthening as well.

Every time I do a calf raise with straightened legs, I'll do some with bent knees.

There is plenty of references in runner’s journals or NHS leaflets (list of some below) and how differentiation through knee position (straight vs bent) targets either the more surface gastrocnemius calf muscles or the deeper set soleus calf muscles: simply bending one knee in a weight-based strengthening exercise or a stretch moves the focus from gastrocnemius to soleus calf muscle. But it was fairly new to me.

So I’ll be adding those bent knee stretches to some of the post-run stretches I do, as well as some bent knee calf raises for strengthening.

Happy working out, everyone!

Resources:

★ NHS (Oxford) Leaflet Calf Stretches oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/podiatr...

★ What muscles does a rowing machine work? allrowers.com/rowing-machin...

★ The Soleus – The Key to Your Running Success? intouchphysio.com/soleus-mu...

★ Soleus Muscle Pain of Runners runnersworld.com/health-inj...

★ James Dunne’s Soleus Exercises for Runners kinetic-revolution.com/sole...

★ Soleus Pain and Running livestrong.com/article/5435...

★ Soleus, the forgotten muscle for runners - Westcoast SCI westcoastsci.com/blog/soleu...

☆ My YouTube Video Playlist for Soleus : youtube.com/playlist?list=P...

[LottieMW]

I seem to do a bit of everything!

It’s annoying to think I spent my midwifery career protecting my back by bending my knees…only to end up with knackered knees!

I alternate between hands and knees…so often a little cat/cow flexing occurs!😉🧘🏻‍♀️…squatting…but harder to get up from these days 😫…and a straight forward fold, legs apart, sometimes one leg flexed…

I often find after a long allotment session that my hamstrings are complaining!

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to LottieMW]

yeah, gardening is a workout, but sometimes not quite a balanced one, I find. Also, gardening projects are often much longer than a run or an exercise session, so I’m pretty sure I’ve been taxing my body somewhat.

[LottieMW in reply to CBDB]

oh yes…the other weekend *both*my knees were complaining…I had to find a gentle and short recovery run to loosen up the next day!

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to LottieMW]

😃 “Running to Recover” 🤣👏💪

[LottieMW in reply to CBDB]

😂😉🏃🏻‍♀️🐌

[Betj]

Thanks that's very interesting & informative. X

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to Betj]

😄👍🏽💪

[ChannelRunner2]

This is so timely, CBDB , as I, too, have had a bit of an achy something that goes away with a vigorous self-massage of my calf (that 2€ I spent on that little plastic ball was the best money spent eva 🤣). I will, too, incorporate your hack as I am already doing the calf stretches with straight knee - and we'll see what happens!

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to ChannelRunner2]

yeah, let’s report back to see if it improves things. I’m just amazed how long it takes for this ache to disappear!

[Beatlesforever]

I always remember to stretch my soleus, one of the few positives of my calf injury was that I learned to look after my soleus. Silver linings and all that 🙈