Looking for calf exercise suggestions!

[weenyrider]

Hello kind folks of COTH,

I am interested in hearing about your tried and tested exercises to help with calf tightness in your riding endeavours. Bonus points included if you could also share your experience with physiotherapy/acupuncture/RMT or any other related procedures if you also suffer from the same issues.

Thanks in advance!

[terryfic]

I stretch out my calves with a resistance band wrapped around each foot. To relieve tension in my calves, I enjoy running a foam roller over them and getting frequent massages of the bottom of my feet.

[mydogs]

I stretched every day. If I went even 1 week without stretching, I could feel my calves getting tighter. I also have restless leg syndrome so tight calf muscles makes it worse for me to sleep.

Standing on a half foam roller at work as made a big difference.

In PT, I would do toe touches with my heels down & toes up, then heels up & toes down, then with a flat foot. I didn’t stretch and hold. it was a stretch, tap toe, come back up, repeat.

I also found that stretching my upper leg muscles does keep my lower leg from getting too stiff as well. So I do a ton of hip flexor stretches too.

[stressgirl37]

I’ve done PT for knee injuries and plantar fasciitis and both require calf stretching. Calf raises is one, 30 times, twice a day. Also, leaning against a wall and putting one leg forward and one back to stretch the calf that is back (and straight). Hope that make sense. Do each for a hold of 30 seconds 2 times, twice a day.

[Mukluk]

Can also put front part of foot on stair and stretch (move heel below stair and hold). For strengthening, do calf raises- move your heel below stair to above stair through your full range of motion. Foam roller and massage would also help loosen tight calfs. Also check out the internet- there is some good stuff out there. I recommend Bob and Brad- they are PTs and have lots of videos on youtube.

Here’s Bob and Brad…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjQEjGvHjKQ

[browneyedcowgirl]

Remember that the calf is actually made up of three muscles. So typically excessive tightness/tension in the calf is related to a lack of balance between the three muscle groups. I like to do calf raises with my toes point out (like a ballerina), pointed in (pigeon-toed), and with my toes straight forward to work all three muscles evenly.

Downward dog yoga pose (with feet on the floor as flat as you can get them) can help stretch out the back of the legs.