Exercises: Working Up The Chain

Calf mobility & strengthening

We’re working up the chain today and focusing on lower leg and ankle health. Similar to the feet, this area of the body is incredibly complicated (spoiler alert...all areas of the body are), and pinpointing a problem area can be especially difficult. Same as with the feet, there are numerous lower leg injuries that frequently plague the running community. Problems include, but are not limited to…:

• Achilles tendon(itis/opathy) 

• Shin splints

• Peroneal tightness (can also result from sprained ankles)

• Tibialis anterior tendon tightness

• Tibialis posterior tendon tightness

• Calf tightness resulting in knee pain

• Many more that I can’t list off the top of my head

  
  

To make matters more complicated, many muscles in the lower leg have tendons that travel through a retinaculum (think band of fascia) that holds the tendons in place. When one tendon is inflamed, it may cause problems with the surrounding tissues/tendons (admittedly, I couldn’t find anything online ‘talking about this’ and it’s more of an educated guess than researched fact). 

We have all had tight calves and may have spent some time with a roller to alleviate this issue. Today we’ll go through both some more common and less common approaches to strengthening and mobilizing the lower leg. 

Strengthening:

Useful Equipment:

• Voodoo Bands

• Resistance Bands

Eccentric heel raises:

This exercise is the best for lower leg strengthening, especially that calf and achilles combo! 3x10 reps on each leg is what I recommend and to increase difficulty add weight. On the edge of a step, raise on to your tip-toes, release one leg so that all of your weight is on the other, and slowly lower back to the starting point (and repeat 10 times on one leg followed by 10  on the other). I have found that you don’t want to lower too far past when your foot is parallel to the step, stretching the achilles too much. Additionally, refrain from these if you have any achilles or calf twinges or discomfort!

Banded Eversion/Inversion:

Sit on the ground while holding a resistance band attached to one of your feet (around the midfoot). With the other foot, anchor the band lateral to the attached foot and evert your foot away from your midline (activating the muscles on the side of your working leg). 3x10 reps on each leg before switching to…

Now cross your ‘non-working leg’ to the other side of your working foot so that you invert the foot and work the medial stabilizers of the lower leg. 3x10 reps works great here as well! 

Photos should help with this one!

Banded Dorsiflexion:

Anchor a band to a piece of furniture (or other stationary object). Attach the other end to your forefoot and flex your toes towards your knee (dorsiflexion) 10 times and switch legs (3 rounds is good, but so is anything that you have time for). This works your tibialis anterior! 

Band strengthening around ankle:

I love the ‘voodoo bands’ for some mobility work and strengthening around joints. They’re really great for ankle strengthening as they provide resistance in every direction while allowing you to move through a full range of ankle mobility. 

Wrap your ankle like you would wrap it for added stability (see photo). Move that ankle 10 times in a clockwise direction and 10 times in a counterclockwise direction. Note that blood flow will be restricted during this motion, and don’t leave the band on for longer than necessary!  

Mobility: 

Equipment Needed:

• Small ball (lacrosse/baseball/tennis ball)

• Conventional roller/water bottle/pvc pipe

The following routines are likely things that most of you know, but good ‘ol rolling is the best approach to mobilizing those lower legs! I do want to mention that we never want to be rolling to the point of ‘pain’ and want to avoid rolling directly on tendons (stick to the muscle groupings you’re targeting). We don’t want to increase inflammation in an area, but there’s no denying that a good rolling session can leave the muscles feeling a lot better than they started!

Calf smash rolling:

While sitting on the ground and your legs extended, place the muscle belly of your right calf (gastrocnemius and soleus) and roll your calf over the surface of the roller. When you find a tight spot, move the calf side to side really ‘smashing’ that area. As mentioned above, we don’t want to overdo the rolling to the point of causing ‘pain’. To add pressure and sensation, place your left leg over the right leg and remove some of the support from the ground. 

You don’t have to do much and focus on one leg for 1 minute before switching to the other!

Shin smash rolling:

With the same roller as above (or a small ball for increased pressure), target the tibialis anterior - the area immediately lateral to your shin’ bone (tibia). Use the weight of your body to ‘smash’ over that roller by rolling back and forth and side to side. You can also apply pressure so that the skin is ‘plastered’ to the roller and move bodyweight side to side while keeping that skin adhered to the roller! 

Ball b/w calf and hamstring:

This is a difficult one to describe and the picture will help a ton. While sitting on the ground, place the ball in the ‘crook’ of your knee so that it is sandwiched between the calf and hamstring. Bring your heel to your butt and  rock as far forward as you can until you feel a manageable pressure in that area. 

Medial/lateral ball rolling:

The stabilizers of the lower leg are often ‘forgotten’ until they start to cause problems. Stay ahead of this, and aim to address any area before it becomes a problem. While sitting on the ground, take a small ball and use it to knead out the medial side of your tibia/shin. If you have another ball or even a conventional roller, place that on the lateral side of your shin between your shin and the ground. This will get that lateral side of the shin as well as focusing on the medial side. 

To hit the later side of the shin, stretch out in the ‘pigeon stretch pose’ and use roll over the lateral side of the lower leg. You can also do this while stabilizing yourself on your elbow and rolling over the side of your shin.