Tight calves: The causes and best treatments for runners
As runners, we often deal with common injuries, niggles and soreness – and one area that often suffers the most is the calves.
Running even short distances can feel intolerable if you’re dealing with tight calves – that achy, stiff feeling can linger in the back of your lower leg with every step you take. And considering most of us take an average of 1,500 steps when we run a mile, it’s no wonder that the calves can feel the effects of all that effort.
Every leg muscle counts when it comes to running – especially longer distances – and the calves in particular can help us to run strong. So, to know how to keep these muscles healthy, we spoke with experts to find out what causes tight calves and how best to alleviate them.
Why are the calves so important for runners?
The calf muscles – specifically the soleus, which is the lower part of your calf muscle – are the body’s powerhouse when it comes to running. Every time you take a step, the calves work hard to propel you forward.
‘The feeling of tight calves is pretty common among any sort of runner level – anywhere from beginner to ultramarathon standard,’ says Brad Whitley, a physiotherapist and co-founder of Bespoke Treatments in San Diego, USA.
When tight calves strike, your natural response may be to bust out a series of calf stretches or reach for the nearest foam roller. But that’s not always the best remedy.
‘Oftentimes, a tight calf is barking at you because it is weak and overworked,’ says Anh Bui, a physiotherapist, certified strength and conditioning specialist and run coach. ‘The solution is not to constantly stretch it, but to strengthen it so we can increase the tissue capacity to withstand high loads.’
The calf muscles also do more than just move the ankle joint – they also stabilise it. ‘When muscles fatigue or lose power, one of the ways they compensate is to become (and stay) tight,’ explains John Vasudevan, associate professor and director of the Running and Endurance Sports Programme at Penn Medicine. ‘This shows us that protection of a joint is more important than power across it.’ To address both power and stability, though, it’s about building adequate strength that helps your calves to resist fatigue.
According to Bui, running with tight calves can cause discomfort and increase the risk of lower leg injury. ‘Runners who constantly overuse their calf muscles to aid in the push-off phase of running, instead of their glutes and hamstrings, will have a higher risk of shin splints, achilles tendinopathy and calf strains,’ she says.
What causes tight calves?
Here are the main reasons why you may be feeling discomfort in your calves on the run.
Lack of strength
Perhaps the most common cause of tight calves is a lack of strength in the calf muscles – specifically, the gastroc and the soleus. ‘Most runners who experience tight calves haven’t built enough strength in their calves to meet the demands of running,’ explains Bui. ‘The calf muscles play a critical role in shock absorption when we land and also produce power during the push-off phase of running to propel you forward. When the muscle isn’t strong enough and we overload it with repetitive activity, it’s likely to feel tight.’
Overworked muscles
Some runners have enough strength in their calves but don’t allow themselves enough downtime to recover in between workouts or races, which can leave the calves feeling stiff and achy. ‘Under-recovered muscles can often cause that feeling of tightness,’ says Whitley, who also notes that, in his experience, this is typically the second most common cause of tight-feeling calves.
‘Added recovery time feels like doing nothing, but it is doing something,’ adds Vasudevan.
An anterior pelvic tilt
Sometimes, according to Vasudevan, the area in which you feel aches isn’t the only problem.
A case in point is runners who maintain an anterior pelvic tilt, which means that their pelvis is tipped forward as they stride, rather than in the ideal neutral position. This can cause an arch in the low spine, which, as Bui explains, inhibits their glute muscles from firing and can cause the calf muscles to overcompensate. The end result? Tight calves.
To determine whether your calf tightness is the result of an anterior pelvic tilt, Bui suggests observing your natural posture throughout the day. ‘Do you tend to stand with your lower back arched or hyperextended? Do you sit at your desk with your lower back arched? Your spine should ideally stay in a neutral position – not too rounded and not too arched,’ she says.
Limited range of motion in the feet and ankles
Runners with a limited range of motion in their feet and ankles may experience tight-feeling calves as a result. That’s because ‘muscles attach to tendons, which then attach to bone,’ explains Bui. ‘If a joint is stiff, restricted and can’t move with a full range of motion, the forces get translated to the tendons and muscles, which get worked harder than they should be.’
Dehydration, deficiencies and lack of sleep
Whitley says that not taking in enough fluids, not having enough electrolytes and minerals that help to alleviate cramping or tightness (like sodium and magnesium) and not getting enough sleep can all contribute to calf tightness.
Central nervous system fatigue, triggered by a lack of sleep, can in particular ‘cause some tightness in the posterior chain,’ explains Whitley – the posterior chain including, as you may have guessed, the calves.
How to treat tight calves
Incorporate strength exercises
Since calf tightness is often caused by weak calves, strengthening these muscles can help to reduce stiffness by addressing the underlying issue. As Whitley puts it, ‘doing some strengthening exercises tends to be the lowest hanging fruit’ – unless your calf tightness is caused by overtraining.
Detailed below are some calf-strengthening exercises recommended by Whitley and Bui. As a bonus, the eccentric calf raise does double duty by strengthening and stretching the calves.
The goal is to progress through the moves in order, so don’t jump straight into plyometrics.
Bent knee calf raise with forward lean
Stand tall, facing a wall. Place your hands on the wall at shoulder height, with elbows straight and fingertips at eye level.
Lean forward from your ankles, keeping your head, neck and spine in a neutral position.
From here, lift up your left leg and bend that knee to 90 degrees.
Holding this position, raise up onto your right toes.
Lower back down.
Repeat. Do two sets of 15 reps, two or three times a week.
Eccentric calf raise
Stand with your heels off the edge of a step and come up onto the toes of both feet.
Lift your left foot off the step and stand on just your right foot. Slowly lower your right heel past the edge of the step for a count of five.
Place your left foot down to come up onto your toes with both feet again.
Repeat. Do two to three sets of 15 reps, two or three times a week.
Single-leg calf raise progression
This progression involves five different exercises. Start with the first and aim for three to five sets of about 15 to 20 reps per side – or as many as you feel that you can do to really challenge your muscles. If you’re doing the exercises before a run, Whitley suggests doing just three sets per side.
Once you can do multiple sets of 15 to 20 reps without cramping or fatiguing, move onto the next exercise in the series.
Single-leg calf raise
Stand on flat ground, lift up one leg and do a single-leg calf raise on the other leg by pressing up onto your toes.
Single-leg calf raise on decline board
Perform the exercise described above on top of a decline board, where your heel drops slightly below your toes.
Single-leg pogo jump
Stand on one leg and hop up and down, landing and pushing off on just the toes.
Single-leg pogo line hop
On one leg, pogo hop forward and backward over a line and then side to side over a line.
Single-leg pogo hop continuous motion
On one leg, pogo hop forward continuously, then pogo hop laterally continuously.
Check your ankle dorsiflexion
It’s worth doing the following quick wall test to determine whether you suffer from stiff ankles, since a limited range of motion in the ankles can contribute to tight calves.
Stand in a staggered stance with your left foot positioned a fist width’s distance from the wall. Place both hands on the wall for support.
Drive your left knee forward and try to tap the wall, holding for three seconds, while keeping your heel on the ground.
If you can’t pass this test now, keep performing it regularly as an exercise to improve your ankle dorsiflexion range of motion. Aim for 20 reps and do this before any run.
Practice pelvic tilts
Doing pelvic tilts regularly can help you to learn what a neutral pelvic position should feel like. As a result, this can reduce calf tightness caused by an anterior tilt.
Sit tall in a chair with your back slightly arched. This is the starting position.
Pull your belly button in toward your spine. Tilt your pelvis backward and flatten your spine as you do so.
Hold for a few moments, then return to the starting position, arching back.
Aim for 15 reps, two or three times a week. If you want to practice more often, Bui suggests doing this daily.
Roll out your calves
Regardless of what’s causing your tight calves, Bui says that spending a few minutes rolling out these muscles with a foam roller or lacrosse ball can help to alleviate the uncomfortable sensation. Aim for two minutes of rolling after every run.
That said, while lengthening your calves by foam rolling and stretching can create a short-term neurological effect to reduce that tightness, ‘it doesn’t necessarily attack the root cause,’ says Whitley. That’s why you probably don’t want to rely on this as your only balm for tight calves.
Scraping and dry needling may also provide some benefits, according to a recent study published in Cureus. Here, it is suggested that instrument-assisted soft-tissue mobilisation can help to reduce calf tightness and improve ankle range of motion.
Boost blood flow to the calves
If your calves are stiff because they’re under-recovered, focus on increasing blood flow to the area to assist in loosening those tight feelings. You could see see a masseuse or physiotherapist for a sports massage, self-massage the area with a foam roller, mobility stick or lacrosse ball, or get in an ice bath or take a cold plunge.
Be sure to take an honest look at your training volume, too, to understand why your body is under-recovered, says Whitley. For example, did you just run a marathon then immediately go back to another 60-mile training week without giving your body a break?
Identifying these overtraining errors can help you to avoid similar mistakes in future. On the topic of adequate recovery, make sure that you’re also staying on top of your hydration and getting plenty of sleep.
See a physiotherapist
If your tight calves don’t go away within two weeks, despite your best efforts to solve the issue yourself, consider seeing a physiotherapist. Chances are, they can help to diagnose and fix your tight calves more efficiently than you can on your own.
You Might Also Like
