As we head into winter, and begin building up mileage and fitness, its important to make sure the lower leg muscles keep up with the rest of your training.
One overuse injury that often occurs in masters athletes at inopportune times is a lower leg calf/ soleus strain. I have seen this happen mant times ( as well as prsonally), and have set out to come up with ways of keeping the lower legs healthy and flexible.
here are a few factors/ observations
1. Masters athletes suffer fom this more than younger athles.
2. Cycling, due to the high isometetric aspect as it pertains to the lower leg, tends to create tightness deep in the lower leg, and builds over time until it gets injured.
3. After an lower leg strain, it take 4-6 weeks until the athelete is back to normal training.
4. Ankle mobility needs to be maintained to prevent added stress on the gastocs and soleus.
5. Lower leg range of motion needs to be maintained with simple eccentric calf raises.
after each run do
8-10 eccentric calf raises on each leg
8-10 ankle mobility reps with each leg
15-20 second calf stretch.
Happy Training!
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