As an endurance athlete you will no doubt have heard the importance of training the calf muscles, but did you know the calf is made up of two muscles, the Gastrocnemius and the Soleus. Just think about how much you actually use those muscles. You activate them each time you stand or walk. When you run, your gastrocnemius and soleus—the muscles that make up most of your calf—produce the majority of that final push you need to propel upward and forward. This means ignoring those muscles can slow you down, and worse, contribute to a higher risk of injury.
The Gastrocnemius is the muscle that lies on the outside back of the calf and gives you that upside-down heart shape.
You can train the Gastrocnemius quite easily.
- Standing on a small step, allow your heels to first drop and feel a stretch in the calf muscle.
- Lift the heels as much as possible making sure to push through the big toe side of the foot.
- Hold at the top for 2 seconds and slowly lower back to the fully stretched position.
The soleus is your smaller, flat muscle that is often overlooked because it’s hiding underneath your gastrocnemius muscle.
The name is derived from the Latin word “solea”, meaning “sandal”. The soleus runs from just below your knee down to the ankle joint, attaching at the top of the tibia and fibula leg bones (at your knee) and inserting at the Achilles tendon (by your heel).
Consisting predominantly of slow-twitch muscle fibres that make it relatively resistant to fatigue, it is still occasionally used for explosive movements as well. A soleus muscle injury is more frequent in older athletes and often underestimated.
Soleus injuries are common for runners. Fatigue and overtraining are common injuries, especially for long-distance runners. Soleus strain is also common to athletes who sprint including tennis and basketball players and other sports that require quick, sudden movements and jumping. Athletes are usually encouraged to do calf raise type exercises to prevent and minimize soleus injury.
Why is it important for runners?
Did you know when you are running, your body has to support a load that is 3-8x your bodyweight? This is a lot of force exerted on those muscles. The calf muscles play a very important part in running and walking.
For runners, the soleus:
- propels us forward during running and walking
- bears most of the load from running
- is very resistant to fatigue
Heel-raise or calf raise training with the knee bent is an effective muscle strengthening method for the soleus. You can employ double-leg calf raises and single-leg calf raises. The best way to activate your soleus involves plantar flexion or pointing your toes downward, while your knees are in a bent (preferably at or around 90 degrees) position. Bent knees during heel raise target the soleus. If you do not bend your knees, the larger, more powerful gastrocnemius muscle will be activated.
Luckily here at the gym, we have a new seated calf raise machine, which makes it much easier to target the Soleus.
If you are looking for more information on how and why you should make calf raises as part of your training programme – just give me a call!
Des Ryan | 085 830 7474