effective calf stretches?

chanstriste13

any takers? my calves are *killing* me from me rendezvous with couch to 5k. here is what i am currently doing to try and work them out: the stretch where you stand on a step and drop your heels down; the stretch in downward dog position when you put your heels flat to the ground; neither of these work very well, so i am then reduced to squatting all the way down and rocking from side to side - i know this last one is probably not an official kind of anything, but it helps a bit. does anyone have any ideas or forms to reach this area? any help would be *greatly* appreciated! @--->--->---

kristinlough

Get a friend to help! Do they need to be stretched more with your foot pointed or flexed? Get somebody to push your toes that way BREATHE when you do this. It helps. Deep, slow breaths.

Also, make sure you have perfect posture when you're doing this (it'll make you stretch more), and you might need to ice your calves a little. Oh - and drink LOTS of water. Like more than normal lots.

Hope that helps

hill242

Take a look at foam rolling.

Great e-book here:
http://www.robertsontrainingsystems.com/downloads/SMR-manual.pdf

chanstriste13

[/quote]
Great e-book here:
http://www.robertsontrainingsystems.com/downloads/SMR-manual.pdf
[/quote]

thanks! i'm definitely going to look into this!

steffijb

when you do the first stretch that you described (one leg behind), push your hands flat against a wall. This will significantly increase the stretch!

Or you can stand with your toes on the edge of a step and push your heels down towards the floor.