Best Calf Stretches

The physical therapists at SSOR show people stretches for their calves almost every day.  The gastrocnemius and soleus muscles make up what are historically known as the “calf muscles.”  Tight calf muscles affect people of all ages and activity levels.  Growing youngsters get tight muscles in general and can get things like Sever’s Disease and Achilles tendinitis from a lack of flexibility of the calf muscles.  Ladies who wear high heels all day can get foot pain from tightness in the calf muscles.  Runners and cyclists can get inflexible calf muscles from the repetitive activity.  We see patients on a regular basis that have plantar fasciitis and even knee pain where lack of flexibility in the calf muscles is a contributing factor.  Furthermore, lack of mobility in the calves can cause problems in the hamstrings too because some of the tissues are continuous with the hamstrings.   Unfortunately, many people don’t stretch their calves correctly and actually may be causing more harm than good.
Here’s a YouTube video showing the best calf stretches.  Technique is critical though as you’ll see.   Repeat these as often as needed.  With improvement, you should notice that you can be further from the wall or that you feel less of a stretch.  As always, we encourage a warm-up first before stretching.
Having trouble or have questions?  Still having pain even though you’re doing it right?  That’s OK!  You can see a physical therapist in Kansas without a physician referral.  It would be a privilege to partner with you in your care.  (913) 728-8599
 

Tags: calf stretches, physical therapists, Physical Therapy, stretching