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  • Help please!
    I've developed a fear of running, as I keep on getting really tight calf muscles. I've been doing yoga since the start of the year, which has helped my body immensely, but I've still got the fear.
    I had a chat with a fitness coach who suggested the "Pose Method" - has anyone got any experience of this? Or any other suggestions on how to run in a way that might minimise the chances of my calves locking up on a regular basis?
    TIA.

  • First and foremost, how strong are your calves? If you can’t manage, say, 30 single leg, bent knee calf raises on both sides then maybe start there building some strength.

    As for technique - I did a thing on Chi running about a decade ago (coz my missis wanted to try it): same basic principles of short stride, high cadence, mid foot landing as pose in believe. And yeah, I think it makes sense - it changed the way I ran and it’s all good. However pose, chi or similar methods will likely put more strain on your calves than heel striking (which possibly puts more strain on your knees) as, simplistically, you’re landing on the front of your foot and your calf is soaking up the impact (rather than a massive rubber wedge under your heel)

    If you’ve no problems with calf strength then maybe do a couch to 5k to ease into things. Go look at a running technique if you’re interested in it, but unless you’re doing something horribly wrong then maybe not likely to make a huge difference

  • A hard foam roller did wonders for my calves.

  • I'd consider a good physio with experience of sports injuries.

    They're more likley to look for a root cause, as opposed to trial-and-error treatment of the symptoms.

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