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Hi - short answer is yes, I had (fingers crossed with the past tense) calf issues linked to sciatica. It took me many years to get on top of it, going through a constant build and injury cycle. I've a a number of things that together has worked for me - I cant really assigned a relative importance, only that, doing this, and continuing to do it, means that I dont get issues.
Also, normal for me is 5 times a week which would be a long run of 10 miles (8min/mile pace), one interval session (5 x 1000m @6:30mins, or maybe 800m up at Parliment hill), a 6 mile and a couple of 5kms. So, no 2:45 marathons or 50 miles ultra here!
Stretch hamstings and lower back , should be every day, but 4-5 times a week sufficient. If I cant touch my toes, I dont run. Stretching comprises a range of exercises, prob takes me 15 mins - nothing out the ordinary but is all about back mobility, hams, flexers, and the like.
Gym once a week for core stuff - again nothing surprising - unweighted squats, single leg stuff, planks, glutes, etc. If I've had a break then do this 2-3 times a week for a few weeks to get back up to a reasonable level
Wear barefoot shoes for day to day use (not running) - currently have these for general use for example.
Once a week short run in barefoot shoes - limit it to 5km max - and only when everything else is good
When coming back from injury or a break, start ridiculously slowly and build each week. Although this is number 5 its probably the most important. A first week is run/ walk 30s / 30s x 5, 2 minute break and then do all that 5 times. Increase the runs until happy to run 2km non-stop, then 3km, then 5km - all that over 4weeks. It feels totally ridiculous, but i know that if I go out and run 6 miles, then 8 then 10, I'll be fine for a month and then injured again.
Single leg bent knee calf raises - need to be able to do 3 x 30 minimum on each side. I think the sciatica lower the nerve response or something, so I get a weak calf on my left side very quickly, if I get a stiff back. Important to keep on top of that
And I can recommend this chap: https://www.central-health.com/ourpeople/kieran-odea/ to help with the structured running plan to get back up to speed and distance in a sensible fashion
Clearly no idea if any of this is relevant to your case though!
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cookiemonster
@William.
sciatica and extreme calf muscle tightness
I wondered if anyone had experience of this, and what they had done to remedy it. I have always had tight calves after hard runs, due to not building up slowly enough and suddenly going on 10+ mile cross country runs, then needing 3-4 days to recover. However I was always fine on more sensible shorter efforts up to 5 miles, and longer runs were fine when I was well conditioned.
However, after 9 months of sciatica, my calves get very tight and painful after just a few miles. I can't build up condition like I used to, in fact my calves seem to cope with fewer and fewer miles before siezing up. Anything over 3-4 miles with a couple of hard hills leaves me needing 3-4 days to recover.
The sciatica has now nearly healed, but while it was bad, both calves lost alot of strength due to nerve obstruction. I built the strength back up and can now do 20 single leg calf raises each side, which my physio says is a good level of strength to have and weakness shouldn't be the problem.
I run on my toes, and when I switch to landing on my heels the calf pain massively reduces. However the harder impacts of heel landings are bad for the lower back injury I'm trying to heal. So I mix it up re. Landings.
I'm desperate to build back to the long runs I used to do, without the pain and long recovery times. Can't really ride the bike now.