14 replies to this topic

[scoop1962]

Hi guys,
Newbie here but would appreciate advice re best shoes for people prone to calf injuries.

Have been given different advice by Athlete'sfoot guys and also podiatry guy who made custom soles.

Neither have really helped the problem as every 2-3 weeks I re-injure the soleous in my left calf.

Has been ongoing for over 12 months now so at my wits end.

[zandrsmum]

Hi scoop, it is so frustrating when these issues keep recurring. I had a long time with achilles problems where no matter what shoes I chose or what orthodic adjustments I made there was no difference. Can I ask if you run on treadmills at all or only on the road? For me going soley on road made a huge improvement. Did your podiatrist watch you run before making your insoles? It may be other biomechanical issues causing your problems. I have now found a great pilates teacher who I work with once a week on my weaknesses (of which there are many ) and have found this also to help prevent injury. I realise I have touched on many approaches here but one may give you a new point to start at. All the best, keep at it you will find your answer. K

[wombatoutofhell]

stay away from Athletes Foot. Some of their staff have some idea of what they are on about but they are the minority in my experience.
I'd suggest finding a good podiatrist, preferably one who runs a bit himself. For shoes get a good running shoe shop who will analyse you on a tready and who will replace your shoes if they get it wrong. I have no idea where you're from but in Melbourne there's Active Feet in Heathmont, Prahran and Camberwell, Shoe Logic in town, Complete Feet in Camberwell, Runners World in Kew-there are a few more but they don't come to mind straight away.

[DontStop]

To be honest, I doubt that it's the shoes that are causing the problem. Or more to the point, I doubt that there's a pair of shoes out there that will cure chronic calf issues. The effect that different running shoes have can be pretty overstated in my opinion. Your problem sounds a bit deeper than that.

If you're re-injuring your left calf repeatedly, either you have a chronic underlying issue or you're doing something quite wrong in your training. Perhaps a combination of both. If you're 're-injuring' it every 2-3 weeks, I'd say the real problem is that it's never had enough time to heal properly in the first place. So not so much a re-injury, as a chronic injury that isn't ever fully healing.

Have you seen a good sports medicine doc? That'd be my first port of call. I'd be going the whole hog and finding out EXACTLY what this is and what's causing it.

But zandersmum gives good advice: if your lower legs are a bit niggly, flat bitumen is your friend.

Edited by DontStop, 17 February 2010 - 10:14 AM.

[scoop1962]

Thanks guys, have seen sports medicine guys, witch doctors etc but all to no avail and plenty out of pocket.

Just thought there may be a shoe a biit more sympathetic to dodgy calf, someone may have come across.

Yep mainly run on flat bitumen and never on treadmill, as thougth that may b less stress on calf but did it badly about 18 months ago on treadmill.

I am 96kg so poor old legs carrying weight but even racing weight is only 85-88 kg so it is catch 22...to lose extra kgs to get down need to run but running injures calf.

[tomh]

Have you tried any strengthening exercises?
Simple heel raises, single and double legs?

I had/have a chronic calf problem that seems to behave better the more I do heel raises.

[scoop1962]

Thanks mate, will try and overdose on calf raises to see if any difference

[wazza]

I've also suffered from chronic calf problems and have found heel rasies the best strengthening exercise. Best done on a step with heels off the step. Go up (slowly) on both legs then down (again slowly) on one. Do fifteen reps before switching legs. Going down with a straight leg works the gastroc whilst bending the down leg works the soleus. All the best.

[Jonnoo]

Another calf injury patient here, slowly building back up the kms. I also swear by heel drops. Start off slowly, building up qty and reps over time. Begin with 2 legs, then move to 1 leg later. Plenty of stuff on the net about heel drops. Also, compression of the calf tends to help, at least for me. Not sure if only a psychological thing now, but as it's working then I am not going to mess with it. Good luck.

[Stem]

I am, hopefully, just getting over re-occuring soleus injury. Went to a pysio who showed me my injured leg had much less flexability than my other leg. I have been stretching my calves and she also had me stretching my big toe! I have done one session of heel drops at pysio, but it caused me to hobble around for 4 -5 days. I will start them again, slowly, after I recover from Huski this weekend. I have been running with a calf guard, and it seems to be holding up so far.

The boss at work has started running but continually gets sore calves. He tend to land on the fore foot/toes, putting pressure on his calves, so it's more a biomechanical issue with him.

[scoop1962]

May be confused but landing midfoot and toes, i though,t was the aim to avoid calf injury....someone please explain.

[tomh]

I don't drop below horizontal when I do my raises. If I do drops on stairs, and go below horizontal then I can't walk either. Solution don't do it

[cRJrun]

Who knew calves could cause such probs?
Just come from physio as my right leg from big toe to hip tightens excruciatingly, every time i try to run. The worst time is hobbling around like I'm 100yrs old in the mornings.
His advice was not do do heel drops as it puts too much pressure on the already suffering achilles.
Instead rest upper part of foot on step or brick or he took off his shoe and lent his foot on that, with heel touching the floor. Then lock the knee and bend body into the stretch. With this one you actually stretch the whole calf not just the achilles.
He also added 9mm heel lifts to my orthotics. So hopefully accompanied with sports massage and needling it may sort things out......Hopefully

[scoop1962]

Good luck crj. I went out and bought the brooks glycerine 8 today in an effort to crack my injury woes. they r a neutral shoe but very stable according to reports my so orthotics should will play their role.

[Long Arms]

best method to fix ongoing calf strains is to gradually introduce barefoot running into your program. It is the best way to strengthen your gastroc and soleus. Try it on both flat and hilly grass, hard sand and soft sand. Also massage your calves regularly with The Stick. Heel dips are good as well. Do not overdo the static calf stretches such as pushing against a wall. Be sure to warm up very slowly at the start of each run (eg don't be ashamed of 10.00 per km pace for the first 1km)