Poor posture with a forward protruding head position is supremely common today due to stress, the use of handheld devices and a sedentary lifestyle. This posture shifts your centre of gravity forward which puts excessive tension in your calves (mainly the Gastronemious and Soleus muscles). Scar tissue and/or excessive tension in the Soleus can cause local pain or pain further down in the Achilles Tendon or Plantar Fascia. Here is a foam-roller exercise that you can do for your sore claves:
Setup:
- Sit on the ground with your legs straight and lower calves on top of the foam roller. Using your arms, press yourself up so that your buttocks are hovering over the ground.
Performance:
- From the starting position, roll back and forth, keeping the knees unlocked. Focus the pressure on the medial and lateral areas of the lower part of the calf, just above the ankle.
- Roll for 30–60 seconds.
- To increase the pressure, try stacking one leg on top of the other and rolling only the bottom leg.
- To further increase pressure, actively dorsiflex the toes (pull them toward your shin) to place the soleus on a stretch.
Anatomy/function:
- The soleus originates from just below the knee and inserts onto the Achilles tendon. The soleus is responsible for plantar-flexion of the foot.