PUBLISHED 03/07/2007
WALL STRETCH: Stand with your hands against a wall with your left foot approximately two to three feet from the wall. Keep your left leg straight, your right leg bent, your feet pointed straight ahead, and heels on the ground. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds, switch legs, repeat two or three times, and switch sides. Exercise physiologist Janet Hamilton suggests doing the stretch several times a day; stretching only postrun may not be enough to loosen really tight calves.
FOAM ROLL: Rolling your calf over a foam roller after running can help break up microadhesions--where muscle tissue sticks to the outer fascia--that cause pain, says Matt Schneider, certified athletic trainer and certified physician assistant at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. Sit on the floor with your right calf on the roller. Cross your left leg over your right, resting that ankle on your right shin. With your elbows supporting you, lift your glutes off the floor and shift your body to slowly roll your right calf along the roller. Repeat on your left leg.
SHIN LIFTER: Lie faceup on a hamstring curl machine, and place your toes under the footholds. Flex your feet toward you to work the muscles in the front of your lower legs. An at-home alternative: Sit on a chair or the edge of a bed with your feet hanging down, not touching the floor. Put coins in a sock and rest it on the top of your foot. Raise and lower your foot, flexing at the ankle.
