Calf muscle pain

There are a lot of muscles in the thighs and calves because these two parts support the entire weight of the human body. If there are fewer muscles, the burden on the calves and thighs will be increased, which may easily cause some bone problems. However, if you like sports, you must pay attention to your exercise methods during exercise, otherwise you may easily suffer from muscle strain. What is the reason for pain in the lateral calf muscles during exercise?

1. Correct the body structure, adjust the running technique, and enable various parts of the body to reasonably bear and transmit the load of the running process.

1. Calf pain is mainly on the front side of the tibia

This is often because runners tend to land on the heels when using the heel-landing technique. When using the heel-landing technique, the tibialis anterior muscle needs to contract and exert force to cause the foot to dorsiflex to achieve heel touchdown. If the running distance is long, the tibialis anterior muscle repeatedly contracts and exerts force, and the muscle itself is insufficient, fatigue and pain will occur. For runners whose pain is mainly on the front of the tibia, they can adjust their landing technique and try to land with the mid-foot to reduce the force of the tibialis anterior muscle (as shown in Figure 8).

2. Calf pain is mainly on the posterior medial side of the tibia

Runners who experience this condition often use a running technique where they land on the forefoot, and most of them are novice runners. This landing method will cause a greater load on the posterior calf muscles. When the runner's lower limb strength is not enough to bear such a load, it will cause discomfort and pain in the posterior calf. In this case, you should run by landing on the heel or the middle of the foot (as shown in Figure 9).

2. Stretch and relax muscles and fascia to help relieve tissue fatigue, promote circulation and material exchange in the painful area of ​​the calf, excrete metabolic waste, and promote tissue repair.

1. Muscle stretching

The posterior calf muscles mainly include the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. The main function of these two muscles is to lift the foot. Most runners know how to stretch their calf muscles, but when it comes to which specific muscles to stretch and what details to pay attention to, some runners may not be very clear. Let me say a few words here. The gastrocnemius muscle is connected to the femur and heel at both ends respectively. It is a multi-joint muscle that spans the ankle and knee joints. Therefore, when stretching the gastrocnemius muscle, you need to keep the knee straight to be effective. When stretching the soleus muscle, the knee can be bent.

Pain in the anterior calf muscles is often seen in the tibialis anterior muscle. The tibialis anterior muscle originates from the outer side of the upper end of the tibia and ends at the inner surface of the medial cuneiform bone and the base of the first metatarsal bone. Its main function is to make the foot dorsiflex, that is, the toes hooking movement. When running, the tibialis anterior muscle needs to contract and exert force to lift the toes and facilitate heel landing. Stretching the tibialis anterior muscle can be performed with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

2. Fascia relaxation

As a connective tissue throughout the body, fascia can affect the mechanical properties of muscles. It can also contract independently and have an impact on body control-feedback. Therefore, fascia plays an important role in bearing the load of exercise, just like muscles.

Foam rollers and massage sticks (see Figure 6) are often used to relax muscles and fascia. The principle is to press down and roll with one's own weight or force to trigger the nerve endings in the muscles and fascia, thereby relaxing the muscles and fascia, accelerating blood circulation, and reducing fascia tissue adhesion and scar tissue formation. If runners experience calf pain, they can refer to Figure 7 and choose a foam roller or massage stick to relax their calves. In practice, massage relaxation will cause strong pain in the initial stage, but after a period of adaptation, the pain will gradually decrease.