My calves have been tight and sore since I started marathon training. I stretch and stretch, but that only helps temporarily. I did some reading last night and found that my tight calves are probably caused by my tight hamstrings. I've always had tight hamstrings. It's all a giant snowball. If my calves have to compensate for my hamstrings, they get sore. Once my calves are sore, other muscles have to compensate for that. Eventually, I will be one giant tight muscle that can barely move.Touching my toes is something I can do only after months of extensive daily stretching. I did get back to the yoga today trying to stretch my hamstrings a bit so my calves can stop hurting. I was also stretching my hamstrings while watching TV last night. I need to keep that stretching up whenever I have a chance so that my calf stretching is more beneficial and hopefully, I can keep from limping all the time. I will also start doing the strengthening exercises recommended by NovaCare for my marathon training group. They should help strengthen my quadriceps, hamstrings and calves, also helping ease my pain.
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Do you have a foam roller, tennis ball, or handheld massaging device? Those are good tools for self-massage in the problems areas.
ReplyDelete-Iris
I do have a foam roller and it helps a bit. I can't seem to get enough pressure on my calves with it, though. The stick works a bit better.
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