Image depicting a woman Foam Rolling Calf Muscles

Foam Rolling Calf Muscles can help relieve muscle tightness and pain

Part 3 – Foam Rolling Calf Muscles!

From everyone at Holistic Bodyworks we wish you a Happy New Year!

With the New Year often comes New Years Resolutions and perhaps one of yours is to become more active through daily walks. As we’ve spoken about in previous posts, when we start increasing our activity it is very normal to experience some muscle tightness and pain. A great way to manage this and also prevent it is to use a Foam Roller, and get Foam Rolling Calf Muscles!

If you’ve started increasing your walking for exercise or perhaps are holidaying at the moment and doing a bit more walking than usual, you may be experiencing some tightness or pain in the calf muscles. Using Foam Roller or Spikey Ball can be helpful to manage this discomfort.

For more information on the calf muscles and how they are injured read our blog https://www.holisticbodyworks.com.au/2018/05/15/calf-strain/

 

Foam Rolling Calf Muscles

Start by sitting on the floor with your Foam roller out in front of you. Place the Foam roller under your calf muscle and then cross your other foot over the top at the ankle. Use the top leg to weigh down the underneath calf onto the roller. From here you can either hold the pressure on any tender points or lift your weight up on to your hands and gently roll up and down along the muscle.

Continue for 1-2 minutes or until the muscles starts to loosen. Repeat on the opposite leg.

 

Using a Spikey Ball on the Calf Muscles

If you have a particularly tight spot in your calf then a Spikey Ball can be used to provide pin-point release to tight muscles.

Sitting on the floor or the bed place the Spikey Ball underneath a tender spot in your calf muscle. Hold this position whilst slowly pointing your toes and then flexing them like you are using a pedal. This technique helps to release not only the muscle itself but also the fascia around the muscle. Fascia is like a glad wrap which covers the muscle and releasing the fascia can help improve the way the muscle functions.

Continue with this pedalling movement for 30 seconds and then move the Spikey Ball onto a new tender point and repeat.

 

If you have any questions about calf pain or think you may have a calf injury that needs assessment please call the clinic and make a time with one of our practitioners.
Call (03) 9570 3388