Today we focus on the calf muscles: where they are located, their function and how to take care of them.
Did you know that your back pain has a close relationship with your hamstrings and calves?
The body is a spiral (please refer to the second video to understand the meaning of a spiral in our physical bodies) and if you have lower back pain you need to investigate its cause: Is it weakness in the abdominal muscles and gluteus, is it related to your sciatic nerve or a herniated disc?
For example, if its related to your sciatic nerve, you need to stretch and strengthen your hamstrings, calves and gluteus.
Location:
Calf muscles are located in the back (posterior) of your lower leg, behind your shinbone or tibia. It starts below your knee and extends to your ankle. It consists of 3 different muscles: gastrocnemius (it connects your knee joint to your ankle joint), soleus (it connects your tibia to fibula) and plantaris (it is between gastrocnemius and soleus).
Function:
We need our calves to be able to stand up straight, walk, run and jump also to rotate, flex and point the ankle.
How to take care of it?
You need to learn to strengthen, stretch and massage it, you also need to drink enough water daily because dehydration can lead to cramps in the calves.
Here is a short video for you to strengthen your calves:
Instruction:
Start in mountain pose with your feet hip distance apart, arms by your side or hands to your waist, take your heels up and down slowly with control.
Try this exercise and let me know if you have any questions.