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I have developed cramps in my right calf a couple of times in the past 2 months during training. I then end up not running for 2-4 days to address it and it goes away. I'd like to learn more about how I can proactively address this to minimize the chances of it happening at all. Here's what I do already:
1) Daily eccentric heel drops / calf stretches
2) barryp running plan (6 days/week, 3:2:1 ratio of run distance, 100% easy/zone 2 running for now)
3) I sometimes foam roll, but I am not yet convinced this has any impact, so I am not very diligent about it.
4) Eat bananas. Unclear if I get enough potassium in my diet though.
Anything else I should be doing or experimenting with?
Thanks!
So far I've had no issues since I increased both my daily salt and H2O intake. Additionally, I use BASE Salts on both the bike and run. I'm a heavy sweater (about 45 oz per hour in the Florida heat) so I use more than the recommended amount and it's worked so far.
I've been having calf issues for over a year now. I tried everything from RICE to active release to calf raises to foam rolling to anything I could think of. Finally I happened to notice that the hamstring on the same leg was incredibly tight. After a week of focusing my attention on that hamstring, the problems are finally going away. Not saying this is you issue, just pointing out that there could be other muscular imbalances going on.
Thank you for the suggestions.
Anybody else have similar experiences?
Unclear if the damage is taking place predominantly from your running or riding, etc.
Usuals re running have been mentioned aside from whether you are using a shoe with too much drop currently.. a more conservative shoe can support those that need it.. ie 10-12mm heel drop as opposed flat or low (0-4mm)..
You may want to consider a more rearward cleat location to reduce load on the calves when riding.. IF you do so you will need to drop the saddle slightly, and perhaps your bars a corresponding amount.
I used to have super-tight calfs, even hours after training. Another side-effect was larger than normal calfs. Rollers helped deal with the symptoms, but in my case, the true issue was muscular imbalances. It was like because other muscles weren't working hard enough, my calfs had to work harder. fwiw, I also had similar issues with tight hamstrings.
Doing yoga and paying attention to smaller muscles and adding flexibility (in areas other than the calfs) actually solved the issue for me. Your area of imbalance will probably be different, but for me, it was far away from my calfs (it was my right hip combined with a few other areas - everything is connected!).
Last edited by:
kfmfe04: Sep 2, 15 21:24