I guess we’re all slightly asymmetric, but hopefully someone can assist.
My right calf is prone to strains when running. I’m mid 40s, don’t stretch enough, former rugby player, former Muay Thai (I was flexible then) and now sadly inflexible. The calf strains/injuries have been a constant part of increasing running.
Okay - here’s the question: how can I shift to carrying my weight more on my left leg? I seem to favour the right (hence the strains) and I got some new uniforms trousers in slim fit and my right calf is 45cm in circumference and my left calf 33-33.5cm. My left trouser leg is a bit snug; my right trouser leg looks like I’m wearing leggings just over my calf.
Any ideas?
[edited to add] I had a knee injury which has damaged the meniscus on the lateral side of the right knee; and knee stiffness is now a new joy of being mid forties. Maybe this is also jamming up my running posture. I hold my hand up and admit to having very poor discipline for stretching.
Single leg calf raises - especially done on a stair - can help you balance it out.
I wish I could say the same for mine: I burnt off my right medial gastroc on a motorcycle header pipe in 2005, a handful of years before I started running. It never recovered, so I’ve got one permanent chicken leg…but I’ve run more than 20k miles since then, including a few 100mi+ races, so I also don’t think it’s something to fuss about too much.
Yeah it wasn’t much fun - the very first time I ever rode without leathers, and when I went to park the bike out front of my house, the stand folded up and the bike tipped over. I foolishly held on as best I could instead of just dropping it, and my calf was pressed up against the pipe for a good 30sec before Tank came out front to give me a hand hauling the bloody thing back up to its wheels. The resulting burn required a dressing for a couple of weeks, and has been nothing but a morass of scar tissue since.
I had a drunken impromptu fire walking incident (there were dares and a hot girl involved). Ended in almost having to get skin grafts on my whole foot, all the skin coming off and the last I saw of her was paramedics injecting morphine into my ass. I regret I didn’t have the capacity to mouth “call me” as they did that…
Oooof that sounds awful! It reminds me quite a bit of Colin O’Brady’s story - he was doing some flaming jump rope (as one does) on a beach in Thailand and ended up with severely burned legs that left him hospitalized. 18 months later he won the Chicago Tri, and has since made quite a name for himself as a mountaineer, polar adventurer (solo, unsupported man-powered crossing of the Antarctic landmass), part of a team who rowed across the Drake Passage, and cycled in a record time across the US.
Us burn victims can’t let it slow us down too much!
I’ve had two ankle surgeries on the left, and each time I was non-weight bearing and my calf muscles would shrink on that side. Even today, a little over a year since my last ankle surgery, my left calf is still smaller than my right calf. But, my recurring calf strains are only in my right calf. Based on this, I would focus more on strength rather than the circumference. As your strength builds, the calf circumference will also improve (mine has). Not only calf strength but also hip/glute strength.
In my case, I haven’t had any injury to the left leg that has driven this growth in my right calf. I seem to subconsciously favour my right leg, given the history of calf strains and increased size.
As it seems to be a subconscious bias to my right side, not sure how I can fix it?
