So, as I previously posted, I’ve been doing the Couch to 5K running program.  I want to talk about the method I’ve used to find the needed calf stretch to fix the tightness in my right calf.  I didn’t go into much detail about the problem-solving process previously, so I wanted to go a bit deeper here.

As I said then:

But, I do feel a huge difference in tightness between my right and left calves.  So I tested a bunch of stretches for tight calves, and found one targets exactly the tightest part.  One stretch I can do, and because it is targeting a specific problem, I can see improvement with every run.  This sets up a nice feedback loop that keeps me stretching.

Tightness in my calf doesn’t quite cover the problem.  I actually ended up with numbness/pain/tightness in my right calf after about 10 minutes of running or walking.  I could power through the rest of the run, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that this is an increasingly bad strategy.  The typical calf stretch, and the only one I knew, is the lunge.  This was pretty much the only stretch I remember from gym class and consequently the only stretch I regularly do.  But hey, at least it is a calf stretch!  The lunge doesn’t feel great, and I certainly had less range in the right calf compared to the left, but it didn’t feel like it was really the problem.

The lunge stretch, in case you don’t know it:

So I started to look for different calf stretches.  I did each one slowly, paying close attention to the differences between right and left AND if the feeling was similar to the feeling when I was running.  I learned that I have even less flexibility than I thought, but more importantly, my soleus muscle was in serious need of attention.

The minute I tried it, I realized that this was my problem.  I’ve been doing this stretch for about a month, and the pain/numbness is completely gone!  I can still tell that there is a difference between the left and right sides, so I am continuing to do the stretches.

This improvement makes it less likely that I will injure myself running, and undoubtedly has helped my performance.  I highly recommend applying this method to find a stretch to target specific problems that crop up during your workouts.