WHY ARE MY CALF MUSCLES ALWAYS TIGHT?

Tight calf muscles can be very frustrating, Stretching them relentlessly, sometimes twice per day but with no joy. They remain stiff and it can be pretty demoralising. They may also feel tired like they are working way too hard. You are not alone however and the cure may be simpler than you think.

One of the most common reasons we find for this is your standing posture. If you're always loading up your calves with the wrong standing posture, you can stretch them until the cows come home, but your calves are always gonna tighten up because of how you're standing.

The most common posture that I see is when your hips are forward, you're leaning slightly back in your shoulders, and that puts your weight in front of where your feet are. As a result, your calves are working really hard to stop you falling all the way forward.

So the first thing you need to do is think about having two thirds of your weight in your heels, that allows you to bring your weight back into your heels a little bit. And then you might need to think about lifting your shoulders up, and one of the things that works really well is thinking about having a torch or a light shining from your breastbone, and you want that shining straight ahead. Not too far up, and not too far down, but directly straight ahead.

If you have two thirds of your weight in your heels, and you shine your light straight ahead, it generally means that your calves aren't having to do too much work. That means that stretching is actually gonna loosen them off without them feeling like they're tight all the time.

f you're interested in having a chat with one of our passionate Physiotherapists about whether your calf tightness is a postural issue or something else then email us on info@balanceinmotion.com.au for more info.

​We look forward to hearing from you soon!