Calf strengthening is not only a common denominator in alot of lower limb rehabilitation programs, but also plays an important role in lower limb biomechanics, as well as a key aspect of injury prevention.
Here are five good reasons why calf strengthening is important.
As physios it is common to get asked by clients what the difference is between pilates and yoga and would either be of benefit or detrimental to their injury and rehabilitation. With the popularity of both yoga and pilates in today’s society, people often want to know what the difference is?
Yoga involves a series of poses that create a stretch for your muscles and joints, and may either be sustained stretches or more flowing in nature between poses, creating more of a dynamic stretch. Read more
Dynamic warm up/stretching mimics movements used in the sport or activity ahead. Dynamic warm up/stretching prepares the body for activity, and means your body is continuously moving even whilst stretching.
There has been a shift from static stretching before exercise, to dynamic stretching before exercise, with static stretching thought to have some negative effects on the exercise/sport to follow, such as reducing muscle strength, reducing muscle power and reducing explosive muscle performance.
So why the shift towards dynamic warm up/ stretching before exercise?
Dynamic warm up/stretching has a number of pre-workout benefits such as:
Plantar fasciitis or more appropriately termed plantar fasciopathy, is a common condition in the foot causing pain in the arch and/or heel. The plantar fascia is a thick fibrous band of tissue that runs from the heel to the toes and forms the arch of your foot acting as a natural shock absorber for the foot. Due to the nature of this fibrous tissue, it is not very elastic and limited in its capacity to stretch and elongate, thus with too much traction on the plantar fascia microtearing will occur. Read more
Morton’s neuroma is a painful condition that affects the ball of your foot, and often feels like there is something in the ball of the foot, or that there is something in the shoe bunched up.
This nueroma is a thickening of the nerve tissue most commonly occurring between the third and fourth matatarsals (long bones in the foot), and occasionally between the second and third metatarsals. Involves a perineural fibrosis, where over time the sheath surrounding the nerve becomes irritated, inflamed and forms a thickened scar tissue around one of the nerves leading to your toes. Read more