Running Injury & Recovery
Lower Leg – Essential Strengths
Calf / Heel Rises
For steady distance running work 3 x 25 single leg calf or heel rises off the edge of a step with around 20kg to 25kg on your back off a 2 min recovery is a good standard strength standard for a calf to see if there is an inherent weakness. (N.B. If you are not moving through the whole range then you are cheating! Many Achilles and foot issues present with weakness in the calf.for this is to build up from the number of reps that you fail at to the 25 required, 3 sets in a row with a 2 min recovery. If you fail at 10 then that is where you start from. Do 3 sets of as many as you can to failure once a day and it will improve. (See Picture 1)
Foot turn in or inversion of the foot
You should be able to hold your foot against being pushed out by a partner. (You will need someone to do this for you). The foot should not be able to be pushed away from the starting position shown in Picture 2. If it can then it is weaker than it should be. (It does not matter how strong the person is – it should not move!)
Assess Your Injury Risk For Running (Part 2) –>
