This Lower Leg Workout Keeps Your Calves, Shins, and Achilles Healthy
Add these five exercises to your strength routine to sidestep injury.
It’s easy to put off strength training in favor of being outside, cruising down the road, and doing the sport you love. But to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and sidestep injury, you need some strength exercises in your routine. Doing a lower leg workout two to three times a week can be super beneficial to your running and help you power through your miles injury-free for years to come.
The fact is, running can create muscle imbalances or accentuate ones you already have. Weak calves, for example, put too much stress on the Achilles and break down the fibers that make up the tendon. Unstable hip and core muscles hurt your biomechanics and overload your shins, which can lead to shin splints and stress fractures.
So in order to run well and stay healthy, it’s essential to incorporate some strategic strength training (especially lower leg workouts) into your regular run routine. If you’re generally healthy—but especially if you have had shin splints, calf, or Achilles issues in the past—these five calf exercises will build the resilience and endurance you need to run well.
How to use this list: Perform the exercises below, demonstrated by Mat Forzaglia, certified trainer and founder of Forzag Fitness, twice a week. Do not perform these exercises if you are currently injured; they are preventative only. You will need a box or step and a set of weights or weight alternatives you can find around the house. An exercise mat is optional.
Plyometric Lunge
Start standing then take a step forward with right foot and drop into a lunge, lowering left knee to floor, hovering just above it. Push through feet to explode up into a jump and switch legs in midair so you land in a lunge with left leg forward. Use arms for momentum. Repeat the lunge jump on left leg. That’s 1 rep. Repeat. Do 3 sets of 15 reps.
Eccentric Calf Raise
Stand on a step with heels hanging off the edge. Raise heels to come onto toes. Then very slowly (to a count of 10) drop heels below the level of the step. Place hands on hips for balance. Repeat. Do 3 sets of 15 reps.
Farmer’s Walk on Toes
Hold heavy dumbbells at sides. Rise up onto toes and walk forward for 60 seconds, keeping heels elevated. If you feel that you could’ve gone longer than 60 seconds, increase the weight. Do 3 sets.
Jordan Metzl is a sports medicine physician in New York City. He’s the author of three bestselling books and the creator of the Ironstrength Workout, a functional fitness program for runners.
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