The Calf Pin-and-Stretch
Sometimes the muscles at the bottom of our body just need a little push.
I have a friend who swears that when she massages the tension out of her calves, her lower back pain disappears. She told me this several years ago and I’ve thought about it more than probably I’ve needed to, but it sort of fascinated me…or should I say, FASCIANATED me. Look at this skelly bones image of the back line of fascia:
Your calves are a pretty hefty part of that line, don’t you think? (Also can we take a nerd moment to recognize HOW COOL is it that the same line of connective tissue runs from the bottom of your feet all the way to your brow bone!) I believe there are two possible reasons that working out excessive tension in your calves can create a reaction like the one my friend has.
You have, as you can see, one continuous line of connective tissue from the arch of your foot to the top of your skull. If there is a place within this line that is holding tension, it will inhibit the flexibility of the entire line and that can present as pain anywhere in the line—even super high up in the form of headaches.
Excessive tension in the calves creates rigidity in your gait (i.e. your walk), which means that your soft tissue isn’t able to absorb the shock with ease. The shock from the ground stops in your soft tissues and bone structure. This can present as joint pain in the knees, hips, spine. If your fascia is in good, soft shape, the pep will come back into your step and your soft tissues have the pliability to absorb the shock with suppleness. Think Terminator vs. Martha Graham.
So what do we do? Cue this week’s free technique: the calf pin-and-stretch. We’ve done the calf massage on the roller before, and you’ve probably done calf stretches on your own. Combining them? Mind blowing. Tension blowing, actually.
Also slight intermission to acknowledge that things are looking different in my newsletter today. I’ve joined Substack! Mailchimp made me want to tear my hair out is was so glitchy, and since Tiktok (my main marketing platform) is in jeopardy (expect a full, heartbroken, politically-infused monologue if the app does get banned) I thought it was a good time to jump on here. Maybe we’ll make some new friends this way.
Okay the CALF! Let’s go! Click below to access this really effective technique.
I post weekly classes on Patreon and I don’t know why it never occurred to me before (sorry), but I’ve decided to start adding 30 Minute Foam Rolling classes! They’re usually an hour. I’ll still throw a couple of those in every month, but I think some of us just need a more bite-sized option. I’ve already added a 24 Minute Upper Body class and a 34 Minute Lower Body class over there. Oh! And these free techniques you get twice a month through this newsletter? I post one each week over there.
That’s it from me today. Have a great weekend, buddies!