Calf rolls with a foam roller – really helps achilles tendon pain

There’s nothing quite as important when it comes to injury prevention for runners than stretching. Using a foam roller can supplement stretching by providing a deep massage to muscles and fascia. Aiding therefore recovery and injury prevention.

Foam rollers are inexpensive and easy to use at home. And the best thing is, it only takes a couple of minutes to really feel the benefits. Think of it as a cheap sports massage you can do yourself!

I’ve been using a foam roller for a couple of months now, and I’d say it’s by far the best reliever of achilles tendon pain that I’ve found to date. Stretching has helped my achilles tendons, but massaging my calves really has loosened up the whole of my lower leg.

This exercise focuses purely on the achilles tendon and calf muscle. It really gets to the achilles tendon and the calf efficiently. It can hurt at first if you are really tight, but the benefits are noticeable pretty much straight away.

Start position
Place both legs on the roller at the lowest part of the ankle as possible with one leg crossed over the other. You should be supporting yourself on your hands so your bottom is off of the floor.

End position
Gently roll your leg down the roller until it reaches under your knee. There will be some knots along the way and these can be ironed out with gentle rolls.

Things to look out for
You’ll probably feel several knots along the way. If you do then you can roll over the kot slowly several times – kind of ironing it out.

Work for about a minute on each leg.