These Soleus Exercises Keep Your Calves Healthy for Better Running

tends to get less attention than the more prominent muscle of your quads, hamstrings, and abs, you’re off to a great start supporting your running routine. But stop there and you might not be performing as well or going as long as you could be.

Enter: soleus exercises. This wide, flat muscle in your lower leg tends to get less attention than the more prominent muscle of your calves—a.k.a., your gastrocnemius (or gastroc), which the soleus lies beneath.

“The soleus muscle is a deep calf muscle that, along with the gastrocnemius, attaches to the Achilles tendon,” says Anh Bui, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., a former collegiate runner, physical therapist, and biomechanics specialist in Oakland, California. “Its postural function is to hold you upright to resist a forward lean when you are standing, and its dynamic function is to plantarflex the foot and propel the body forward during running.”

Unfortunately, it’s an easy muscle to ignore—and you might run for quite a while on a weak soleus before it starts causing you trouble. Here’s how to give it the love it deserves so you can both run with fewer aches and have a more propulsive gait.

These Soleus Exercises Keep Your Calves Healthy for Better Running.

→It Makes You More Powerful

The soleus might not seem as essential to a powerful stride as some bigger muscles, but it truly fights above its weight class, so to speak. “The soleus is responsible for some of the greatest force production in the human body during running,” says Bui.

In fact, even though it seems secondary to the gastrocnemius, it’s much more forceful: The soleus produced vertical forces of about eight times runners’ bodyweight, while the gastroc produced only about three times their bodyweight in a 2012 Australian study. What’s more: Across running speeds, the soleus—along with the gastroc and three of the four main muscles of the quads—together provide about 75 percent of the total vertical support impulse needed to move the body upward on the run, with the soleus itself contributing up to 50 percent.

→It Helps You Run Long

“The muscle fibers of the soleus are predominantly type 1 have a more propulsive gait, whereas the gastrocnemius is most type 2 fast-twitch muscle fibers,” explains Brian Gurney, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., a trainer, board-certified sports clinical specialist, and physical therapist at BeFit Therapy in New York City. “Fast-twitch muscle fibers are responsible for quick bursts of energy while slow-twitch fibers are responsible for endurance or long-duration activity.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that if you’re a marathoner you can get away with ignoring your gastroc or that sprinters can forget about the soleus. “Both are important for training for any distance of running,” he adds.

→It May Help You Sidestep Injury

Pain in your lower leg or foot could stem from a weak or overused soleus. “The risk of running without strengthening this muscle will increase your chances of Achilles tendonitis in particular because of the repetitive stress on your ankle from the lack of stability and control of your lower leg each time you land,” says Gurney. That’s because as you land, your soleus lengthens and it stabilizes your tibia (shin bone) so it doesn’t move too far forward, he explains.

Pain along the back of your ankle is the main indicator that there’s a problem, and you’ll likely need a combo of “strengthening and mobility exercises to correct the mechanics of your movement patterns,” he says.

Interval Workouts to Help You Run a Faster 5K How to Tell Your Soleus Muscle Needs Some Exercise and/or shins but nowhere else after a big workout, that’s a big sign that your soleus could be weak or overworked, says Bui. So you probably need to turn to some exercises that strengthen this muscle.

Tightness in your calves, or even just feeling like your ankles can’t move fully in a good range of motion (especially flexing your foot upward), can point out that the soleus, gastroc, and stabilizing muscles that all need stretching.

A physical therapist can take precise measurements of your range of motion, but to get an idea at home, Bui recommends a knee to wall test: Facing a wall, stand with your foot 4 to 6 inches back. Bend your knee and try to tap it against wall without letting your heel come up. “If you can’t get your knee over your toe, you’re lacking ankle dorsiflexion,” she says.

Even if you don’t notice the above signs that your soleus needs improvement, any runner can benefit from giving this muscle a little extra TLC. Bui and Gurney recommend these exercises to strengthen and stretch the soleus.

1. Seated Calf Raise

1. Sit on a bench with feet flat on floor in front of you, thighs parallel to floor. (Optional: Place a small block or foam wedge under ball of right foot to increase range of motion.)
2. Holding a medium weight on right quad, lift heel and press ball of foot onto the floor (or wedge).
3. Slowly lower to start.
4. Summer Running Gear.
5. Repeat on opposite side.
6. Do 2-3 sets.

2. Single-Leg Bent-Knee Calf Raise

1. Stand near a wall and gently place right palm against it for balance.
2. With right leg bent and lifted behind you, bend left knee slightly.
3. Slowly raise left heel, pressing ball of foot into the floor.
4. Slowly lower to start.
5. Summer Running Gear.
6. Repeat on opposite side.
7. Do 2-3 sets.

3. Calf Raise With Isometric Split Squat

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a light or medium dumbbell in each hand down by sides.
2. Step right foot forward and lower into a split squat, right thigh parallel to floor, keeping left knee a few inches off the floor.
3. Stand facing a wall with hands against it at chest height.
4. Lower heel back down.
5. Repeat on opposite side.
6. Do 2-3 sets.

4. Elevated Hip Bridge With Foot Flex

1. Lie faceup on floor with ball of feet on a couch or box, keeping knees bent 90 degrees.
2. Press hips up, lifting into a bridge. This is the starting position.
3. Interval Workouts to Help You Run a Faster 5K.
4. Interval Workouts to Help You Run a Faster 5K.
5. Summer Running Gear.
6. Do 2 to 3 sets.

5. Soleus Wall Stretch

1. Stand facing a wall with hands against it at chest height.
2. Step left foot back, bending both knees.
3. Do 2 to 3 sets.
4. Hold at least 30 seconds
5. Repeat on opposite side.

Laurel Leicht

Laurel Leicht is a writer and editor in Brooklyn. She's covered health, fitness, and travel for outlets including Well+Good, Glamour, and O, The Oprah Magazine.