Did you know that the soleus muscle is a huge, powerful muscle at the back of your leg? Right about the calf. This is a very important muscle when it comes to movement and explosiveness used in a lot of sports.

In any sport that involves running, jumping, or pushing down with your leg, the soleus muscle plays a huge role.

The Importance of Soleus Muscle

The soleus muscle, paired with the gastrocnemius, is responsible for your ability to point your toes. This is very important for running and walking, along with keeping your balance. This is why the soleus stretch should be done by anyone, especially those who are training.

As you can imagine, any sport that involves running and movement can have a strain on the soleus muscle. If this gets inflamed or injured, your movement is considerably hindered. For runners, that could mean the end of their training program for months.

To avoid this, you can start by doing the right soleus stretches. At the same time, you should be aware of the most common types of injuries to the soleus muscle and what causes them.

Straining your Soleus Muscle

Soleus injuries are most common with runners, especially for endurance runners or those who run great distances such as marathons and cross-country. This is because the most common cause of soleus muscle injuries is overuse.

Consistently putting a lot of strain and demand on your muscle, any muscle, can lead it to get injured. Think of an engine’s piston. If it keeps moving without any rest, eventually it will fail. The same thing goes with your body. It needs time to recover after heavy training.

A lot of runners and athletes, especially younger ones, forget this. They keep chasing those gains to the detriment of their body. But eventually, all that abuse will lead to an injury.

This is especially true if you do not take the steps to take care of your legs such as doing soleus stretches.

Taking Care of your Soleus Muscle

In order to avoid getting injured, you will need to take care of your soleus muscle. And this starts with proper stretching.

Benefits of Proper Soleus Stretching

Before training, race, or any activity that will involve a vigorous use of your soleus, it’s good to stretch. There are several benefits to this:

Stronger Muscles

When you stretch your muscles, they become more flexible and stronger. By doing this right before your race or training, your muscles become ready for the activity and perform better. If you run without stretching, your soleus muscle and other parts of your body can get tight and hence, prone to injuries.

Improved Blood Circulation

At the same time, when you stretch every day, this improves the circulation of blood to the different muscles in your body. This would lead to a shorter recovery time for your muscles after being used during training or a race.

Better Range of Motion

When you are running or playing a sport, you want your body to have a complete range of motion so that it can react as you intend to. Stretching not only ensures you have that range of motion, but it can increase it as well.

Improve your Physical Performance

Overall, stretching can improve your physical performance. And who wouldn’t want that?

So by simply incorporating soleus stretches into your daily activities, you can improve your overall capabilities while helping you avoid injuries. It’s a no brainer to do this!

Soleus Stretches you Can Do

There are several solei stretches you can incorporate with your training plan. It’s important to do these because the soleus is a bit trickier to stretch as compared to the rest of your leg muscles. This includes:

Kneeling Stretch

This is one of the most important soleus stretches.

To do this:

1. You start in a single knee kneeling position.
2. Slowly lean your body forward so you can feel the stretch.
3. Keep the heel of your front foot flat on the floor.
4. Repeat for the other leg.

With this soleus stretch, it is all about keeping your front foot’s heel on the floor to get the most out of the stretch.

Stair Stretch

You will need at least one step of stairs here. Ideally, the step is facing the wall or a place you can grab on to keep you from falling off.

To do this:

1. Stand at the edge of the step on both feet.
2. Slowly move one foot back so the tips are on the step.
3. Carefully bend your other leg so that the heel of the hanging foot moves down.
4. Lean your weight back to drive down the heel and feel the stretch more.
5. Repeat for the other leg.

The lower you can go, the more you can feel the stretch.

Also, if you have something to grab onto, you can do both legs at the same time.

Doorway Stretch

Find a doorway that you can block for a couple of minutes without irritating anyone. Or you can use a wall as well if you can manage.

To do this:

1. Place your foot so that the toes are on the wall and the heel is on the floor.
2. Try to get your heel as close to the wall as possible.
3. Now lower your weight onto the leg and drive your knee towards the wall.
4. Repeat for the other leg.

Obviously, with a wall, you can hit it with your knee so be careful. This is why you can also do this on a doorway so there is more space.

Training your Soleus

You can also train your soleus specifically to make them stronger and give you more explosive power when you jump or run.

Hip Bridges

To perform a hip bridge, you will first need a mat since you will be laying down. You will also need a stable platform for your legs as well such as a step or a weight.

To do this:

1. Lay flat on your back with your arms to your sides and palms facing down.
2. Bend your knees so they are pointing up and one foot is placed on the platform and your heel is on or close to the floor.
3. You can raise your other foot and keep it straight or bend it.
4. Now do a hip bridge by lifting your heel up using your soleus muscle.
5. Hold this position for 20 to 30 secs.
6. Do this with your other leg.

Isotonic Hip Bridges

This is a more complex approach to the hip bridge. It’s performed basically the same way but instead of holding the raised position, you raise and lower your heel.

Do 10 raises per leg per set.

Lunge with Heel Lift

Not only is this a good soleus stretch and exercise, but it also helps you with your balance which is always great.

To do this:

1. Stand straight with your arms behind your head.
2. Do a forward lunge.
3. While in this position, lift your heel up.
4. Go back to the starting position.
5. Do the other leg.
6. Repeat this 10 times for each leg.

A more advanced version of this would have you standing on a platform with an exercise ball in front of you. You would then do a lunge and heel lift with one leg remaining on the platform and the other leg on the exercise ball. Now that builds balance.

Take care of your Soleus

By doing the proper soleus stretch and training, this muscle can help you stay upright. But like any part of your body, know how to listen to it.

If during or right after training you feel discomfort or even pain, this may mean that you need to get more rest. You could be overusing your muscle. At the same time, you may not be doing enough soleus stretch before strenuous activity.

If the pain gets out of hand, go and see a doctor immediately. Catching an injury early can mean less pain and less time on the shelf. So, take care of your soleus and listen to its needs.