Muscles tighten up when running

Vain

Hi guys, im doing couch to 5k for the last few weeks, but the last 2 weeks or so my muscles tighten up in my calves and front of legs, I stretch every time before I leave the house and do a 5min warm up walk.

But once I get going running they are very tight, they start to loosen out over time but when im on my interval walks they tighten up again nearly straight away.

I tried stretching when they tighten up but doesnt seem to help.

Any ideas?

RoyMcC

A minute or two working some massage oil into the calves beforehand works wonders.

Clearlier

It sounds like you need to work on your muscle lengths although given that you're not long running it could be just that your muscles haven't adapted to what you're asking them to do yet. If you think that it's muscle length then read on...

When it comes to stretching I've found that everybody is an experiment of one. With that in mind I'll tell you what I (as an extremely inflexible runner) do.

Static stretching for me is done as a separate session all on its own. Static stretching before running is currently considered to be a bad idea although there's some evidence that dynamic stretches focusing on range of movement are a good idea. All the people that I know find easy walking or jogging as a good way to prepare for a run though without the need for any dynamic stretching.

I do my stretching session first thing in the morning and provided I don't slump in front of the computer for several hours I'll usually be relatively loose for the rest of the day.

I warm up for 10 mins on the treadmill. I've found that 8 is usually enough for me but 10 makes sure. I will be starting to sweat as my body's core temperature rises.

I then move on to stretching - you want to be in a comfortable environment, cold is bad, warm is good.
The main areas that I focus on are calves (both muscles), hips (critical area that is often overlooked by runners), hamstrings and thighs. I also do some upper body stretching to try and keep my thoracic spine mobile.

I hold each stretch for a min of 90seconds and sometimes up to 3 mins. I usually feel a little bit of give about every 40 seconds. I'm putting some effort into the stretches but not too much because I find that my muscles contract if I push too hard.

If you can set yourself some targets then you'll be able to measure your progression over time. For example there's the knee to wall test where you measure how far away from the wall your can put your front while still being able to keep it flat on the floor and have your knee touching the wall. My physio does 18 cms, I started at 8cms and have moved on to 10cms and 11cms with a target of 15.

That's a bit of a rambling response but I hope it helps a little. The long and the short is that you have to work at flexibility if you want to improve it.

dahat

Buy a foam roller and use it every day........works wonders