Q: What is one of the most neglected body parts in fitness?
A: Your calfs and lower leg. Why? There are many reasons. Here’s the very short answers, followed by a deeper dive:
- (1) It’s your second heart. You have one muscle pump for your blood in your chest (the heart), and the other pump is the muscles in your lower leg.
- (2) It’s the foundation. Literally everything rests on your feet, ankles and calfs. Weakness at the bottom limits everything above it.
- (3) Life saving. Once you hit a certain age, falling becomes the most dangerous thing you can do. The strength and ability of your lower legs have a lot to do with mitigating this risk.
(1) Your Second Heart
The blood in your legs (which is most of it by weight), has a long and difficult vertical road to travel to get back to the heart and lungs. Blood is mostly water, so it is very heavy, and the (venous) blood pressure in your feet and lower legs is very low. Your heart needs the help of your lower leg muscles to keep the cycle going. The heart alone can’t do the job effectively, which is why being completely immobile (International flights, bed rest, etc) can result in DVTs amongst other problems.
Your heart needs the muscles in your lower legs to be strong enough, big enough and coordinated enough to help push the blood back up the long, steep hill.
(2) The Foundation
Every step you take requires absorbing force (muscles on the front of the shin), and producing force (muscles on the back of the calf). Balance is the coordination and endurance of all these muscles twitching to keep you steady by constantly adjusting. When our lower legs can’t absorb force well, then the knees usually pick up the slack (and the knees usually complain about the extra work). When the lower legs can’t push hard enough to move forward, the knees and the lower back usually pick up the slack (and they also complain about the extra work).
You do want to make the thighs and hips strong as well, but you also don’t want to neglect their foundation – the calfs and front of shin muscles. Your calfs can never be too strong for your thighs, but you can get the reverse situation.
(3) Life Saving
On the one hand you need strong bones and muscles everywhere to prevent hip fractures and head trauma if you fall. Everyone trips and falls sometimes, and being strong enough to survive the impact is a big part of living well (vs just existing) until the end. Additionally, having strong, fit and capable lower legs will go a long way to keeping you from falling as often or as catastrophically.
When the muscles in the front of the shin are too weak to pick up the toes, then the toes get caught more easily and tripping (possibly falling) results. Additionally, when you can’t pick up the toes enough most people do “the cowboy shuffle.” The cowboy shuffle is a side to side waddle that slowly moves people forward. Not being able to pick up the feet and toes means you must skate awkwardly side to side to move forward. Our balance is best when our feet are under our center of mass, and when we cowboy shuffle our feet are almost never under our center of mass and we’re nearly always on the verge of falling.
For the muscles on the back of the calf, they should propel you forward, but when they’re too weak to do the job you waddle side to side, and your family holds their breath in terror anytime they see you walk across the room. Your strength and fitness are a blessing you give to your family as well as to yourself.
Bottom Line
Calf raises aren’t just for medieval and colonial men in tights, they’re great for your heart and longevity too. Here’s exercises to get started. Here’s our favorite accessory for training the muscles on the front of your shin. Take care to take care of your second heart.