Hurting calf muscles

A snowHead

I had an hour's lesson with Euan at Xscape on Saturday. He asked me what I wanted to work on and I said posture. I'm very bad at skiing with my hips forward, it's not a stance that's ingrained in my memory and I really have to work at remembering, so we practised that for an hour.

And now my calf muscles are very tight and sore (I had trouble putting my heels on the floor this morning and was walking round on tiptoes!), my legs must be pretty unfit Sad

So, tips and exercises to strengthen them are required please.

A snowHead

Do calf stretches. both straight and bent legged for 30 seconds each leg, every day.

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RachelQ, IME this is down to having your toes not relaxed in the ski boots while you are doing the drills. It is very hard when you are trying to do something unfamiliar - you tend to tense up your toes inside your boots. I do it the first time I get onto variable/steeps after skiing in a fridge all summer. I don't think you're unfit, you were just doing isometric contractions of your toes for the whole lesson!

DO stretch, and next time try and relax your toes - a good tip is trying to lift them off the base of your boots if you are having trouble relaxing.

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Kramer, how do you do a bent legged calf stretch?

docsquid, hmm, interesting. I might well have been tensing my toes although I wasn't aware of it, I was concentrating so hard on my core position.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

RachelQ, A good rub down with some horse liniment from a big hairy Northerner wink

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RachelQ, one leg in front of the other and bend the rear leg knee towards the floor, keeping the foot flat on the floor.

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RachelQ, have a look on [b]CEM]/b]'s site - he has the exercises in a PDF somewhere. I swear by them in the winter - if I go up the mountain without having done them, I really notice it with exactly the same symptoms as you

How was Turkey btw?

After all it is free

Frosty the Snowman, yeah, that would do it Laughing

I just tried that and can't do it, it hurts too much.

eng_ch thanks, I remember reading about CEM's exercises somewhere, I must go and have a look. Turkey was heaven, thank you. Very Happy

RachelQ, the exercises are also worth doing carefully as a warm down at the end of the day btw

Lucky you - Croatia was brill but brass monkeys

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RachelQ, it is really easy to tense your toes and not realise!

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RachelQ, Massage those muscles with Red Tiger Balm, also use Homeopathic remedies, Rhus Tox and Arnica

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RachelQ, I've probably already mentioned it before, but I do a lot of stretching in the shower every morning. Warm water on the bit you're stretching helps a lot. Uses a lot of water, mind you. It suggests to me that you actually succeeded in flexing your ankles and moving your hips forward more, as your calves have stiffened. I think lots of female skiers don't flex their ankles enough because their calves are tight. It gives them problems and consequently they stop doing it! Shocked

HiRachelQ,

Although my comments may not be relevant to your own needs, they may prove useful to others.

I recall that top clips on boots being cranked up too tight and learning to flex at the ankles can be a painful combination. The calf muscles must have to space to expand and contract and have nowhere to go if the upper boot cuff is too tight.

It happened to me quite a lot in the past: including the walking around on tip toes bit. Cramp was fierce and unrelenting.

I agree with the stretching mentioned but believe stretching should only be done with the musles warmed up and not cold.

easiski, Great idea for warming and stretching. My method is a little less eco friendly though as I tend to wallow in a hot bath. (Uses much more water.)

I am now a great believer in the use of a flexible powerstrap, custom footbeds and liners.

Some time ago, With the guidance of an experienced race coach, I started to explore the use of flexible power straps as opposed to fixed straps. This allowed me to keep the upper cuff buckles on a lower lension while maintaining full contact with the boot through the flexible power strap. Skiing improved through improved control of and ankle flexion without the worry of calf cramp.

My skiing was not improved overnight, but the way ahead was cleared by the lack of cramping calf muscles caused by a solidly clamped upper boot cuff.

For anyone wishing to explore changes to their boot setup, I would advise that they first seek the advice of an experienced coach as power straps come in varying strengths; and boots vary in stiffness.

You know it makes sense.

Right! Thanks all - non-stop calf stretching till Christmas it is then. Although not until the pain has calmed down! I think I've always flexed my ankles, but bent too much at ze knees, because that was all my first ski instructor ever said to me, in a strong Austrian accent: bend ze knees and follow me Very Happy

And after that I didn't have any lessons for hundreds of years Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

RachelQ, youngster Laughing

A snowHead

RachelQ, they are on here www.solutions4feet.com/cp7.php

A snowHead

Snowshark, IME* most coaches have a limited amount of knowledge of ski boots ...might i suggest a bootfitter

* so far this season i have had 3 instructors and 2 'coaches' in to have footbeds built/ fittting work done... all were in boots they bought on the BASI deal and similar instructor deals...of the 6, 3 were 2 sizes too big, 2 were 1 size too big and one was 3 sizes bigger than he measured...... all used the this is what i normally buy or it is the same size as my shoes excuse. rolling eyes

so please don't tell me they all know their kit Laughing

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

CEM,

Comments noted: I would never suggest that instructors and coaches all know their kit. Much the same as boot fitters don't generally get to observe their clients skiing. However, coaches and instructors should look at the use of kit. If everything else is in place, maybe the kit is wrong. Boots for example. eg: Incorrect sizes, innappropriate type versus ability. or even boot and ski combination.

My boots are now custom fitted. But the use of powerstrap and judicious use of the upper cuff buckles came after the observations of a coach. (Not an instructor or bootfitter).

As for the BASI deal: I can't comment. I won't buy boots by mail order.

I get boots after trying on as many pairs as are suitable for my feet - under the guidance of a bootfitter. After the subsequent footbeds, custom liners and shell customisations, I'm not sure there is anything else I can have done to my boots. The rest came from the coach and the flexible powerstraps. For me it worked and as a minor by product, opened up th the way for improved skiing.

Many people mistakenly believe that to become a good skier they need to have their boot buckles cranked up as tight as possible which I'm sure you will agree can hinder their development and enjoyment of the sport. They are also often sold boots beyond their needs and abilities.

Salesmen, boot fitters, instructors, coaches, trainers, forums all have a place but are not all perfect.

Incidentally, the website you mention in your signature has already been recomended (to me) as a possible alternative fitter. But at this time my boots and the use of my boots is just fine. The experiences I related earlier are now somewhat dated but nevertheless (IMHO) relevant.

Kind regards Very Happy

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RachelQ, My calf muscles felt the same by 3am Sunday morning Shocked

Unfortunatly I was at work but could at least keep the muscles moving rolling eyes

I have found Deep Heat then stretching helpded then went to the gym and did some very gentle excercise yesterday.
So glad you feel this way and it wasnt just me Laughing

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Snowshark, got to agree with the coaches over instructors with regards to set up, the best of the 6 were the coaches...but what makes me laugh is the fact that these guys get this deal...end up with the wrong boots then either have to change them or live with them.... they then go to a boot fitter and pay to have them fitted....why don't they [assuming they do not have perfect feet for X boot and have X boot] just buy the boot ang get the fitting done inc the price?????

go on spill the beans who are you? do i know you.... PM me if you don't want to admit it in public wink

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Rachel one of the best thing is put your back against the wall and adopt a sitting down position. So you effectively sitting down in mid air, this will strengthen your quads and calf muscles. Also consider doing some muscle resitance training for your lower body at the gym, it might seem obvious but this will make this will in a few weeks make a world of difference. Especially calf raises and leg extensions just keep up the weights per session. Even if you manage only one rep at a highher setting your calfs will be strengthened. Once you have done this then consider maybe doing some work at a ski school. It is possible that a poor level of resistance is triggering the aches and pains your feeling. It has worked for me for a considerable number of years. But make sure that you have recovered from this, sounds to me like you have pulled a muscle or two quite severly. Puzzled

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I tend to do my next to top buckle on its tightest setting (for control, but otherwise my toes can hit the ends of my boots if my weight accidentally goes back) and my top buckle on its loosest setting, so I can absorb more of the changing forces with my knees while keeping my weight over the middle of the foot. The idea of an elastic power strap is interesting - though I haven't noticed any great problem doing things the way I do now, I can see it might give a greater feeling of control.

PS, I hardly ever look in the "bend ze knees" section so my comment is probably crass - I'm afraid I don't think about or work on my technique much - I just enjoy myself.

After all it is free

my calves are always sore and very sore when doing lots of backwards snow ploughs ..and although i am stretching more i am defo losing range of movment Crying or Very sad

could just be getting older.

The powerstrap tip is a good one.

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Snowshark, I spend so long stretching in the shower in the morning that I use more water than a bathfull! Shocked

Hot baths are for nice evening relax and warm up after a freezing day on the mountain. Very Happy

I should mention for those of you who don't know Rachel Q that she's a very good skier, top sailor and pretty fit lady, so she is just a talking about a calf thing.

CEM, I'm astonished that your instructors and coaches are such idiots! Anyone who would just buy boots mail order can't be giving their clients good information can they? Shocked

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easiski, how kind Blush

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GrahamN, You're a feeder???... run, Rach, before you end up 46 stone Laughing

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

If I were a gold standard skier, as snowball has mentioned that he is, I probably wouldn't be worrying about my technique either.

A snowHead

Hurtle, is there a chart of these standards somewhere?

A snowHead

comprex, many ski schools seem to have standards charts of one sort or another, but it's the Ski Club of Great Britain that refer to gold, silver, purple etc. The definitions are on their website. Or is this a loaded question of which I've missed the point? Again. Laughing

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Hurtle, as I'm not a member I honestly have no idea what is meant by it, and I'm truly no wiser now.

Loaded no, but now that you mention hidden meanings shouldn't terms like 'gold standard' in fact be in the glossary of skiing terms if they are used on this site?

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comprex, God no, it would lead into one of those interminable arguments about what 'intermediate' means, again! 'course, we could essay a definition of the Ski Club of Great Britain. wink

Oops, sorry, terrible thread creep.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

comprex, The SCGB run holidays and do tests - been doing it for yonks. However I wonder about the gold standard (many years ago I passed most of this test), because you're supposed to be able to do fluent, short radius turns in breakable crust - I'm ISTD and I don't think I could do that!! Of course they might not mean 'real' breakable crust .... I believe the definitions are on their website somewhere, and certainly have been put up on SH before, but I can't remember where or why! Sorry not to be more help.

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comprex, accidentally put the SCGB definitions on the Glossary thread.
But you really have to see on the snow how they apply it - the definition only gets you so far. The definitions as written up for the Gold tests (4 sections, each taking most of half a day- piste, powder, variable snow, plus the race.) are obviously more specific. However they have stopped doing the tests now because it was too hard to find 2 gold judges on the rare occasion when people wanted to do the test. (The bronze and silver can be done by any Rep.) It remains as a subjective assessment handed out on Ski Club holidays etc.
But yes, they do mean real breakable crust - done at a good speed - but they don't specify short radius turns.

I'm still gold standard except, probably, on the bumps which I practiced for a couple of days before the test and have hardly skied since. I'd certainly need some practice to pass the race again too. I failed that the first time.
I'm not the sort of person who normally goes in for things like that, but there was a SKi Club holiday I did regularly (now ended)which made a feature of it - and if everyone else is doing it you tend to go along with the others. Then when I had 3 sections I obviously wanted the remaining one.

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RachelQ,

Wear higher heels... wink

After all it is free

pam w, Don't care..higher heels are good, IMV Laughing

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JT,

of course, that's the answer. Why ever didn't I think of that

Help!!

Hurting calf muscles

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