♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The Two Most Famous Physical Therapists ♪
♪ On The Internet. ♪
- Hi folks, I'm Bob Schrupp, Physical Therapist.
- Brad Heineck, Physical Therapist.
- Together we are the most famous
physical therapists on the internet.
- In our opinion, of course, Bob.
- Well, I wonder what today's video is going to be about?
- Oh, these calf muscles, Bob.
I just start walking and they're so sore,
and I need some help.
- So that's what we're talking about.
Calf pain during or after walking/running.
We're going to show via five quick stretches at home,
remedies to stop it. - Right.
- Or prevent it, really. A lot of this has, you know...
- Exactly. There's some things,
particularly if you just started
a walking or running program,
or you maybe went to a hike in the woods on uneven surfaces,
or started doing some hills on vacation, whatever it may be,
all can be great things to start calf pain, tightness.
And it's no fun to walk then.
- And we'll get into in just a minute,
but if you're new to our channel,
please take a second to subscribe to us.
We provide videos how to stay healthy, fit, pain-free,
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(chuckles)
Also go to bobandbrad.com.
Go to the giveaway section,
because we're always giving something away.
With this week, we're giving away Pete's Choice.
It's the best choice! - Yeah.
- For it's, actually, you can use it for a lot of things.
- Right.
- Brad and I have found out that we're incorporating
into our lives in a lot of different ways.
- I use it more for stuff at home than for therapy.
For balance, et cetera.
But yeah, we'll get into that.
- Yeah, we'll get into it. It's a nice thing.
We don't make any money from this,
but they're just nice people and we like their products.
You can also go to Facebook and it'll be pinned
to the top of the page, the contest that is.
Go to Twitter, Instagram or TikTok,
if you want a 60 second version of our program.
- And now we have a podcast out there
with a number of great programs and interviews
from some really incredibly incredible people.
- Talented people. Unlike us.
(chuckles)
- All here to help you out.
So again, we mentioned that calf pain.
What are you going to do?
First of all, we want to keep the muscle supple.
- Pliable. - Pliable.
So if the muscles tighten up, get knots in it, it's painful.
And we need to make that muscle soft,
like a sponge, so it can...
- If it's tight and not pliable,
you're more likely to get some micro tears or strain it.
- Yes, yup.
- And that happened to my brother.
He must've been around 40 some years old.
Decided he was going to take up running again.
So he goes out running,
the first day he tears his cap off his knee.
- Ahh! - That was it.
No more running.
- Right, so a little warmup in his case, might've been good.
- Yup.
- And that goes for anybody.
Particularly, I think, if the older you get
the more important warmups probably are.
- Yes it does.
- So, you know, in your chair before you get out,
you're getting ready to go,
just do some simple ankle pumps.
But one thing to think about is pulling up
is probably more important than pushing down.
Because that's going to stretch the calf,
the upper dorsiflexion.
So you can go alternate it, go up and down.
You know, 10 to 20 repetitions would be wonderful.
And then do a little stretching of that muscle.
A real simple stretch that anybody can do
is the standard wall stretch.
And the key about the wall stretch is,
look at my foot, don't let it point out to the side.
My hips make, that's comfortable for me,
but I always have to tell myself:
Point it straight forward, lock my knee out, and stretch.
Heels glued to the ground.
Don't let this, you can let this happen, but...
- Yeah, may want to do it both ways.
- Right.
- Do it with the knee straight and with the knee bent.
- Yup, right.
- You're getting different muscles.
You're focusing on different muscles.
- Now you can just hold that and stretch on and off.
You know, if you're a purist, they want you to stretch
for up to 30 seconds to get the true release in the muscle,
if you've got those kinds of patience.
But I always say a little stretching
is better than a lot of none.
- That's right.
- Make sure you do both feet, as well.
There's other options.
Did you want to show your option?
- Well, yeah. There's an option where you can
actually go up against the wall.
Or actually if you picture there's a doorway right here.
But I'm going to make this difficult to show, I think.
Where you can actually go like this
and come forward against the wall.
If there's a doorway here,
I'm going to hold on to this,
you can actually take the other leg
and go through the doorway with it,
and really put some good stress on that.
- Yup, right in there.
And you're not going to do it bare feet.
- [Bob] No, you're gonna use shoes.
- Shoes really help.
So that's great.
Now, if you want to do a little more aggressive,
my favorite thing to do is use an incline board.
It really works well.
It's comfortable and easy to do.
And you just put your foot on there and stretch.
You can buy these, you can make these.
We have a video on how to make an incline board,
if you have somebody handy.
- OPTP has some foam ones that are fantastic.
Two sets of 'em.
- This is one I made in the garage a few years back.
- I actually keep one by my standing desk.
And every once in a while
I'll just stand on it to stretch my calves.
- I just keep it handy by the door.
So when I go out, it's there.
The other thing is, if you've got stairs,
which a lot of people have stairs around,
you can use, you know, if you have a hand rail here,
you hold onto the hand rail.
I'm going to use it for balance, like this,
and let your ankle go off like this and stretch.
- Yeah, I start off, I do this
when I start doing both at the same time.
- Yup, like this?
- Yup. Then I'll go to one
and put the extreme pressure on it.
- Yup, exactly.
You know, and you want to plan
on warming up those calf muscles for a few minutes.
It's just not a 30 second deal.
Just work that into the routine.
- I'm going to skip to this one first, Brad.
- Oh, sure.
- 'Cause then you could show the manual one
and the massage gun at the same time.
So, very simply, I'm going to go like this.
- So now this is not stretching the muscle.
This is where you can do this before you walk or after.
Either before or after the walk.
- So now I'm going to start, same thing here,
is I'm going to put the pressure on both legs
to start off with.
I'm lifting my butt up and my arms up
to put some pressure on the calves.
- So it's squishing the muscle.
If you got some tightness in there,
it's going to help relax that
and break up those trigger points, if you will.
- And you really want to put extra stress on it
as you go with both of them.
Now this doesn't bother me,
'cause I use a foam roller that's lumpy.
And that thing I can feel.
- Yeah. That's a little more aggressive.
This foam roller is actually a softer one, which...
- Yeah, it's nice for some people.
I mean, I really like the aggressive one, to be honest.
- If you're starting out new, or they're pretty tender,
you want a softer roller.
If you don't have one of these,
this is one thing I don't know,
have any options for anything laying around the house
to substitute a foam roller.
I've tried. (chuckles)
- Yeah, I don't think you'd take a coffee can
or something like that, it'd just collapse.
- I've tried something like a piece of PVC pipe.
It's too hard. For me, it's way too aggressive.
- Is it really?
- Yup. And plus they slip around.
It's not a very good thing.
I do like the foam roller.
So you want to spend a minute or two on each calf,
doing what Bob just did.
That's a good way to, especially after the walk, I think.
But the other thing is you can simply massage those muscles.
- Yup, work on 'em.
- Get in there and do a manual massage.
And this usually feels good.
The only thing about doing this, you know,
you should do it for a few minutes,
but your fingers typically wear out.
- Right.
- And you'll find, if you find a tender spot,
like my calves are usually on the outside
I have a tight spot and I feel it's tight
and it's tender both at the same time.
So I'll work on that with my thumbs or my fingers.
- You go across the fibers, the fibers run this way,
and he's going across the fibers.
And deep, I mean, he's not just moving the surface around,
he's moving his fingers deep into there.
- You're getting to that muscle tissue,
the muscle belly, loosening it up.
And then plus you're getting circulation,
getting that old blood out from the exercise
and getting some fresh blood in.
It helps healing and it feels good.
You'll know you're doing the right thing,
'cause it feels good afterwards.
- I actually do it before I run.
- You do?
- It just, it really prepares.
My calves have really been sore lately.
So I've been working them a lot.
Well I've been doing more standing at a standing desk.
And so they've gotten more sore.
So every morning I've been using,
this is exactly the massage gun I use, actually.
It's a smaller one that we sell, but it's really powerful.
- It is, it's really good.
- And it really can get good leverage on it.
I'm gonna pull my pant leg up,
'cause this is black on black otherwise.
- Show a little leg, Bob!
- Yeah, there's nothing to see here.
But I go back and forth.
And it actually doesn't feel too bad right now,
because I've already worked it this morning.
And you got one of our traditional massagers, there.
- Yeah. This one's a little bigger.
It's got a little more travel on it,
so it's a little more aggressive.
But the nice thing about this,
'cause this is the one I have at home,
my calf doesn't tolerate it very well
in that spot I was telling you,
so I turn the gun sideways, and then I can still
get a really good massage without so much pain.
And after I work it for a minute or so,
it loosens up and it feels better.
And these massage guns, you know,
you certainly don't need one, but if you do want one,
I have a feeling you're gonna find it very useful.
Not just on your calves,
but you're going to use it on a number of places.
- So I was surprised Brad.
We gave one to my mother-in-law.
I hope she's not watching this, but she's a sweet lady.
But sometimes she doesn't like gifts we give her.
She took one of our handheld massagers,
and Linda called her the other night,
"Oh my gosh, I'm using it on my feet."
- Oh, you did good?
- Yeah, I did good. She loves it, it's her best friend.
- Chalk one up.
- Yeah. So I don't think you can go wrong
on Mother's Day to get one of these.
- Now you give her a gun, or was it... ?
- I gave her the handheld.
- Yeah, this one would actually be a good one for the calf.
Especially if you're an older person.
- And for the feet.
- Yup. Oh yeah.
- That's where she loves it, is the bottom of her feet.
- And these are actually the cheapest
of all of these, typically.
- 39 bucks.
- Yeah, and it's built well, we like it.
- We're going to give away some of these.
- Oh, excellent.
- For Mother's Day, we're going to go around
and find mothers and giveaway some massagers.
- Oh, good. You can't go wrong with that.
You can't go wrong with a massage gun.
- Putting good into the world,
that's what we're going to do, Brad.
All right... - I really think...
Go ahead, Bob.
- Well, I was going to finish, wrap it up.
- Well, so am I.
You know, but I want to keep on doing this
even after the video.
But if only these could work for, you know,
our big challenge.
- Oh yeah. We can fix just about anything...
- Except for...
- Broken heart.
But you don't want to use that heart, to be honest with you.
- No, no, but that's too bad.
If it worked, somehow, on it.
I must have some dead skin,
I'm turning this black ball kinda white.
- Oh my God!
- My goodness. (laughs)
- Thanks for watching.