Last week I had the pleasure of going to a lecture presented by the GB Triathlon Physio, Oli Williamson.
He shared some great tips about injury prevention and training for running.
Seeing as most Sports and Physical Training involve running I thought this information would be useful.
Soleus is King when it comes to running.
Oli quoted a paper from 2013 that is just as relevant today as it ever was.
The paper from the Journal of Bio-mechanics can be accessed on the link below:
Soleus provides the greatest upward mass centre acceleration at all running speeds;
Soleus generates a peak upward acceleration of 19.8 m/s2
(i.e., the equivalent of approximately 2.0 bodyweights of ground reaction force) at 5.0 m/s.
Soleus also provided the greatest contribution to forward mass centre acceleration, which increased from 2.5 m/s2 at 2.0 m/s to 4.0 m/s2 at 5.0 m/s.
Soleus was the largest contributor to upward mass center acceleration with a peak contribution at 5.0 m/s that was 77% of total peak upward acceleration.
The large upward mass center acceleration from soleus arose because the muscle force produced a large vertical ground reaction force of approximately 2 bodyweights.
Peak contributions from soleus to upward mass center acceleration increased by 5.7 m/s2 across running speeds.
So what does this mean?
Quite simply, you need to start isolation training of the Soleus, which is shown in the video above.
Exercises such as bent-knee calf raises,
plyometric drills such as Box jumps (Concentric muscle action) and Landing from the box (Eccentric muscle action).
In addition, the Sled Push is a great functional way to work Soleus as you go from isolation into integration.
Injury is the enemy,
Bulletproof your Soleus
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJlVKoFAZo0
