Running and jogging are forms of exercise that greatly accelerate your breathing and heart rates and give you a vigorous aerobic workout. They also place considerable strain on your lower body and back. In some cases, runners and joggers develop constant pain or soreness in their calf muscles.
Basics
Your calf contains two muscles: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The gastrocnemius forms the part of your calf you can easily grasp with your hand, while the smaller soleus sits further down your calf beneath part of the gastrocnemius. The upper end of your gastrocnemius extends past your knee joint and attaches to your femur, while the lower end is attached to your heel by your Achilles tendon. Your soleus starts below your knee and also ends at your Achilles tendon. Both of your calf muscles help you rotate your foot away from your body; your gastrocnemius also helps you bend your knee.
Calf Strain
Constant soreness in your calf may be the result of a strain, also called a tear, in your gastrocnemius or soleus muscles. In addition to running and jogging, other exercises or activities that can provoke a calf strain include racquet sports, repetitive jumping and walking frequently over uneven terrain. Potential underlying causes of a calf strain include dehydration, poor warm-up and cool-down routines, overuse of your muscles, lunging forward repeatedly, rapidly increasing the amount you run or jog, and regularly running or jogging in hilly terrain. A relatively minor strain in your calf produces a dull, ongoing ache, while a severe strain can produce intense, debilitating pain.
Stride Problems
When you run, jog or participate in exercises or activities that feature running or jogging, you repetitively rise up onto your toes as you stride forward. Over time, this repetitive rising motion can trigger both pain and tightness in the large muscles in the back of your thigh. In turn, problems with your thigh muscles can trigger pain and tightness in your gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. In addition to directly causing discomfort, tightness in your calf muscles can cause you to overpronate, or turn your foot inward, when you run or jog. Overpronation can place harmful stress on your knee, hip, spine, shin and Achilles tendon.
Additional Causes and Considerations
Runners, joggers and other exercisers and athletes with calf strains sometimes ignore their symptoms and try to keep up their normal routines. Over time, this typically leads to a worsening of pain. In relatively rare cases, ongoing soreness in your calf may also be the result of a condition called compartment syndrome, which occurs when your calf muscles grow too big for the connective tissue, or fascia, that surrounds them. If you develop constant calf soreness, consult your doctor for a proper diagnosis and an explanation of appropriate treatment options.
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