Your Achilles tendon connects your calf muscle to your heel. Acting like a spring, it absorbs and releases energy, enabling activities like running, jumping, and walking. Unfortunately, this tendon can become "angry" or develop tendinopathy due to overuse.

Why?

Tendons have a limit on the load they can handle. When this limit is exceeded, a tendinopathy develops. Stress and poor recovery can also exacerbate the issue. 

What does it feel like?

• Tenderness, especially in the insertional or mid-portion of the Achilles

• Pain after periods of inactivity, like first thing in the morning

• Feeling better after warming up with movement

• Weakness in the ankle due to improper tendon function

• A history of overloading or poor recovery

Why are running and jumping implicated?

Running and jumping involve repetitive, rapid stretch-shortening cycles.

Running places 5-7x your body weight in load on your tendons, stressing the already aggravated tendon.

What can you do?

• Seek professional advice from a physio or sports podiatrist for a proper diagnosis and treatment plan.

• Offload the tendon and correct training errors.

• Use the Goldilocks principle for loading: not too little, not too much, but just right.

• Promote blood flow with heavy and slow movements and isometrics.

• Address any weaknesses throughout the body to reduce ankle overload.

• Retrain the tendon to work efficiently for fast, spring-like movements.

Struggling to offload it?

Consult your physio or sports podiatrist.

Consider heel lifts, especially for insertional tendinopathy.

Check your shoes; make sure they’re not too tight.

Topical anti-inflammatories can help with pain (consult your pharmacist).

For chronic cases, shockwave therapy might be an option (discuss with your physio or podiatrist).

Check out our Instagram for some of our favourite calf-loading exercises @reforgephysio