Don’t Neglect Your Calves - And I’m Not Talking Baby Cows

Before I start I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support for my car wreck. I still feel like a complete idiot. I’m hoping the email I sent out will stop someone else from being an idiot as well. It has been freeing not being able to access social media on my phone anymore.

On to calves. Your calf muscle is the muscle that runs from just below the back of your knee to your ankle.

Not exactly the muscle most people flex when they’re looking at themselves in the mirror. Or post on social media.

Even though it’s not a beach muscle, it’s worth paying attention to your calves. There are several studies that link lower leg circumference to dementia. One study found that the strongest 10% of people in general had a 70% lower risk of dementia.

The link to dementia is important. There are two main calf muscles - the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The gastrocnemius is the larger, rounded muscle. It helps with ankle and foot movement. The soleus helps with ankle stability. Both muscles help the knee bend.

The soleus muscle also helps pump blood flow from the leg back to the heart and brain. Smaller calves can lower blood pressure and contribute to less oxygen to the brain. There’s even some studies that show you can raise your diastolic blood pressure by stimulating the soleus muscle on a daily basis. Over several months the study showed an improvement in cognitive impairment.

There’s a reason they call your calves a ‘second heart’. Strong calves can really help circulate blood throughout your body and reduce the risk for blood clotting.

To strengthen your calves, you can do as simple an exercise as walking. If you want to add more strength to them, you can try exercises like calf raises.

Calf raises can be done anywhere. Standing on your tiptoes and then coming back on the ground works anywhere, anytime. You don’t even need to be standing. Sitting in a chair and raising your heels up as high as they will go works as well.

Ever thought of trying a jump rope again? Great. Because jumping rope is a great way to work out your calf muscles.

One thing that doesn’t help your calf muscles is being sedentary. Sitting around watching Netflix all day are going to help those calf muscles shrink. For the elderly too much sitting and calf-shrinking can also lead to (besides dementia):

• Cardiovascular issues

• Varicose veins

• Frailty

• Increase fall risks

So keep those calves pumping. The more muscle you have all over your body, the healthier you will feel. That doesn’t mean you have to be a body builder at any age. It just means do something more than sitting at a computer desk all day.

Get up and get moving. Your calves will help you do so.