Massaging and rolling the tight and strong parts of the muscles with a foam roller is indeed one of the main ways to effectively improve muscle shape, and this method combined with stretching must be adhered to for a long time to be effective.

However, you cannot just rely on the foam roller to change the shape of the calf muscles. You must first find out the reason for the block muscles in the calf, and try to avoid this kind of shape in your daily life, and then match it. Stretching and massaging rolling methods will be more effective.

The main muscles in the calf are gastrocnemius and soleus. The starting point of the gastrocnemius muscle is above the knee. If the shape of this muscle is too developed, it will appear wider. Actions that stimulate the gastrocnemius muscle are common in long legs. Time standing, standing movements, etc.;

In contrast, the starting point of the soleus muscle is below the knee. The shape of this part of the muscle is closer to slender. Most of the common movements that stimulate the soleus muscle are It is an action that requires the knees to be bent. However, this posture is difficult to see in daily life. Therefore, the reason why the calves are too thick is probably due to the fact that in daily life, there are too many actions that stimulate the gastrocnemius muscle and too little training of the soleus muscle. As a result, the "block"-shaped muscles become more and more obvious, the "slender" muscles cannot be exercised, and the muscle proportions become more and more uncoordinated.

1. Reduce excessive movements that stimulate the gastrocnemius muscle, and combine stretching, massage and other methods;

2. Strengthen the training of the soleus muscle and coordinate the overall muscle proportions;

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Seated calf raise

Sit on a dumbbell bench or other stool, keep your torso straight and tighten your abdominal core;

Lift your toes hard and keep your knees bent. Hold at the top for 1-2 seconds and then slowly return to the starting position.

3. When walking or exercising, pay attention to tightening the core of the abdomen. This can share the excessive force on the legs and avoid placing too much burden on the parts below the knees.

You can lose weight, this personal test is effective! The main muscles of our calves are the gastrocnemius and soleus. The gastrocnemius is a ball-shaped muscle that mainly determines the shape of our calves. The soleus muscle is long and flat, which can visually lengthen the leg shape.

The reason why our legs appear thick is because the gastrocnemius muscle is thicker than the soleus muscle. The ultimate secret to slimming down your calves is to make the gastrocnemius muscles less developed.

You can use a foam roller to perform very effective self-massage. The main principle is:

Use the foam roller to apply your own body weight on specific muscle groups to effectively massage deep tissues. Massage is very effective in relaxing tight muscles and fascia. The effect is much better than stretching. It can stimulate and massage muscles and fascia that cannot be touched by ordinary stretching, thereby achieving the effect of slimming legs.

Foam rollers release myofascial and muscle trigger points.

The foam roller is mainly used as a tool for relaxation. Unlike stretching, the foam roller relaxes myofascia.

Myofascia is a regular mesh-like membrane that wraps around muscles. Repeated muscle movements or isometric contractions will tighten the myofascia and disrupt this regular arrangement. It may even cause adhesions, causing muscle tension and pain.

Normal myofascia is arranged regularly and has high elasticity

Problematic myofascia is chaotic, adhesions, and binds muscles causing pain

Trigger points can Think of it as a gathering point of muscle fibers. The normal arrangement of muscle fibers is very regular. Only when there is a problem, the muscle fibers will be intertwined to form a muscle node. It will be particularly painful to relax this point with a foam roller. And this pain point is also one of the causes of various chronic pains. We can use a foam roller to loosen this knot.

As the most frequently used muscles, the calf muscle group is most prone to myofascial tension and trigger points.

Relaxing myofascia can give muscles more space to grow and prevent the occurrence of some chronic pain. For people who have not relaxed for a long time, it can also relieve fatigue swelling of muscles.

The foam roller has a similar effect on muscle relaxation compared to ordinary massage, but compared to fascia, the foam roller relaxes better.

Fascia is a protective film that wraps muscles. After exercise, muscles and fascia will be tense. The tense fascia wraps the muscles, and the muscles are like wearing a tight suit. , unable to relax. The foam roller wraps the muscles over a large area of ??the body. The muscles are like wearing a layer of tights and cannot relax. The foam roller presses and rolls over a large area of ??the body. Pressing and rolling can tighten the muscles and tendons. The membrane reaches relaxation at the same time. Muscles and fascia can be relaxed at the same time.

After using a foam roller and stretching your calves, if you stick to it for a long time, your calves will really become thinner. I personally have thick legs. In the past month, I have been doing hiit for 30 minutes a day, jogging for 30 minutes, and then foam rolling + stretching. My calf circumference has been reduced from 34 to 32, and my thigh circumference has been reduced from 54 to 52. Although it is only a small 2 centimeters, but it’s a big step for me. I believe you can do it too. Let’s work hard together!

Foam rollers also need to be used correctly:

1. Straighten the body

2. Relax the ankles to ensure that the target muscles are soft

3. Push up and down with your shoulders and elbows, and do not lift or bend your hips

4. Try to keep the center of gravity on the target muscles