Weekend Challenge: Targeted Fall Preventer

Did you know that without the soleus, one of the main calf muscles, you wouldn’t be able to stand up?

This hard-working, behind-the-scenes muscle keeps up a constant pull so you can maintain a standing posture. Otherwise, without the soleus, you’d simply fall forward. And falling is one thing you don’t want to do, especially if you have low bone density!

So keeping the soleus in good shape stabilizes your standing posture, reducing the risk of falls and strengthening the bones in your lower leg. While this is something that applies to everyone who wants to conquer osteoporosis, research tells us that it is of particular importance for women. According to a recent study, a comparatively weaker soleus predisposes middle-aged women to more falls than men.

Let’s get started!

Why:

The soleus gets its name from the Latin word for sandal, solea. It’s a powerful muscle, running from right below the knee to the heel, and its involvement in walking and standing is likely what gave rise to its name. It’s connected to a more visible and more familiar muscle of the lower leg, the the calf muscle or gastrocnemius,. Together, these muscles are referred to as the triceps surae.

As mentioned earlier, the soleus is involved in standing and walking, and it regulates these actions by plantar flexion. This refers to decreasing the angle between the back of the leg and the bottom of the foot, such as pointing your toes or pushing down on a car’s gas pedal. When you walk, you engage in plantar flexion over and over as you step forward.

In a much more subtle action, your feet flex and extend ever so slightly while you’re standing still. It’s almost a rocking motion, but it’s pretty much imperceptible.

Interestingly, the soleus helps pump blood back to the heart, making it one of the “skeletal muscle pumps” found in various places throughout the body. It’s composed mostly of slow-twitch muscle fibers, which are more fatigue-resistant and proficient at endurance than fast-twitch muscle fibers. The latter come into play for quick, powerful actions like sprinting.

This sheds some light on why it’s important to strengthen the soleus. And science provides even more reasons; researchers found a marked difference in the strength of women’s solei compared to men’s. Weaker solei mean a greater need to hone in on this muscle in an attempt to strengthen it.

The study volunteers consisted of a random cross-section of 25 people, 12 women and 13 men. Researchers tested the strength of both muscle groups together – the triceps surae – and just the soleus. Even after researchers normalized plantar flexion strength with body mass, the women’s solei were found to be consistently weaker than the men’s. They found that when the triceps surae was included, the differences in strength “no longer existed between the sexes.”¹ So they concluded that the soleus is the specific muscle that’s weaker in women, predisposing them to falls at an early age.¹

The study authors go on to note “that the soleus muscle should be a focus of strength training for women during middle age.”¹

So exercises like the Targeted Fall Preventer are highly relevant and, fortunately, not complicated – but there are some specifics that should be observed, as you’ll soon read.

Targeting The Soleus

With traditional lower-leg exercises, it’s easy to work the gastrocnemius only and neglect the soleus. To make sure the soleus is getting a good workout, your knees need to be bent, your heels raised in plantar flexion, and the moves need to be done slowly. Since the soleus is a slow-twitch muscle, fast, powerful movements will not engage it.

How:

At first, it’s a good idea to do this exercise near a chair, table, bed, or something stable that you can hold on to if needed.

1. With your feet shoulder-width apart, place your hands on your thighs and bend your knees to achieve a fairly shallow squat. Your knees should be bent at about 45 degrees.
2. Raise your heels up so you’re on your toes. Hold this position for several seconds, and then slowly touch the floor with your heels.
3. Repeat the heel raises 10 to 15 times (or as many times as you comfortably can), keeping your knees bent the entire time.

Balance And Strengthening Exercises Should Be A Part Of Your Osteoporosis Exercise Routine

This weekend’s challenge is quite simple in form, but it’s very effective, especially when practiced regularly. And you’ll have peace of mind knowing that you are being proactive in preventing falls and fractures.

The Targeted Fall Preventer can be performed every day, or you might want to incorporate it into your Densercise™ routine. To do this, simply begin or end your Densercise™ session with this exercise. You’ll be adding to the many other fall-prevention exercises in the Densercise™ Epidensity Training System, and also strengthening the bones in your lower legs.

Please feel free to share exercise tips and other thoughts about this weekend’s topic by leaving a comment below.

References:

¹ Chimera, Nicole J., and Manal, Kurt T. “Sex Differences in Soleus Strength May Predispose Middle Age Women to Falls.” The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 27. 9. (2013): 2596-2602. Web. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Citation/2013/09000/Sex_Differences_in_Soleus_Strength_May_Predispose.30.aspx