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AR15.COM
7/16/2008 7:14:50 AM EDT
Ok, this is going to sound like a really weird question, but what do you do to strengthen just one leg?

Story behind this is I was born with a club foot and essentially no heel, many surgeries later and a few years in a cast and my foot straightened out properly and I have about 80-90% mobility. Problem is my right foot is weaker than my left and my right calf is noticably smaller than my left. It has been this way my whole life but now that I am exercising more and in a more physically demanding job I would really like to have similar sized calf muscles lol.

Any suggestions for ways to strengthen just the right calf?
7/16/2008 10:35:29 AM EDT
[#1]
One legged standing calf raises.
7/16/2008 11:08:01 AM EDT
[#2]
Or go to the gym and just spend more time working that one leg on the various machines than the other.


CJ


7/16/2008 12:53:16 PM EDT
[#3]

Quoted:
One legged standing calf raises.


Why not just do 2 legged and see if the smaller leg catches up.  It should be working harder than the stronger leg.
7/16/2008 1:13:51 PM EDT
[#4]
I would suggest doing regular squats (done correctly!) and let the smaller one catch up.
7/16/2008 6:12:37 PM EDT
[#5]
I would think that with most standing calf machines the stronger leg would compensate for the weaker. But of course I could and probably am wrong.  

7/17/2008 8:16:00 AM EDT
[#6]
I would approach the problem like this


Try to find a stairmaster or if you can't find one of those, a stadium would work fine.  Walk/run stairs for about 20 min. 3 times per week.  Along with this, I would add in some squats and deadliftsonce per week.  Both work the calves.  The last thing I would do, is calf raises.  Calf raises are about like doing preacher curls.  There is no functional training going on.  
7/17/2008 1:59:08 PM EDT
[#7]
I have been working both legs for the last 7 months with the strong one getting stronger and more defined while the weaker one has more or less stayed the same, gotten more defined but not much larger.
7/18/2008 8:36:58 AM EDT
[#8]

Quoted:
I would approach the problem like this


Try to find a stairmaster or if you can't find one of those, a stadium would work fine.  Walk/run stairs for about 20 min. 3 times per week. Along with this, I would add in some squats and deadliftsonce per week.  Both work the calves.  The last thing I would do, is calf raises.  Calf raises are about like doing preacher curls.  There is no functional training going on.  


That or even jumping rope with the same frequency.  Up and down, on and off the balls of your feet like that are an explosive, functional version of a not-so-functional, seated, weighted, calf-raise.
7/18/2008 12:12:05 PM EDT
[#9]
I forgot about jumping rope .  I was a wrestler in high school, so I try to forget about jumping rope .