I have a unique related problem. My left leg calf muscle is almost an inch smaller than my right calf muscle. I just noticed it this year. Felt so weird. Why would there be imbalance in calf muscle growth to such an extreme degree. Then I tried to do a single leg calf raise on the left leg and couldn't do it. I still can't do it after 6-7 months. I must admit I am not training the left calf muscle at all, just the usual running and some sporadic squats.
This could have something to do with motor neurons not firing or something I don't know. I went to a physical therapist who suggested some calf and toe stretches and it seemed ridiculous to me. Like why would I exercise a muscle or a bunch of bones that is not functioning as expected, wouldn't that exacerbate the problem ? He didn't give a convincing answer but this paper makes me think he was spot on.
Isolating and exercising the calf muscles could probably help fire those neurons I don't know.I should do some more study on this. It's not debilitating now but I don't know what will be the impact on my balance 20-30 years from now. I am 47.
I have the same thing, the PT is right. Activating your big toe kicks off a chain of biomechanics up to your hip muscles (glutes) and will correct your gait and muscles that are not firing if you work on it consciously. I still deal with it when I forget the problem went away and sit in my computer chair all day leaning on one side not using my other calf.
Awareness is key and conscious work will activate it over time.
Maybe totally unrelated, but I had a PT say people that run or walk on the side of a road experience these kinds of asymmetries.
The side of many roads is graded slightly to drain, and if you have a habit of always walking on, say, the right in N. America to go with traffic, you're consistently training asymmetrically without realizing it.
Do you spend a lot of time driving an automatic transmission? After putting 150,000 miles on my car, I'm kind of surprised I don't have more asymmetry in my legs.
More likely you favor one leg when exercising, which is common and needs to be adjusted for. Asymmetric atrophy creates a feedback loop which exacerbates the atrophy.
This could have something to do with motor neurons not firing or something I don't know. I went to a physical therapist who suggested some calf and toe stretches and it seemed ridiculous to me. Like why would I exercise a muscle or a bunch of bones that is not functioning as expected, wouldn't that exacerbate the problem ? He didn't give a convincing answer but this paper makes me think he was spot on.
Isolating and exercising the calf muscles could probably help fire those neurons I don't know.I should do some more study on this. It's not debilitating now but I don't know what will be the impact on my balance 20-30 years from now. I am 47.