Trainers for tight calves/hamstrings

[pancakes222]

Are there any features to look for in trainers that help with tight hamstrings/calf pain for a novice runner? Thank you

Are you doing stretching exercises to loosen up your muscles?

If you have tight hamstrings and calf pain, I'd probably stop running for now, sort out the pain, then resume.

Yes I do and tried podiatry and chiropractors etc but to be honest it has gone on for years so I just wondered if any features on trainers may help but I'm a bit clueless when it talks about all the different arch supports etc as to what to look for. Don't have much to spend so hoping to know what feature to try and then shop around

Hmm, you might be better going to a specialist running shop and asking them for advice. Otherwise I'd just go for the most comfortable, supportive trainers I could find. Good luck!

In all honestly it's likely nothing to do with the trainers, it's to do with muscle imbalance. I'd suggest a session or two with a physiotherapist; they will be able to give you some exercises to strengthen either the quads or the hams; that'll be what's causing the tightness, as it's often a disproportionate pull through the knee joint/tendon. You might also have a slight postural issue which is causing you to overly favour a certain kind of foot strike when you run. New trainers won't help, not until you've sorted what the issue is.