Achilles Tendon Pain: Causes and 3 Essential Exercises

That nagging morning pain behind your heel isn’t stiffness — it’s your Achilles tendon, and these are the 3 key exercises to save it.

• Morning pain is the first red flag of Achilles tendinopathy — don’t ignore it.
• The cause is almost always overload: too much, too soon, or with poor technique/wrong shoes.
• Tight calves are the main suspects, constantly pulling on the tendon.
• Exercise 1: Eccentric Heel Drops are the cornerstone of tendon restructuring (the slow lowering phase).
• Exercise 2: Calf stretching (straight leg) and soleus stretching (bent leg) are crucial.
• Exercise 3: Foam rolling the calf (never the inflamed tendon!) to ease muscle tension.

That Morning Heel Pain? Your Achilles Is Asking for Help

There’s a morning ritual many runners know all too well — and no, it’s not the pre-run breakfast. It’s that moment you take your first step out of bed and a sharp, stabbing pain shoots through the lower ankle, right above the heel.

It hurts. You hobble a few steps to the bathroom, and then — like magic — it eases. It turns into a dull ache, something you can tolerate. And being a stubborn runner, you think: “It’s just stiffness. It’ll pass.”

Newsflash: it’s not stiffness. It’s your Achilles tendon begging you to stop what you’re doing.

The Achilles tendon is the biggest and strongest tendon in the human body. It connects the calf muscles to the heel bone (calcaneus) and is your main engine for propulsion. It’s built to handle massive loads. The problem? We runners are specialists at overloading it — often without warning.

When that morning pain shows up, your tendon isn’t (yet) torn, but it’s disorganized. Its fibers — which should be neat and parallel like tuned guitar strings — have become a tangled mess. That’s the beginning of tendinopathy.

Why Does It Get Inflamed? The Most Common Causes of Tendinopathy

The culprit, in 90% of cases, has a name: overload. The tendon doesn’t get inflamed from one big trauma, but from repeated micro-traumas it hasn’t had time to repair.

But “overload” is vague. It’s usually the result of several combined factors:

1. Too much, too soon: You went from zero to hero in two weeks. Upped your mileage too quickly. Added hill sprints when you used to run on flat terrain.
2. The sudden switch: You got those new super-minimalist (or, conversely, super-cushioned) shoes and took them out for a long run right away — no transition.
3. DIY technique: Maybe you decided to become a forefoot striker overnight, loading the tendon in a way it wasn’t ready for.
4. Rock-hard calves: This is the sneakiest and most common cause. Your calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) are so tight they’re pulling on the tendon 24/7 — even in your sleep.

The 3 Essential Exercises for a Strong, Resilient Tendon

If caught early, the Achilles tendon responds extremely well to a targeted exercise protocol. The bad news? Total rest won’t cut it. If you stop completely, the pain fades — but as soon as you start running again, it’s back. The tendon needs to be retrained and strengthened.

These are the three pillars of prevention and rehab (in non-acute phases).

1. Eccentric Exercise (Heel Drop): The King of Rehab

If you do just one exercise, make it this. It’s the gold-standard, science-backed move for tendinopathy.

What does “eccentric” mean? It’s the muscle’s braking phase — the lengthening under load. This kind of stimulus helps the tendon realign its collagen fibers and heal.

How to do it:

1. Stand on the edge of a step (or stable platform) with just the balls of your feet.
2. Rise up on both toes (concentric phase).
3. Now lift the healthy foot off and stay on the “injured” one.
4. Very slowly (count at least 3–4 seconds), lower your heel below the step. You should feel the calf lengthening under tension.
5. Important: Use both feet (or the healthy one) to rise back up. The concentric phase isn’t the focus here.
6. Do 3 sets of 15 reps, twice a day.

Note: Some protocols also suggest doing it with a slightly bent knee (to target the soleus), but start with the straight-leg version.

2. Stretching the Calf and Soleus (Know the Difference)

Rock-hard calves, as mentioned, are a golden ticket to tendinopathy. You need to stretch them. But here’s the catch: the calf is made up of two main muscles — and most runners only stretch one.

• Gastrocnemius stretch (straight leg): The classic wall stretch. Back leg straight, heel on the ground. Hold for 30–40 seconds.
• Soleus stretch (bent leg): The forgotten one. Same wall position, but slightly bend the back knee (keeping the heel grounded). You’ll feel the stretch lower down, closer to the tendon. That’s the soleus — the key running muscle. Hold for 30–40 seconds.

3. Foam Roller (On the Calf — Never the Tendon!)

Last step: massage. The foam roller is a wonderfully painful tool to release muscle tension.

Hard rule: Never roll directly on an inflamed tendon. It’s like scratching a scab or plucking a frayed guitar string. You’ll only make it worse.

What to do: Roll the muscle — the “belly” of the calf. Sit on the floor, place your calf on the roller, and slowly massage the entire area from just below the knee to just above where the tendon begins. Focus on the sore spots to ease upstream tension and finally give your tendon a break.

When to Stop and See a Professional (Don’t Push Through Pain)

These exercises are powerful tools for prevention and early-phase management (that “morning pain” stage).

But there’s a line you shouldn’t cross. If the pain is constant throughout the day, if you’re limping, if the tendon is swollen, or if you feel sharp pain during the eccentric exercises — stop.

You’re pushing too hard. In that case, shut the laptop, stop Googling, and book a session with a physical therapist. Don’t be the hero who ignores pain — it’s the fastest way to turn a 3-week nuisance into a 6-month injury.