Can I slim down my calf muscles?

Personal trainer Marc Greene replies: These muscles can appear bulky because they have become abnormally short and tight from doing a lot of repetitive activity on the balls of the feet, ie walking uphill. Try and avoid the offending factors as this will help bring the muscles back to their original length. You could have your gait analysed - you may use your calf muscles to compensate for weaker surrounding muscles, or perhaps your tibialis anterior (the muscles at the front of your shin) are weak and over-stretched. Because these are the opposite muscles to the calves, strengthening them will lengthen the calf muscle. Essentially, try to keep your heel down as much as possible, stay away from high-impact, jumping moves and stick to low-impact CV exercise such as walking, swimming, crosstrainers and cycles (on low resistance). Avoid resistance work and anything that involves high weights and low repetitions - this will only bulk up the troublesome area.