Comments | spiritseeker: Too Much of A Good Thing

spiritseeker

Too Much of A Good Thing

Oct 05, 2009 13:25

I started jogging about a month ago, mostly in the mornings while I'm taking the dog to the park. He enjoys the faced paced romp through the woods and I've appreciated the increased exercise. The forest floor is a combination of soft peat, solid earth and packed gravel, all of which are forgiving on my knees. And my overall increased mood has ( Read more... )

body, ow

Comments 4

Get a foam roller! claidheamh October 5 2009, 17:35:48 UTC

Foam Rollers are great ways to work out the knots and trauma that you inflict on your calves with running - it's a way of self massaging that lets you get pretty deep into the muscles. I'm a big fan of deep tissue (painful, nasty) massages as well because they really help my legs recover after hard training. Also, consider icing them if they're still really sore - it helps a lot because it reduces the inflammation from over use.

Hill workouts are great for building strength but you need to vary your routine and give your calves sometime to recover.

Re: Get a foam roller! foxtown October 5 2009, 21:26:40 UTC

Seconded

I only use my trainer's when I get a chance, but she has been on me to buy my own for over a year...

tikalibrian October 5 2009, 21:22:54 UTC

wow. I'm sorry for the ouchies!
But thanks for posting about this, it's given me some insight into my own calf issues. And, I've been advised to get foam rollers too.
:)

mindways October 5 2009, 21:31:15 UTC

Yeowch!

Hope that feels better soon. It sounds like a startling (and painful) reaction.

Once it's healed up - something I was taught in (?martial arts? ?physical therapy? ?dance?) is that you can stretch the deep calf muscle, but it requires your leg being pretty much 100% straight. The usual lunge-style stretch for one's calf tends to bend the knee just enough that the deep muscle doesn't get stretched. It's a bit easier to do standing with one's heel off the edge of a stair, but it does require a certain amount of mindfulness while stretching.

(It also, of course, still stretches the outer muscles, which is why I'm not suggesting it for while you're still injured - if you need those for support, then, well, ow.)