Struggling with pulling my calf's.

[Stephen N]

I cannot run far enough. I usually get 2-4kms then pull my calf muscles, then have to walk. It is sad.

I Stretch heaps. I get out 3-4 times a week.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Is it a good idea to do weighted calf exercises? I've only done that a few times.

Thanks.

[Stephen N]

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[jessicatron]

Hey Stephen,

How are you treating your pulled calf muscles?

Have you considered perhaps giving the running a rest for a week or two weeks to give your calves adequate time to recover?

[Stephen N]

I have considered it. But that would mean I'm not running, which is what I want to do. =P

But that does sound like what I need to do.

Could they really take up to two weeks to recover?

[jessicatron]

First of all, thank you for taking me seriously with my ridiculous profile image.

Secondly, I know it's hard and I completely understand where you are coming from! Very recently, I had a stress-fracture in my right foot and refused to rest up and thought walking 10km a day is better than running or doing "strenuous exercise". I mean, I knew better but I just could not sit still. I finally had to make myself rest up for a week - keeping off and elevating my foot as much as I could - until i could get back to exercising.

It sounds like you encounter mild cases of calf muscle pulling because you're able to run 3-4 times a week. So I'm guessing you run, you pull your muscles, you hobble home totally embarrassed (maybe) and then you're at it again a day or two days later. Mild cases take about a week to two weeks to heal up. Severe cases, however, can take months to heal properly. So I guess the real question is: do you want a week-fortnight off running, or a month or more? Rest is your friend and your body is telling you to slow down.

If you do choose to give yourself time to heal, make a conscious effort to keep off your legs as much as you can. This can include elevating your legs when you watch tv/reading etc.

[aj_rock]

A bit more background to the problem might help.

Have you always had problems with pulling your calves? Or did the level of incidence increase recently?

If the first one, then I would think that your problem is more of a biomechanical one; you aren't running properly.

If it's more recent, then I agree with the automated female above.

[Stephen N]

Hey thanks guys.

Yea I did more reading into strained calf healing times. Im going to stay off them for a week then see how it goes.

I broke my foot 5 months ago. During the healing time from that I wasnt able to run and saw a massive reduction in the strength/size of my calves. After 3 weeks in a cast I weighed my legs and the one that was in the cast lots 1kg of muscle mass. Thats why I'm so week ATM.

I dont think it my running technique. I run in Vibram Five Fingers. I think its just that I've pushed it too much trying to get back into running after breaking my foot.

[BarefootDawsy]

OK I've got a few questions:

1. What stretches are you currently doing?

2. When do you do them? Eg before your run? After?

As a guess, it sounds like you've still got some rehab to do from your broken foot. I think taking a break is a good idea, and you might want to look at incorporating some strengthening exercises like squats and calf raises after that.

Another thing you may want to try is reducing your run lengths. Do a week of 1k runs. If you don't pull anything then the next week do 1.5s, etc. If you reach a distance that causes a pull, repeat the previous week's distance then try again.

[jessicatron]

Hey Stephen,

How are you going with those calf muscles? Did you manage to rest up?