CHRONIC CALF spasm/strain injury

foomiler

RE: CHRONIC CALF spasm/strain injury 1/28/2007 1:39AM - in reply to relatively desperate

Sounds like most of the posters here r probably suffering from the classic overuse problem of RUNNING IN THE SAME DIRECTION EITHER ON TRACK AND/OR ANY OTHER SURFACES when u train.

I've seen too many of such calf/achilles/ankle problems for the past 15 yrs, and myself was a frequent sufferer.

Maybe u guys can ask yrself this question:
AM I ALWAYS MAKING LEFT TURNS WHEN DOING TRACK WORK OR RUNNING LOOPS OR WARMING UP?

For those of u who have the problem in your left calf, I'd say u will most probably have answered "yes."

Don't waste any more time and money seeing doctors. You r just trying to fix the SYMPTOM (ie the injury), rather than find the CAUSE (what have u been doing or am still doing currently, that caused the problem in the first place).

No point going to the doctors day in day out and doing the prescribed exercises; no point resting for weeks/months/years only to return to running doing EXACTLY THE ACTIVITY THAT HURT YOUR CALF in the first place!

But as it stands today, I've encountered far too many runners (esp teens) who will never change their direction of track/road/grass/trail/dirt loops running even if u put a loaded gun to their heads. Meanwhile, their 'strange' injury continues to plague and frustrate them for years, eventually turning them away fr the sport.

If u continually train running counterclockwise on the track, whether it be fast or slow runs, u r asking for trouble.

Over time, your pelvis tilts to the left to facilitate the inward lean we make when we negotiate the curves. Blood flow gradually lessens in the left (inner)leg compared to the right (outer)because of the compression fr yr pelvic bone onto the gluteal,hamstring, quadricep, shin, calf muscle groups. The sciatic nerve that runs fr yr neck down your spinal cord,then to yr glutes-hams-calf-achilles, becomes severely compressed over time and as a result, yr mental signals to these muscle will be SLOWER or even PARTIALLY CUT OFF!

Yr muscles will also experience distrophy on the afficted side. As a consequence, when u try to push off while running strght forward, the inner leg will respond haphazardly bec it has LESS STRENGTH and RECEIVES THE SIGNAL FR THE BRAIN FAR LATER THAN THE RIGHT LEG. Sometimes it receives the signals only faintly and so reacts differently.

Also, by choosing to only make left turns, u r actually teaching yr body to expect left turns for every 100m of strght running. Actually, in very severe cases, even when the runner is on the strghts of the track, he/she may still be tilting to the left, and as this is soon followed by another left-turning curve, the runner hardly notices that thy r ALWAYS COMPENSATING FROM THE LEFT LEG when they run the straights!

All the above results in a shortened left leg because yr left hip is forced to tilt inward and upwards, and if u never turn right, it soon stays in that position as its NORMAL POSITION!

Imagine what happens when u try to run when yr left calf is:
1) Shortened
2) Smaller
3) reacts slower than yr right
4) Receives less blood and so HEALS MUCH MORE SLOWLY THAN YR RIGHT CALF after workouts

The exertion of the leg pushoff fr the grd will cause the shortened calf to suddenly overstretch and as there is little blood to respond to the body's demands, the muscle will spasm. In severe cases it will tear.

Just try pulling a shorter rubber band with both hands in opposite directions explosively. Try again w a longer and more flexible one.

U get what I mean?

I've seen far too many people waste their time and money and emotional energy trying to get rid of the symptoms and ed up with half-cures and no-cures.

I know this sounds relatively TOO SIMPLE. But the CAUSE IS SIMPLE AND THEREFORE SO IS THE CURE! Trust me it works. It will take time and some common sense, but it will work. Just do SOME (NOT ALL) of yr training running right turns (don't phase out left turns completely or you'll end up having similar problems on yr right!) and give it time.

This problem just requires this simple measure and u will be ok.

Yes, u still need to stretch. U still need to strength train. U stil need to rest. Some medical advice might still be required.

But fr my personal expce with more than a dozen cases, all the runner needs to do is to change her/his compulsion to make only left turns at all costs and their problems r solved.

In fact fr my experience in coaching and in competing, I would say that a large majority of the problems trackers expce come fr track work. Even doing less won't help unless u balance betw left/right turns.

The solution sounds so simple that many people disbelieve me. They seem to find a psychological comfort in making only left turns and feel 'weird' running clockwise. Well, if that holds true for any of u, I can understand bec I'm also an avid tracker myself and often feel that way.

But if feeling 'weird' can cure yr spastic calf, why not?

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