| nadagast |
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Background: 6'1, 150lbs, 5k high 17, 20 yo, just started my 2nd year of running. Did nothing in terms of sports before i started running. Some table tennis but lets just neglect that... Mileage was about 30-35mpw last season. A little more in base and little less during track season like usual. My problem is that my legs seem very prone to small, nagging muscle injuries. No real tears with visible bruises a PT or doctor could easily diagnose, but more like a muscle tightens up after a run and refuses to work for weeks. After an XC race in winter my right quad just died and i couldnt even walk for 2-3 weeks. Doctors weren't able to diagnose anythign except a very tight muscle. Later on, same thing in my lower calf. With ongoing activity the muscle just got stiffer and stiffer and sidelined me again for 6 weeks. Everytime I massaged a lot, got myself a foam roller and rolled the heck out of the stiff muscles, vistied PT and everything but its looking more and more like a problem deep within my body. After the injuries described above I ramped up my stretching (10 minutes after every run), did a lot of rope skipping, form drills, worked on my core just to have the same sht again after 4 weeks of off-season (just 2 easy runs per week) in the first easy run of the new season. I don't think that my training is wrong. All the other guys in my club are fine with it. I dont kill my easy days (8 minute miling) and even try to avoid concrete and asphalt. My running form improved a lot, I slowly transitioned from bad heelstriking to a solid mid/foref. strike. I dont wear minimal shoes. Any advice for my situation? Should I seek a doctor to look at my blood levels? That's the only thing I haven't looked for so far. |
| nadagast |
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One thing to add: this time it's in my left calf so it's not a one sided issue. |
| body master |
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You're wrong. Anyone who says they midfoot strike in actuality heel strike. If you had said you forefoot strike you probably would be midfoot striking. Go run with minimalist shoes for a while. Not damn Nike Free's but something with Zero drop. Vivobarefoots or *gasp* Vibrams if you can stand the ugliness. You heel strike and you know deep down inside that you do. All your symptoms add up to heel striking. The quad tightness caused by bad posture from heel lift, the calf tightness caused by shortening of the achilles. Better yet, do training barefoot so you realize very quickly how wrong you are in your stance of forefoot striking. |
| body master |
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By the way, it's an oxymoron to say you don't wear minimal shoes but you've transitioned to forefoot striking. Anything with a raised heel will catch and force you to heel strike. You really can't control it and if you try you'll fatigue SO quickly. |
| sdfasdfasfads |
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body master is nuts, lots of people midfoot strike. Good luck trying to forefoot strike with tight calves already |
| nadagast |
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The quad thing is true, it was in February and i had a horrible form, hard heelstrike. But since then I did a lot of barefoot exercises and strides on grass to strengthen my calves,single leg heel raised, worked with spikes and so on. But my calves just seem to remain fragile whatever I do. It's so frustrating, because the work just doesn't seem to pay off. My shoes are neither minimal nor the most clunky trainers out there. I rotate between Zoom Elite 5, Brooks Pure Connect and Lunaracers. I'm aware of the fact that my footstrike on easy runs is not as much on the forefoot as in spikes (I assure you, you know when you heelstrike in Zoom Vics and I don't). I could try it but it just puts more pressure on my calves. They felt finer when I was just slammin my heels into the ground like crazy. That general weakness despite all the strengthening work brought me to the wrong nutritions point. |
| richard summons |
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You need to gain some weight first of all. Your bone density may be suffering because of a combination of lack of weight or improper nutrition. The nutrition issue can also cause muscle problems. |
| body master |
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I was just like you once. No matter what i did i had horrible calf spasms and they cramped after every workout. Not to mention they were too weak to support me. Then i bought some Nike Free's and that all went away. At first it made me so sore. But i knew i needed this. After a couple weeks the soreness went away and i got strength in my calves. Just transition to Nike Free's... not the 5.0 but the 3.0's. You dont have to go all minimalist. That should cure the problem. |
| body master |
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Truth be told, you probably are overestimating how much barefoot work you actually did. A couple of strides on the grass after your workout every single day of every single week STILL isn't going to do anything for you. Not to mention you don't run with "strides" when you do your mileage. Weightlifting exercises for the calves are not going to help. |
| nadagast |
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Guess you're right in this point. If I try to only strike forefoot my calf is dead after 2 miles regardless of speed. Time to do some more work in my Pure Connect. |