Calf Strain

[Anthony B]

Hi Docs

You have all heard this story before I'm new to barefoot running, I regularly ran 8km every second day and thought I'd try BF/Minimalist. I brought myself a pair of Vivobarefoots and went out for a 5k run no issue. I went out and tried the following day and at the 3k mark re injuerd an old calf strain. I rested the calf for 4 days tried to run again and had to stop due the pain in my left calf. I then rested my calf for 5 days and went out this morning and had the same result stopped due to a calf tare or strain this is becoming very frustrasting. How long do I have to rest the calf for?

Cheers

Anthony

 

[jimwb]

Anthony,I think it is very

Anthony,

I think it is very difficult to transition using minimalist shoes. It is hard to tell if you are stepping softly because you have limited bio feedback and it is soooooo easy to over train because it feels great and your soles do not tell you when to stop.

I did the same thing you did.

-Jim

 

[NickW]

Also keep in mind not to

Also keep in mind not to stretch an injury. I did this for two months on a calf injury before I realized it was the stretching that was not letting the injury heal. Inside of a week of stopping stretching I was back to running. When you stretch an injury it tears the very muscle fibers your trying to heal. Now I don't stretch statically at all. I walk to warmup and start running at a very slow pace till I'm warm and then I cool down with a walk as well. No more calf injuries for me and no more calf pain. This works for me so maybe it could help you, at least until you're healed. Good luck!

 

[Anthony B]

From doing a bit of research

From doing a bit of research on this an other barefoot sites I feel I went too hard too early. The strange thing is I have spent the last 2 days with my children on the beach playing with and chasing them and have found that while the calf felt tight I could run after them freely.

Thanks for your tips I will put them in practice in the next few weeks when i try back on the road, in the mean time I think I will hit the beach for some bare footing in the sand.

Cheers

Anthony

 

[Dr. Mark]

Anthony, Agree with all.

Anthony,



Agree with all. running a mile is 1200 reps. so any change is doing it 1200 times....so be gradual and do not stretch an injury. walk a lot barefoot and in the Vivos until if feels well. then on the first day run ONE MINUTE. reassess after 30 minutes. Next day maybe run two minutes.....very gradual return.



Dr. Mark

 

[Anthony B]

Thank you all for your reply

Thank you all for your reply and advise. I will take it slowly and keep you updated

Cheers

 

[Anthony B]

For those interested I went

For those interested I went for a 3km barefoot run on the beach and pulled up fine. Will try again in 2 days