Calf Strain Rehab

Assuming it is what we think it is…

There has to be a reason that this particular piece of tissue was so tight that it was injured and likely will require
digging deeper into your hip alignment and breathing skills as it coordinates with pelvic position.

Off the top of your head to do you know of any bias’s in your body ? For example, (I always shift
into my right hip when standing or I notice my right hamstring is always much higher than my left…etc).
Its amazing what PRI and pelvic repositioning work can do to free up tension in your body. Something as
simple as cueing left rib cage down with breathing could shift your pelvis enough to take the tension
off of this calf…

What sort of shoes do you normally wear?

Treatment wise…

We should also consider nerve tone and look into the exact nerve that intervates this region of your calf.

This is one the things DNS practitioners do… for example …

I recently saw a DNS guy in Manila to discuss my limits in RT side ankle mobility. He treated it different than any therapist i’ve ever worked with…
he “brushed” the sural nerve for about 5 minutes. A year ago before I started to understand the nervous system and its play on muscle tone I would
have though this to be a waste of time… After 5 minutes I stood up for “re-test” and my chronically tight calfs had significantly decreased in their “tone”
and therefore I picked up significant ankle range.

What did you do? He promoted the nerve that runs through my calf to relax from the distal end. This send turned down the tone upstream, freeing up
my ankle joint to access deeper ranges.

If you are coaching at Manila Spirits or something, its worth it to see this guy. He’s at Marv and Allan gym Movement Performance Manila, has an office…

Hillary,

I’m not a doctor or physical therapist, so the purpose is motivation and timescale. I defer all specific training and rehab protocols to MPFPT and this isn’t to be taken as advice, it’s what worked for me. After concluding Program One, I began preparing for a beach tourney, 9 weeks out. I planned on switching from lifting 3 x’s a week to 2, increasing conditioning days, and beginning speed work. As luck would have it, I pulled my calf on my last serpentine run on my first speed day. It felt like someone hit me with a towel in the back of the leg coupled with immediate pain and loss of motion. It took me 30 minutes to crawl back to my truck. I’ve pulled my calf once before, but not this severely. I self-diagnosed a severe grade II to maybe even a grade III tear. I researched every article possible on timetables, rehab protocols, exercises, therapy, and asked all my physio friends their opinions (I’m lucky to live in a college town). Bear in mind that I’m 36 and most of my friends pointed that out, more than once. But I’m stubborn and love to play, so here’s what I did:

First 3 days: nothing but RICE, NO stretching.
Next 10 days: As soon as I could bear any weight I found an reputable-looking YouTube video that suggested to deeply massage the afflicted area against the grain for 15 minutes with my thumb and fingers ((a later found a med journal that confirmed the benefits of this protocol). It was uncomfortable, but I did this every other day as suggested. I also began range of motion activities without weight. I’d raise my leg up and trace the alphabet with my big toe with both legs 2 x’s a day.
Week 3-4: Finally no limp or pain when walking. Kept intense massage using fingers and lacrosse ball (minimum 10 min) I did theraband excercises, range of motion (ankle mobility touching knee to wall) and flat ground calf raises using my good calf to assist. I also bought an Airdyne bike to ride, first 5 minutes, then 10 minutes always making sure there was no pain during and after. I returned to lifting exercises not associated with my calf.
Week 5-6: More massage. Began eccentric heel drop exercises 3 x’s a week and was able to perform almost every exercise in lifting program. Began sprint intervals on Airdyne 3 x’s a week.
Week 7-8: Massage. Began running on flat ground, starting very slowly. Slowly went through speed program making sure I could handle all movements. Slowly ran serpentine drills. Eventually alternated 150-shuttle sprints with Airdyne bike sprints. Lifted 2 x’s a week, heel drops/ankle ROM 3 x’s a week. By the end of this period, I was running serpentine at 95% with no pain, but being extremely careful.
Week 9: Massage! Prepped for tourney by doing 2 sprint workouts and 2 sessions of sprint shuttles, all at 100%.

That weekend we competed in the 4 v 4 beach tourney I played at least every other point and many back-to-backs, playing 6 games total. Of course my body was wrecked after the tourney, but my calves weren’t problematic at all. I took a couple of weeks off after the tourney to rest and travel for work, but have since began Triphasic.One, condition or practice 2 x’s a week, and a sprint workout. I always SMR and do the 4-way hip stretches before any activity I do, spending quality time on my calves. I also bought a pair of high-end compression tights, which may be psychosomatic, but they make my legs feel better during hard workouts and kept my calf from feeling like it was “flopping” around as much. During the rehab portion especially, I made sure I was getting 8+ hours of sleep, eating and drinking enough (despite reduced activity) to give the muscles their greatest chance repair.

It feels pretty hopeless at first, but you’ll get through it!
Good luck in your rehab!