Calf strains, the bane of any running athlete. They can strike at the most harsh of times during training cycles or even during the typical deload weeks. They can often be debilitating and stop you from doing the thing you love, exercising. Anyone who has suffered a calf strain can vouch how painful they can be. The pain can often be intolerable to walk on and can even stop people from going to work. Because of the density and sensitivity of the tissue, the calf can take a long time to recover and be pain free than other injuries.
But what happens if a calf strain does occur? How do you handle it? In this article we are going to go through a classic calf strain rehab protocol for anyone who feels they may have strained a muscle!
1. See a Professional:
If you have any sort of injury, at NRG we always recommend that you get an injury assessment from a professional! These professionals will take you through proper assessments to measure the severity of the injury, give you appropriate treatment and rehab advice. However if you cannot get to a professional then we recommend following these steps…
2. Ice… But only if you need it!
It is common to see people putting an ice pack on straight after a calf strain. But do we need it? It depends on the pain! If you pull your calf, sit down and the pain keeps on throbbing - then get the ice on it. The ice is an analgesic, it blocks the pain receptors rather than help with the healing process. So if you are in excessive pain, then get the ice on. If the pain is bearable, then stay off the ice and let the inflammation do it’s job.
3. Anti-Inflammatory:
Yes inflammation is important for the healing process, however excessive fluid around the area is not helpful. By reducing the amount of fluid around the area, not only will it reduce all this fluid but it will make it more comfortable the injury itself. We recommend taking controlled doses of anti inflammatory medication, following the instructions on the packaging, for the 72 hours after the workout.
4. Stretch Gently!
When you suffer from muscle strains, it can effect the quality of the movement in the area. You rest the area and the muscles are not being exercises as they are use to. The muscle tissue starts to atrophy (reduce in size) and stiffen up (become tight). We want to be able to maintain function in calf whilst being injured so it is important to stay on top of mobility, so it important to stretch the tissue… However not too much! When a muscle is torn, the last thing you want to do is over stretch as you may make the tear worse. So be careful with the stretching.
5. Build Up Eccentric Strength:
When you tear a muscle, it can be commonly cause by a combination of “poor eccentric loading pattern + fatigue”. This essentially means if your muscle is tired and has poor control (lengthening) then the likelihood of tear is greater. So this is why rebuilding the eccentric loading, or landing pattern during a gait cycle, is important to rebuild the strength of the tissues which have been torn.
See a link to our instagram page to show a great exercise for eccentric strength in the calves!
6. Build Up Concentric and Isometric Strength:
So after rebuilding the eccentric strength of the calves, it is time to build up the concentric/isometric strength of the muscle tissue. If eccentric is the lengthening portion/landing in the gait cycle, then the concentric is the shortening portion/stepping off in the gait cycle and isometric is the millisecond hold at the top of the range in gait. If you are strong in all three contractions, it will prevent the muscles from fatiguing as easily which makes them less likely to tear.
To build up the concentric/isometric strength, we would recommend standing on one step with the heel off. Drop the heel down and drive up onto your toes whilst holding at the top for a second. This type of exercise will help build up the strength in the tissue making it more robust.
7: Plyometrics:
Once you have built the strength and retained the mobility of the tissue, it is time to build up the power in the muscle! The more powerful the muscle, the quicker the contraction which can have a positive impact on speed. We only recommend the plyometrics starting once you have sufficient strength in the area and you are pain free!
Skipping is a good way to test the calf plyometrically
Our go to plyometric for a calf strain is the single leg hop. Simply stand on the leg which has the calf issue, with the other leg bent. Now simply hop with the injured leg making sure that there is some distance from your foot and the floor. When you land, make sure you land on the middle of your foot and bend the knee. Aim for 3 sets of 30 seconds of hopping and build it up to 45/60 seconds. You get some serious calf burn but sadly you just have to push through!
8: Re Test:
Now this is probably the most important stage of the rehab but is probably the one which is completed incorrectly most frequently. People think that doing some rehab and then going back into 10 mile runs is realistic, sadly it is not. You need to test what you are capable of and build it up. Start with a run around your block, then build it to 2km, then 5km and so on until you reach your usual distance. Then when you have reached your distance, try to increase the intensity and speed of the movement.
And that concludes our article on Calf Strain Rehab Protocol! We hope it answered all the questions you may have or opened your eyes to how good rehab programs can help you! If you have any questions then please leave them in the comment section below. If receiving sports therapy is something you are interested in, then please let us know! At NRG we also offer personal training (including a complimentary free session), sports massage, injury assessment with a free phone consultation, all within this sports injury clinic!