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OLD MAN CALF INJURY – From a different lens

Calf injuries can be a pain in the A….

I have received numerous calls during this period of ‘lying low’ and funnily many have resorted to running and the famous old man calf injury is the cause for that. ‘Too much too soon’ and not enough base work can be one of the reasons. I have seen many athletes(when I say athletes – I mean all types of sportspersons) and especially the ones who are 35 + and extending their careers in their respective sport have experienced this sudden onset of calf injury (and it triggers with innocuous and explosive moves) and what is the deal here?

I have experienced this injury and I have seen many of my friends go through this ordeal and more than a handful of well-established athletes going through this irritating injury. Firstly, Understanding the following is critical for the older athlete/weekend runner/fitness enthusiast.

A. With Age, blood flow to the muscle changes and gets compromised.
B. Neuromuscular function decreases with age.
C. Tendon signal changes with age(especially after 35) and integrity is a lot different when you pile up the years.
D. Elastic(jumping type) strength is not the same.


Road to recovery: The usual conservative treatment initially is good and depending on the severity of the injury - whether its grade 1 or 2, it will take anywhere between 2 to 6 weeks to recover. But with older athletes, if the second phase of rehab is not targeted with sports or activity in mind, the chances of recurrence are huge. So after the initial RICE type of treatment, release, massage, and stuff like that it’s important to design the workload with a ‘dose–response’ type of strategy because each athlete responds in a very different way and it all depends on their fitness levels and history of training. Now let me cut to the chase – assuming he is cleared to do some S&C work it is only prudent to follow the pattern mentioned below with the famous commandment to rehab which says ‘pain is the only limiting factor’. Progress and regress accordingly. Common sense is the main

Checkboxes to tick

Ensure to cover the distance in walking and later to jogging (slow pace)

10 meters on 10 meters off at whatever pace possible – increase the mileage gradually

Pogo jumps – this is a must – you can start with even 10 or even 5 jumps

Toe walk – increase the distance gradually

Skipping – increase the reps and intensity gradually

Stride outs at an easy pace

Small box jumps

Tempo runs

Acceleration runs

Sprints

While going through the above-mentioned checkboxes – it is very important to maintain strength work through weight training and ensure to add single leg calf raise work at varying tempos. Seated calf raises works the soleus which is a postural muscle and a slow twitching one. So, it’s prudent to address the Gastrocnemius(bigger calf muscle) and soleus(deeper calf muscle) in different ways to be sure of your return to sport/activity. It is also important to vary the reps from high to low which is inversely proportional to the loads. Stretching the Gastrocnemius and soleus is important and that should complement the prophylactic process.