Preventing muscle injuries

[DamienC]

I'm curious as to how everyone here avoids muscle injuries, especially hamstrings and calves.

Since lowering my seat, I've found the tightness in my hamstrings has virtually disappeared, but my calves still seem to get very tight, and I'm worried about tearing them.

As they say, prevention is better than cure!

[Keith Watson]

Hey Damien, tight calves are no fun. Unfortunately they are sometimes reality when training real hard and then letting our recovery techniques take a back seat when we get busy. Without knowing how you train, equipment, setup, etc... makes it real hard to determine what might be causing it. 

So to generalize, I would recommend that you keep all the muscles loose and fluid and most importantly hydrated! Not just the calves, but the hammies, quads, glutes, etc... Often times tight calves are caused by an imbalance elsewhere. Using a foam roller is great for doing this. Way cheaper than massage and can be done at any time. Compression on the muscles is also very good. Especially post workout to increase blood flow to the worked areas. Socks are great. Tights are good to. If you sit for long periods of time during the day, make sure you get up and move around to avoid stiffness and keep the blood moving. And make sure you are getting plenty of water throughout the day! All of the above should be done regardless of tightness or injury. It should just become part of your daily training routine as a means of prevention.

And the last piece would be to train below the pain or tightness when it is present. If your calves are tight, doing things that further aggravate them will only dig the hole deeper. You want to keep moving your body but doing so in a safe way to promote recovery while maintaining motor skill pattern. The body is giving you signals, it is best to listen to them. A longer more thorough warm-up to make sure the body is ready for the session. If it is not, you need to adjust. This usually means altering what you had originally intended to do for that session. That may mean water running instead of land running, or easy spinning on the trainer instead of big gear hill intervals, etc... Continuing to move the body is very important, doing so in a safe manner will keep you consistently training with minimal downtime due to injury. 

I hope that helps!

[DamienC]

Thanks Keith.

I'm not sure myself what the cause is, but recently I've noticed the calves are tighter after hard cycles. 

In the past, I've found that if I get a cramp, that muscle is usually super tight about 2 days later.  And when I do tear the muscle, it is in the exact spot where the cramp was.  This is all historical data (I keep fairly detailed log books, and this is the trend I've noticed), but I can't find any real correlation with any specific sessions, surfaces, profiles, etc.

I've started self massage to remove any knots, and it does seem to help.  What is the general feeling about stretching?  I've stopped stretching the hammy (on Docs advice) since I injured it, and it has recovered very well.

[Beck]

Hey Damien
I can't really offer any solid advice on how to help the tight muscles.  However, one thing that Doc gets us to do often is kicking in the pool.  Sounds really simple, but can be quite effective in loosening the legs.  If you have access to a pool, following runs, perhaps you could jump in afterwards and do 10 x 50kick. 
Doc is also a huge advocte of heat- hot water bottles, deep heat cream/tiger balm etc, then stick some sort of compression garment on the area after.
Also, as Keith said, don't overlook the hydration aspect.
Good luck!
Beck

[Keith Watson]

Hey Damien, I am with Beck on this...moving the body, keeping the muscle loose, warm and compressed helps to break up the adhesions and keep them away.

I am not a big fan of stretching. It has to be the right kind, right amount and most importantly at the right time is my rule.

Typically most stretch when they are cold (ie: before they workout) and when they get hurt. 2 great ingredients to get you hurt and keep you hurt. Tie a knot in a rope and then try to pull it straight...what happens?

Oh yeah...hydration (yep going to keep harping on this one). Don't overlook the electrolyte component. 

[DamienC]

Hey Beck, thanks, although I must admit I'm a horrible kicker.  I'm the only person I know that moves backwards when they kick!  It's a bit cool her in SA at the moment, but I'll make a plan and give your 50s a go.  May take me a while though...  

Keith, sometimes the only way to get a message across is to repeat it... especially to blockhead triathletes like me!

[pb]

Damien on  top  of  all that  great advise,  
I  would  also  have  a  look  at  your  cleat  position, its   likely  pushing the  cleats  further  back   would  help  the  calves.
If  i  remember  correctly  doc  and  jo   wrote  some  good  advise  on  it on the  forum  
and  I  see  the  coach  who  is  quite  successfull  with  female  Itu  athletes,generally   advocates a  similar  cleat  position  (i  wonder  why ;-)  

[Keith Watson]

Damien, very funny!  Sometimes it just takes one to know one. And half the time I repeat things for my own benefit. Peace. 

[Beck]

Hey Beck, thanks, although I must admit I'm a horrible kicker.  I'm the only person I know that moves backwards when they kick!  It's a bit cool her in SA at the moment, but I'll make a plan and give your 50s a go.  May take me a while though...  

Hey Damien, it's not so much about the speed of the kicking    It's just to loosen off

[DamienC]

Beck, you don't understand...

I did one x 50m kick this morning after my swim, and I timed it using the calendar!  I was faster when I propelled myself by blowing bubbles out my nose!!  I'm one of those swimmers that goes slower if they kick, so I just keep them up out of the way and save them for the bike and run.  But if it stops me injuring myself, I'll give it a bash. 

PB, I've had the same thought, and from the beginning I've set my cleats as far back as they can go, and am still on the hunt for an adapter to see if I can't get even further back.  At the moment, it feels like the ball of my foot is behind the spindle, especially when I stand up.  I've had the same cleat setup for nearly a decade, but only in the last year have I had any calf problems.

[doc]

hi,
bek was right , the kick is about loosening up the leg muscles , is like a soft tissue massage
how fast you kick mean nothing
eg
back 30 yrs
my fastest 50 m fr/s  22.8  so even now  not too shabby  ,could not kick for peanuts .
it would take him 10min to kick 4 x50 m
the velocity of the kick is not important as the elevation the kick provides , with in swimming .
but kicking softly  is a very very good tool  not used much by triathletes
if we do a killer run set
you can bet the next swim set will open up with 6x50  kick or 10x50  kick  and the garbage kickers are told take 10 sec rest between your laps and when the others finnish  ,you finnish too ,dont worry about how many you done just worry that you  done it
and it has absolutley nothing to do with the swim set , its about loosening the legs .

[roddy]

So, for you Doc, are swim coaches overemphasis the leg conditionning in general?
I read once, Popov was able to kick 28"70 for a 50m kick (with kickboard?)
Is leg speed only good for front quadrant swimmers?

[doc]

no not at all,
i was saying speed on kick board is not the only flag to swimming fast.
the elevation from a strong fit kick
allows the arm levers to wrk far more efficient
in shorter events,
for tris
thats what wet suits do , they give swimmers the elevation, with out the need to kick .
the context of tri swimming and real top end pool swimming are chalk and cheese

[DamienC]

Like comparing marathon runners and Ironman runners.  Or track 10k and an Olympic tri run.

Thanks Doc, I'll give that a try.  Difficult to get to a warm enough pool after running, but usually I have a swim next morning, so I'll start off with the kick.  Been treating and wrapping the calf in cling film at night, and it's nice and loose already.

[Vega]

I usually have a protein shake before the workout and plenty of water. During the ride, I'll have water as well as either gels or powder mixes of carbs and electrolytes. I won't over do it with the carbs which is why I'll drink water mostly. After the ride, I'll have another protein shake and a meal.