Opticreep said:Seven weeks ago, I started jogging 3 miles a day, six days a week. As
to be expected, I got a lot of muscle and joint pains in the beginning
but they subsided after the first couple of weeks.
Anyway, last week I started stretching my muscles before and after the
workouts. And that's where my problems began. One of the muscles I
had been stretching is now constantly sore. It's the muscle right
below where the bulge in my right calf. My wild guess is that I had
been stretching improperly, and I injured it.
sounds like a good guess
I find myself jogging
Quoted message said:with a slight limp these days.
which could result in more injuries unless you're careful
Quoted message said:
I had tried resting the muscle for four days, and it's no less painful
now than it was before,
Sometimes total rest is the right solution at least for a little bit for
initial healing, more often some active rehab works better so the tissue
heals correctly (fibers aligned). Have you been icing or doing other
activities?
so I started jogging again. Any ideas on how
Quoted message said:to heal a muscle damaged in that way? How long should I expect it to
remain sore?
Hard to say from your description. (I say that because I'm still
figuring out what works for me, and I'm getting a better handle on it,
but can't describe it for someone else.)
Quoted message said:
Now, I've even ditched stretching before (or after) my jogging
altogether. I figured that jogging 3 miles a day for half an hour is
considered a pretty light workout anyway. That workload might not
even qualify as a warm-up routine for some people. So, no need to
stretch for something like that.... right?
But whether it's a warmup for someone else has nothing to do with
whether you need to stretch or warmup beforehand. You need to look at
what works for you and your conditioning level.
Depends on the person. I *always* do some sort of warmup (unless I
perform a space cadet maneuver by forgetting) which usually includes
light stretching. I tend to have tight muscles and sitting in office /
lab doesn't help (also being 57 doesn't help, but I've just learned that
body needs more maintenance in age).
My "warmup" starts with just moving joints - shrugging shoulders,
rotating ankles, etc. Then *gentle* stretching of backs of legs - just
enough to get kinks out from sitting. Then walk for about 2 min, then
slow run for 5-10 min before things feel normal. In cold weather (around
0F and below), I'll do additional warmups inside (running in place,
maybe for 30-60 sec) before I head out. After the run, I walk at least 2
min, maybe have to ride bike home, may alternate some indoor rehab
drills with cooking dinner or whatever, maybe do barefoot drills in
grass for 5-20 min.
Other people (frequently younger) can just run right out the door.
The flip side is in an indoor cross-training class, where we have a
heavy duty warmup (about 20+ min), then about 20-30 min stretching,
which is the most likely portion for me to get injured in (stretches
aren't the ones that work the best for me). However, then I go home and
do the stretches that my PT gave me - which frequently stretch the
opposite direction of the class stretches. I can't remember injuring
myself with the ones the PT gave me, as long as I built up the reps and
amount of stretch properly and don't get too carried away.
So whether stretching works for you or not is a matter of finding out
which ones do work and a routine. But having somewhat warm muscles
before you stretch is critical - ditto before running. Some type of
warmup is essential - for me, anyway. YMMV.
When reading reports, keep in mind that results are based on averages
and variation. Even though the something may be shown to not be
beneficial on average, it may be beneficial for certain people - and
vice versa.
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