Posted: 10/25/2011 5:06:51 AM EDT
|
This weekend I had the intense NON pleasure of having the first serious muscle knot of my life. I'm talking a random sustained contraction of a series of muscle fibers in my calf. It was so pronounced that it was visible and felt like a golf ball under my skin. It was excruciatingly painful.
How common is this? I have managed to avoid this experience for some 41 years and would like to continue to do so. So my question is what could possible cause this... the two days previous where physically strenuous but not unusually so. I did drive for about 5 hours, but it was on Cruise most of the time so my calf wasn't continuously working. My diet was a bit off, but the only thing really missing was my morning raisin bran and I don't think I got my normal multi vitamin the night before. The only extra thing I ingested the night before was one of the "5 hour energy drinks." (First time ever) Could the energy drink be the cause? Some other factor? |
It happens. I'm 37, started having similar calf issues about 3 years ago during runs, and wound up tearing a calf muscle doing sprints last year. Calf issues suck, and you really need to be proactive about them. For me it helps to stay hydrated and make sure I've eaten within an hour or two before working out. Now, I take great care to make sure I warm up my calves, and also use this: http://www.thestick.com/ |
|
Quoted:
It happens. I'm 37, started having similar calf issues about 3 years ago during runs, and wound up tearing a calf muscle doing sprints last year. Calf issues suck, and you really need to be proactive about them. For me it helps to stay hydrated and make sure I've eaten within an hour or two before working out. Now, I take great care to make sure I warm up my calves, and also use this: http://www.thestick.com/PDGImages/marathon_stick.gif http://www.thestick.com/ This. Or get a tennis ball or golf ball and roll that shit out. I have to stretch mine often as I'm on my feet all day and they get extremely tight. |
|
Quoted: It happens. I'm 37, started having similar calf issues about 3 years ago during runs, and wound up tearing a calf muscle doing sprints last year. Calf issues suck, and you really need to be proactive about them. For me it helps to stay hydrated and make sure I've eaten within an hour or two before working out. Now, I take great care to make sure I warm up my calves, and also use this: http://www.thestick.com/PDGImages/marathon_stick.gif http://www.thestick.com/ |
|
Quoted:
Sounds like a typical muscle cramp. I get them in my foot sometimes. Sometimes in calf. Especially after hiking around the woods all day dehydrated and with little sleep. They tend to happen in my sleep and wake me up. Foot cramps are the worst! Every so often I'll get a muscle knot right below my stirnum at the top of my abs, usually when I'm bending over letting the muscles contract. It usually only lasts a few seconds and I can push it down, but it feels like it's bending my rib cage apart. |
|
Quoted:
I've woken up yelling me head off with a seized calf a couple of times. Basically it was from sweating my ass off for a few days and not replacing the electrolytes, then going to sleep in a hot (110-115) degree environment. Fucking sucks. Awww motherfucker is this guy right! I remember waking up screaming like a spoiled little girl who isn't getting her way or being scared. That is some awful pain! Get some Gatorade. Best thing to do when it happens is, #1 stop screaming like a little girl, #2 rub in a up and down pattern, like you beating your meat, until it stops. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Sounds like a typical muscle cramp. I get them in my foot sometimes. Sometimes in calf. Especially after hiking around the woods all day dehydrated and with little sleep. They tend to happen in my sleep and wake me up. Foot cramps are the worst! Every so often I'll get a muscle knot right below my stirnum at the top of my abs, usually when I'm bending over letting the muscles contract. It usually only lasts a few seconds and I can push it down, but it feels like it's bending my rib cage apart. Had that and the foot cramp happen as well. The foot cramp is horrible while driving. Anyone else yawn and have the muscle in the bottom of your moth cramp up ? That is a bitch! You look like a seagull awaiting a meal to drop from the sky. . |
|
Muscle cramps like that suck, but it's pretty normal, especially in the calves. Stay hydrated, eat some potassium and/or salt and keep your muscles moving.
I used get them really bad, like throw yourself out of bed onto the floor first thing in the morning bad, when I was doing a lot of road biking in high school. |
|
Quoted: Muscle cramps like that suck, but it's pretty normal, especially in the calves. Stay hydrated, eat some potassium and/or salt and keep your muscles moving. I used get them really bad, like throw yourself out of bed onto the floor first thing in the morning bad, when I was doing a lot of road biking in high school. When it happened to me, it woke me up from a dead sleep. Holy fuck, that hurt. |
|
Quoted: It happens. I'm 37, started having similar calf issues about 3 years ago during runs, and wound up tearing a calf muscle doing sprints last year. Calf issues suck, and you really need to be proactive about them. For me it helps to stay hydrated and make sure I've eaten within an hour or two before working out. Now, I take great care to make sure I warm up my calves, and also use this: http://www.thestick.com/PDGImages/marathon_stick.gif http://www.thestick.com/ That would work for me to prevent issues, every time I think about running I just beat myself savagely with the stick. |