exercise and calf muscle injury

fietsdebbie

Yesterday I tore my calf muscle while on a field trip with my child's 3rd grade class. I've been jogging 4 times a week and my calf muscles have been tight in general. My calf muscles were tight and I went down a stairwell and on the last step something pulled / snapped. Anyway, I've been to the doctor and I'm on crutches for less than a week. The doctor said it should heal up in a few weeks / month.

Anyway, I would like to continue to work out in one way or another. I know I must focus on upper body. Any ideas here? Any cardio ideas that do not involve lower body work? I am not to stress my calf muscles for a few weeks / month so even swimming is out.

I appreciate any ideas.

Hermit4Hire

If you use a leg float (styrofoam barbell shaped floatation device) between your thighs, you can swim without the need to kick. It will keep your legs afloat and force you to use your arms, lats, shoulders, triceps.

xlimitx

I have a prob with my calf muscles too at times. I noticed when I do not stretch before I do any kind of walking, they tend to bind up on me like I am having a huge muscle cramp or charlie horse. Then I realized that drinking lots of water to lube the muscles helps too. I ain't no expert but it helps me.

rob1976

In the Army, we used to do an exercise called the "Overhead Clap." It's exactly what it sounds like it is. You start with your feet shoulder-length apart and your arms straight out to the side, parallel to the ground. You raise your arms until they are straight above your head and your hands clap. Then you bring your arms back down till they are parallel to the ground again. The key is to ensure your arms stay straight (as your muscles fail, your elbows start to buckle) and to stop parallel to the ground (it's too easy to bring them all the way down to your thighs). It's a 4-count exercise with 2 reps per set. "1" is arms up, "2" is arms down, "3" is arms up, "4" is arms down and that's one set. We'd use the "4" to count our sets (i.e. 1-2-3-1, 1-2-3-2, 1-2-3-3, 1-2-3-4, etc.) The soldiers do about 1,000 of these during a physical training session, but you can do them till you "feel the burn" (as Richard Simmons used to say). These great for firming and tightening your shoulders and back. A tip for getting more out of your workout with these: when you hit muscle failure and can't do these over your head anymore, the variation is to do them by clapping your arms directly in front of you and stopping even with your body.

Sweatin

I know someone else this happened to and she was so uncomfortable any twist and turns hurt. She did alot of sitting upper body weight lifting and punches. Doing the punches she got her heart rate up and used hands wieghts.

fietsdebbie

Thanks for the ideas folks. I've done a sitting upperbody weight lifting routine yesterday. I might try some abdominal work on the floor today and some of the punch / arm raise stuff either today or tomorrow. The swimming idea is excellent too but I might save that to do in a week or two when the calf muscle is better. My injury is already feeling a lot better, but I'm still limping around, toes first. I can't put weight on my heel yet and am using crutches when out of the house. Things will be better in time.