That was regarding hamstring and the articles by Derek are in http://www.runningmechanics.com/articles/injury-management-and-rehabilitation/ As someone who has had their fair share of calf issues I’m not convinced the same thing applies 100%. IMHO without the cause of teh calf injury being addressed they are a ticking time bomb. Refer to http://hyphnz.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/shoes-stuff/
I would avoid accel work at this stage, and ease into tempo running & progressively increase the distance if no pain is experienced.
Relatively speaking, glutes, quads and calves are more heavily taxed during an acceleration vs. hamstrings. Wouldn’t some strength work first help? Along with some easy running, as Sharmer suggested perhaps?
Thanks everyone. John, now I do remember that was for the hamstrings. I have just been adding in some strength training stuff and some rehab stuff and will build up slowly. Was told 4-6 weeks perhaps. I made the mistake in the summer of 2009 in jumping back too soon after a calf injury. (same one so perhaps it may not have healed fully properly) Oddly enough I went for a massage the day before to have my legs and glutes worked on. After my warm up my workout consisted of 3 x 150m build ups then into some 200m in which I was still in my flats. First one felt no problem, second on I felt the pull after the first 15-20m so stopped.
Stay away from easy running as lower forces are always going to be absorbed more distally relative to the core. Strength training should reflect this too.Always address the origin of the symptom,not the symptom itself.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ARPWAVE1#p/u/66/hCQ9jAuC0L0
http://www.youtube.com/user/ARPWAVE1#p/u/65/EEAOoh44y5g
Thanks, I like your comment! Don’t those videos present some form of local strength though?
They partly do. They address the injured tissue to speed up signals coming from and to it,while allowing the proper signals to be sent from other tissues.
thanks for the links. I have also been instructed to do this as well and will add those in.
http://www.thesportsphysiotherapist.com/star-excursion-balance-test/
I get everybody doing exercises like these, and some others as part of their warm up - injured or not.
I find it’s a good Preventor of injury.
Like the toe walking - also
1 - outside of foot walking, heel toe
2 - inside of foot walking- heel toe
3 - also heel only walking - for the Tib. Ant.
Awesome for preventing and curing Shin or lower leg pain. Strengthens the Lower legs in real world strength.
Be careful with outside or inside foot walking as both may directly or indirectly impair proper neurological feedback from the soles of the feet.
Potential is there yes, But, we only do about 10m of it, as a warm up. So no chance of neurological change. Esp out/inside. Toe’s n heels can be done more volume if need be. Good call though 
There is enough risk of neurological challenge even in doing one rep,not ten meters,as the structures carrying the signal are challenged by the position of the foot. Volume in this case does NOT matter, position does.
I have seen too much Positive from it to consider it doing more Neurological damage than the benefits we all get from doing them. Our training is conducted on pretty Average, below average grass.
Out of the million movements we all do on a day to day basis - i highly doubt ONE rep would cause such change like you’re suggesting. Now, i could be wrong - but, i would be more than surprised if it happened. Shocked at the least.
Esp when one considers this, to become Ok at something, one needs to practice the said movement a fair amount of time. Perhaps an Hr a day? To get good, more Hrs - perhaps 1.5hrs and really focusing on Form. To get Great = more time, more focus on perfection on every movement. If one is say swimming, doing 1km every 20min, they could be doing 4-5km per day. How many PERFECT arm strokes is that? Each day. Thousands. Just to perfect a 100m (or whatever) Dash lasting less than 1min. I’m sorry - i cannot get my head around 1REP - Not when people are training in the Thousands.
Your point about reps and numbers does not apply here. But I respect your thoughts,and I am not getting into any discussion,as you may know.
I take the ‘be careful’ part as ‘don’t overdo it’, which I respect. But if not at all, what kind of exercises would you use, say, to strengthen the lateral part of the feet after a twisting ankle, as some physios suggest, avoiding an improper neurological feedback at the same time?
http://www.youtube.com/user/ARPWAVE1#p/u/70/xd3nVF7v6U4
http://www.youtube.com/user/ARPWAVE1#p/u/67/oN2nZPrBwLs
I never found necessary to do anything different,or more. Remember strength is still a very general quality,largely dependant on neurological feedback.
"…the Retinacula which was once thought to support the ankle and tendons, now doesn’t appear to be a very good supporting structure but it is loaded with different types of receptors.
They also noted that with an ankle injury the Retinacula become disrupted leading to de-afferentation. They specifically noted dysfunction in the Hip and knee. They also thought the de-afferentation was due to direct trauma where the retinacula joined the periosteum. MR studies confirmed a discontinuity of the area.
If anything this article supports the use of the TIB/FIB tape to reduce the weakness caused from the joint. Of course additional rehab is required such as GTO or MS manipulation of specific muscles as well as specific joint manipulation. But support is a necessary item to stop the de-afferentation process and allow the afferent fibers to regenerate." (Dr. John Pietila http://www.pietilachiropractic.com/pietila-chiropractic-doctors.htm)
This de-afferentiation risk is what I have experienced and seen in athletes too often associated both with the outside/inside of foot walking type of exercises,and with specific attempts to strengthen the lateral part of the feet of which above,and what I refer to as the source of potentially impaired neurological feedback.
In my experience it often contributes to,if not primarily causes many calf (as discussed here),knee,hip,and even shoulder injuries.
FYI - Diagnosis
Trevor,
As discussed and as reported by Barrie L. Steed MD of Sunridge Diagnostic Imaging, you have a minor disruption of the fascia against the left lateral gastoc muscle. This minor disruption of the fascia is directly related to pain that you have been concerned with and I expect the fibers of the fascia will heal over the next month. It is extremely important for you to keep the area mobile and limit any ballistic movements of the lower limb specifically over the next 4 weeks as this injury heals.
Please contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns.
I appreciate all the information. I will follow doctor’s orders while maintaining the strengthening (heel drops etc.) I am optimistic that is will heal fine with time but may force a wait for the 2012 indoor/outdoor season instead of this year (since the season is so short here in Canada after early July)
Thanks again.
Hi All, saw the therapist yesterday and give the green light to start running again. On Thursday I did 10 x 10 m easy strides after warm ups with A,B,C skips.
Obviously I need to ease in but quick questions? - ease in with tempo or with quicker/shorter bursts - minimal volume.
Quite honestly, I would ease in using drills on a soft surface (grass), keeping the motion underneath (vertical) through use of A’s primarily (marching, low amplitude skipping, and low amplitude running A’s (stepping over ankle height). I would build up from 10m to 20m and perhaps even 30m over time. Accordingly, as things move on, you would increase the amplitude of knee height for the A-skips and A-runs until the athlete has reached normal levels. You need to accumulate volume in these types of drills before you start higher velocity work or even tempo work. Sprinting or running will put more stress on the calves, particularly at the “toe-off” and “heel recovery” phases.
With these types of cases, I am not giving hard timelines for transition into running. I’m checking the calves with massage and passes over the muscles to determine tonal changes before, during and after a training session. I’m also watching technique in the drills to see if there is any compensation/favoring going on with the injured side. It is a day-by-day, workout-to-workout assessment.
Hamstrings - in my opinion - are easier to work with. Calves and achilles tendon injuries can be tricky if not handled appropriately (and can come back to haunt you). Take your time. Don’t rush.
Work capacity can be accomplished in the pool if need be (without taxing the calves as much). Be careful with stationary bike as well.