# Torn calf muscle help



## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

Hey guys!  So I definitely tore my calf muscle today.  I was doing calf raises on the hack squat machine.  During the eccentric phase I felt something pop and had to bear all weight on the good leg.   Limped my ass outta the gym.  It's swollen, painful and tender upon palpation.  From what I've been reading I'm pretty sure it's a grade 3 sprain.  This is horrible timing as my wife just had abdominal surgery 2 days ago.  Aside from the usual ice compression, elevation and NSAIDs is there anything else I can do to facilitate the healing process?  Thanks guys.


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## Jada (Jun 27, 2016)

Fked up shit, hope u get well. On another note did u warm up properly? Did you raise the lbs slowly?  Never done calfs  on a hack squat machine, does your  gym own a seated calf raise.


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

It's like a reverse angled leg press.  I was doing back and bis and the end of my workout felt like doing a few sets of calves.  it happened on my 2nd set.  Looking back I should have warmed up more but the weight was relatively light compared to what I normally do.  I think I stretched the muscle to far during the eccentric phase.


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## Jada (Jun 27, 2016)

Damn, I'm not a expert but for me I think it has nothing to do with the eccentric phase, for me it has to do with not warming up good before u hit it with some lbs, now I could be wrong in all wish u speedy recovery.


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## ECKSRATED (Jun 27, 2016)

Its didn't rip or ball up or anything crazy like that did it? If no then no nothing really else u can but wait to let it heal. Calf strains tend to heal pretty fast tho so that's a good thing. Don't stretch the muscle too much but have the old lady rub it a few times a day so it doesn't get too tight. Get some blood flow in there. Heal up brothe . 

Another reason why I don't train calves. Lol


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

Jada said:


> Damn, I'm not a expert but for me I think it has nothing to do with the eccentric phase, for me it has to do with not warming up good before u hit it with some lbs, now I could be wrong in all wish u speedy recovery.



Yea I guess I could have warmed up more.  Thanks jada!


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

ECKSRATED said:


> Its didn't rip or ball up or anything crazy like that did it? If no then no nothing really else u can but wait to let it heal. Calf strains tend to heal pretty fast tho so that's a good thing. Don't stretch the muscle too much but have the old lady rub it a few times a day so it doesn't get too tight. Get some blood flow in there. Heal up brothe .
> 
> Another reason why I don't train calves. Lol



That's the first thing I looked for was whether or no it balled up.  It doesn't appear that way just really swollen.  I hate training calves.  If they didn't look like sticks I probably wouldn't either.  They've been the same size forever regardless of squats and deads.  Thanks ecks!


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## Itburnstopee (Jun 27, 2016)

The **** are calves....


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## Seeker (Jun 27, 2016)

Itburnstopee said:


> The **** are calves....



They are the muscles that go from your knees to your ankles. You know the ones?  Well they're muscles would make anyone look good if they had decent size ones. Oh and if you happen to have decent size legs but sticks for calves you'd probably look like a dumb fukin idiot dousch because you think it's too cool to train them.


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

Seeker said:


> They are the muscles that go from your knees to your ankles. You know the ones?  Well they're muscles would make anyone look good if they had decent size ones. Oh and if you happen to have decent size legs but sticks for calves you'd probably look like a dumb fukin idiot dousch because you think it's too cool to train them.



Exactly my point.  My calves just don't match the rest of my body.  So I try to hit them at least 1x/week.  I'm more of a bodybuilder too.


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## snake (Jun 27, 2016)

Mind2muscle said:


> I hate training calves.  If they didn't look like sticks I probably wouldn't either.  They've been the same size forever regardless of squats and deads.  Thanks ecks!



Brother, I feel your pain here. How fuuked up is that when you are working a muscle that is lagging so far behind and will not grow no matter what you do and then you rip it?

I'm on the fence to weather or not it's a complete rupture as you think. The "POP' is a dead give away to grade 3 but it didn't ball up. I'm wonder if it may be in the soleus since it's deep and you may not see it "Ball up".

On another note; bruising can happen in hours or days.


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## PillarofBalance (Jun 27, 2016)

You should get some imaging done to see what exactly happened.
Any bruising?

Rest it a week. No ice unless you are in pain.

After a week start doing very light calf raises. 100 reps every other day.


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## Seeker (Jun 27, 2016)

Once you are good to go again I would suggest hitting your calves as often as possible to try and initiate some sort of growth. You're not gonna overtrain your calves. Hit them everyday or eod.


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## grizzldsealpoacher (Jun 27, 2016)

I have been through this . It happen'd to me running same thing though pop pain couldn't put weight on it for a while swelling mine bruised but no knot or muscle detachment. I couldn't do much more then limp for the first week or so . I iced it on and off constantly also used heat at night. The best thing you can do is get some Coban and wrap the leg I would go from the knee to the foot . I say Coban rather then ace b/c coban will constantly tighten as you go through your day when it gets to tight take it off I usually would go about 2 hours on 1 off through out the day. Took me a week before I was hobbling again about 2 before I could walk pretty normally with the coban and it was pretty much gone in a month. 

Worst part of this injury is it hasn't really gone away totally I have to be really careful running now . I can always feel it there and if I go to hard or before my legs are fully recovered i will pull it again . I use a muscle stick to roll out my calves before I do anything involving them that will help you going forward once you recover 

feel better dude hope you heal well


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

snake said:


> Brother, I feel your pain here. How fuuked up is that when you are working a muscle that is lagging so far behind and will not grow no matter what you do and then you rip it?
> 
> I'm on the fence to weather or not it's a complete rupture as you think. The "POP' is a dead give away to grade 3 but it didn't ball up. I'm wonder if it may be in the soleus since it's deep and you may not see it "Ball up".
> 
> On another note; bruising can happen in hours or days.




22 hours later no bruising yet.  Still swollen and painful upon palpation.  Pulses present.  Just leaving the walkin doc said it doesn't appear ruptured because I still have a decent amount of strength.  Got a script for pt.


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

PillarofBalance said:


> You should get some imaging done to see what exactly happened.
> Any bruising?
> 
> Rest it a week. No ice unless you are in pain.
> ...



No bruising.  I'm guessing your saying no ice because it inhibits the bodies natural healing process?  Pt is gonna fit me in today


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

grizzldsealpoacher said:


> I have been through this . It happen'd to me running same thing though pop pain couldn't put weight on it for a while swelling mine bruised but no knot or muscle detachment. I couldn't do much more then limp for the first week or so . I iced it on and off constantly also used heat at night. The best thing you can do is get some Coban and wrap the leg I would go from the knee to the foot . I say Coban rather then ace b/c coban will constantly tighten as you go through your day when it gets to tight take it off I usually would go about 2 hours on 1 off through out the day. Took me a week before I was hobbling again about 2 before I could walk pretty normally with the coban and it was pretty much gone in a month.
> 
> Worst part of this injury is it hasn't really gone away totally I have to be really careful running now . I can always feel it there and if I go to hard or before my legs are fully recovered i will pull it again . I use a muscle stick to roll out my calves before I do anything involving them that will help you going forward once you recover
> 
> feel better dude hope you heal well



Thanks grizz!  Doc said I can go back to the gym in 5 days but I think she's a moron.  Gave me paperwork about a tendon tear even though it's a muscle tear.  I hope I can walk normally and bear weight within a week or 2.  I can't be out of work for any longer than that.  There's no way I'd be able to pay my bills


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## grizzldsealpoacher (Jun 27, 2016)

Mind2muscle said:


> Thanks grizz!  Doc said I can go back to the gym in 5 days but I think she's a moron.  Gave me paperwork about a tendon tear even though it's a muscle tear.  I hope I can walk normally and bear weight within a week or 2.  I can't be out of work for any longer than that.  There's no way I'd be able to pay my bills



You should be able to get around pretty normally with in a day or two as long as its wrapped man that helps soooo much. In the beginning I remember I literally couldn't put pressure on it at all with out major pain but once I wrapped it I could hobble which was way better then nothing. I didn't take any time off of work and I am on my feet all day I would just take 20 min ice breaks and swap out the coban a few times a day . Buy a box of that stuff it sucks to try and re use it. Much ezer just to toss it and use a new roll . 

One tip if you use the coban save yourself the trouble of wrapping it to tight to start off with . Don't wrap it tighter then the pressure it takes to pull it from the roll like I said before it tightens on its own as you move so if you apply pressure when initially wrapping it you will cut off circulation and have to start again pretty quickly 

good luck bud


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 27, 2016)

grizzldsealpoacher said:


> You should be able to get around pretty normally with in a day or two as long as its wrapped man that helps soooo much. In the beginning I remember I literally couldn't put pressure on it at all with out major pain but once I wrapped it I could hobble which was way better then nothing. I didn't take any time off of work and I am on my feet all day I would just take 20 min ice breaks and swap out the coban a few times a day . Buy a box of that stuff it sucks to try and re use it. Much ezer just to toss it and use a new roll .
> 
> One tip if you use the coban save yourself the trouble of wrapping it to tight to start off with . Don't wrap it tighter then the pressure it takes to pull it from the roll like I said before it tightens on its own as you move so if you apply pressure when initially wrapping it you will cut off circulation and have to start again pretty quickly
> 
> good luck bud



The more I move around the better it feels.  Wrapped it a little while ago so hopefully that continues to decrease the pain.  I can't get in to see the pt until next Tuesday.  So I'm going to start doing some ROM just to keep the blood flowing.  Thanks for the input dude!


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## Itburnstopee (Jun 27, 2016)

Seeker said:


> They are the muscles that go from your knees to your ankles. You know the ones?  Well they're muscles would make anyone look good if they had decent size ones. Oh and if you happen to have decent size legs but sticks for calves you'd probably look like a dumb fukin idiot douch** because you think it's too cool to train them.



No way? I've never heard of those dude. I'll look into that even though I mostly just care about strength more than size.....


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## Seeker (Jun 28, 2016)

Then keep your stupid fuking comments off of threads of those people who do care about maybe both strength and size. This board is made up of many interests, not just yours.


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## snake (Jun 28, 2016)

Mind2muscle said:


> Thanks grizz!  Doc said I can go back to the gym in 5 days but I think *she's* a moron.  Gave me paperwork about a tendon tear even though it's a muscle tear.  I hope I can walk normally and bear weight within a week or 2.  I can't be out of work for any longer than that.  There's no way I'd be able to pay my bills



That's your problem right there. Call it a chauvinistic statement but until you had a nasty injury yourself in the gym or trained a lot of people that have, you can not understand the recovery time that is needed. There is nothing so basic as lifting weights. All other sports can benefit from resistance training but none can add to it.


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 28, 2016)

snake said:


> That's your problem right there. Call it a chauvinistic statement but until you had a nasty injury yourself in the gym or trained a lot of people that have, you can not understand the recovery time that is needed. There is nothing so basic as lifting weights. All other sports can benefit from resistance training but none can add to it.



I'm expecting the recovery period to be at least 4-6 weeks before I can train legs.  What I wish could happen is be back to work and working out within a week but I know that is not realistic.  I've had my fair share of injuries and have been laid up for months at a time.  This is the part of the game that really sucks.  Could be worse though.  At least I can still eat the wife's snatch


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## Itburnstopee (Jun 28, 2016)

Seeker said:


> Then keep your stupid fuking comments off of threads of those people who do care about maybe both strength and size. This board is made up of many interests, not just yours.



Simmer down. I posted one comment that if it upset you or anyone could simply be ignored, or hell you could have even negged it for all I care. Is there really any need to fight and argue? No there's not. But if you did feel it necessary there's a flame forum on this site, you should know this. Feel free to go there and rip me a new one; doesn't matter to me. That's all I have to say to you for now.


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 28, 2016)

Because of my insurance there's only a couple of places that I can use for pt.  they can't get me in until next Tuesday.  Otherwise my deductible is $750.  I started doing some stretches and calf raises both legs for now.  Once the pain eases more I'll try single leg calf raises.


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## snake (Jun 28, 2016)

Mind2muscle said:


> Because of my insurance there's only a couple of places that I can use for pt.  they can't get me in until next Tuesday.  Otherwise my deductible is $750.  I started doing some stretches and calf raises both legs for now.  Once the pain eases more I'll try single leg calf raises.



Try going in and telling those blood sucking PT's that you only have enough cabbage to cover X number of visits. Tell them to layout a plan for you and you'll follow it.


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 28, 2016)

snake said:


> Try going in and telling those blood sucking PT's that you only have enough cabbage to cover X number of visits. Tell them to layout a plan for you and you'll follow it.



Yea might be worth a shot.  They wanted $120 for the initial visit and $75 for each subsequent visit.  I'd rather get some sports or deep tissue massage for that price.  I'd probably be better off with obamacare.


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## grizzldsealpoacher (Jun 28, 2016)

Mind2muscle said:


> I'm expecting the recovery period to be at least 4-6 weeks before I can train legs.  What I wish could happen is be back to work and working out within a week but I know that is not realistic.  I've had my fair share of injuries and have been laid up for months at a time.  This is the part of the game that really sucks.  Could be worse though.  At least I can still eat the wife's snatch



Dude once you get back in the gym your gonna realize how much you actually use your calf muscles I felt strain from almost everything I tried to do at first . I think you should be able to do some light workouts in about 2 weeks the first week for me was forget it but the second I was moving around ok still limping but when it was wrapped I could get around ok and do some upper body movements. It's weird though even when I did upper body iso movements light weight just to try and maintain I would feel strain in the injury if you don't have one get a muscle stick there cheap on amazon 

https://www.amazon.com/Muscle-Rolle...&qid=1467139066&sr=8-14&keywords=muscle+stick

thats the one I have . You can roll out the injury a few times a day it will help with blood flow just don't over do it take it slow so you don't set yourself back . I now use it every time I run to help protect myself from re injury


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## Seeker (Jun 28, 2016)

Itburnstopee said:


> Simmer down. I posted one comment that if it upset you or anyone could simply be ignored, or hell you could have even negged it for all I care. Is there really any need to fight and argue? No there's not. But if you did feel it necessary there's a flame forum on this site, you should know this. Feel free to go there and rip me a new one; doesn't matter to me. That's all I have to say to you for now.



And you just recieved what I have to say.


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## Itburnstopee (Jun 29, 2016)

Seeker said:


> And you just recieved what I have to say.



So basically I won this little argument.


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 29, 2016)

grizzldsealpoacher said:


> Dude once you get back in the gym your gonna realize how much you actually use your calf muscles I felt strain from almost everything I tried to do at first . I think you should be able to do some light workouts in about 2 weeks the first week for me was forget it but the second I was moving around ok still limping but when it was wrapped I could get around ok and do some upper body movements. It's weird though even when I did upper body iso movements light weight just to try and maintain I would feel strain in the injury if you don't have one get a muscle stick there cheap on amazon
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Muscle-Rolle...&qid=1467139066&sr=8-14&keywords=muscle+stick
> 
> thats the one I have . You can roll out the injury a few times a day it will help with blood flow just don't over do it take it slow so you don't set yourself back . I now use it every time I run to help protect myself from re injury



I'm definitely going to look into getting one of these.  All I have is a foam roller right now.  It's day 2 and I'm still limping but I'm finding the more I move around the less it hurts.  Although every once in a while I'll move the wrong way and I get a sharp pain right on the gastrocnemius muscle.  I've been icing it about 3x/day and wrapping it also which seems to be helping.  I just don't know what the hell in going to do about work because there is no such thing as "light duty."  Your either 100% or not.  Thanks grizz!


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## Bro Bundy (Jun 29, 2016)

Pillow case to your face, make the shell muffle
Shoot your daughter in the calf muscle


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## Bro Bundy (Jun 29, 2016)

biggie smalls


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## saltylifter (Jun 30, 2016)

I don't have calfs so I don't have to worry about this


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## saltylifter (Jun 30, 2016)

Hope u get better soon man


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## Mind2muscle (Jun 30, 2016)

saltylifter said:


> I don't have calfs so I don't have to worry about this



I don't have calves either salty ; ) that's why I try to throw in some sets occasionally.  I guess this is what I deserve.  Thanks dude!


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