Not Going to Let a Calf Injury Derail Me - Need opinons on my refocused workout

[kjake55]

I have a calf strain from overuse. It’s the 2nd time I’ve gotten it in less than 5 weeks. I’m going to refocus my workout for the next 3-4 weeks. Aside from my calf, my legs just feels overly fatigued lately so maybe I’ve been overtraining my lower body in general.

I put together a 3-day split that doesn't include any leg work. It has focused days for chest, back and shoulders. I added arm and core work to round things out in each workout and I’m planning to add 20 minutes of bike or rowing to get the heart rate up a couple of times per week. Saturdays I work out with my trainer

I'm still working out all the sets and reps but but I would appreciate your opinions of the workout and if you think this is a good approach for a while? Thanks in advance.

Monday (emphasis on Back)
Close Grip Lat Pull downs
Seated Rows
1A DB Row
BNP
Seated dumbbell press
Pull ups
Side Bends/Trunk rotations


Wednesday (emphasis on Chest)
Bench Press
Combo Dumbbell Fly/Dumbbell pullovers (from bench or ball)
Upright Rows
EZ-bar Bicep Curl
Xx Kickbacks or Resistance Band Overhead Extensions
Push Ups
Chairs

Thursday (emphasis on Shoulders)
5x5 DB Combo: Front Delt, Side Delt, Arm Curl, Sh Press
Bent Over Lat Raise
Cybex Chest
4x6 Core 4 (rings, ropes or smith): Face pulls, 1A Pulls, Bent Leg Inverted Rows; Straight Leg Inverted Rows

[mmater]

I have a calf strain from overuse. It’s the 2nd time I’ve gotten it in less than 5 weeks. I’m going to refocus my workout for the next 3-4 weeks. Aside from my calf, my legs just feels overly fatigued lately so maybe I’ve been overtraining my lower body in general.

I put together a 3-day split that doesn't include any leg work. It has focused days for chest, back and shoulders. I added arm and core work to round things out in each workout and I’m planning to add 20 minutes of bike or rowing to get the heart rate up a couple of times per week. Saturdays I work out with my trainer

I'm still working out all the sets and reps but but I would appreciate your opinions of the workout and if you think this is a good approach for a while? Thanks in advance.

Monday (emphasis on Back)
Close Grip Lat Pull downs
Seated Rows
1A DB Row
BNP
Seated dumbbell press
Pull ups
Side Bends/Trunk rotations


Wednesday (emphasis on Chest)
Bench Press
Combo Dumbbell Fly/Dumbbell pullovers (from bench or ball)
Upright Rows
EZ-bar Bicep Curl
Xx Kickbacks or Resistance Band Overhead Extensions
Push Ups
Chairs

Thursday (emphasis on Shoulders)
5x5 DB Combo: Front Delt, Side Delt, Arm Curl, Sh Press
Bent Over Lat Raise
Cybex Chest
4x6 Core 4 (rings, ropes or smith): Face pulls, 1A Pulls, Bent Leg Inverted Rows; Straight Leg Inverted Rows

Not sure what BNP means, but this looks pretty good. I have a couple of questions though:

1. How did you get this calf strain? Is it both or just one? What makes it hurt worse or feel better?
2. What are you and your trainer going to do on saturdays to work around the injury?

I don't know about you, but my leg muscles are very tight in general. Basically, I am like a crouched cat in the ready to attack position always. Meaning if I squat all the way down, I am on my toes like a catcher in baseball. I have tight calves. In the past when they have gotton sore (which is rare for me) I focused on slow stretching, like walking. I think with the above plan, depending on how fast you move through it or rest in between exercises, you could very well make it your cardio session as well and get your heart rate up without an additional "cardio" session. This, in my opinion, would keep you from even possibly going "too hard" in the cardio and risk further injury or prevent recovery. Not too mention, if you feel this may be the result of overuse, cutting out that "extra" cardio would help trim back on the training time.

I would also be careful on your pushups or planks or anything like that, as the calves are somewhat involved in those types of moves as well.

Just a few thoughts, but I'm no expert.

[kjake55]

Not sure what BNP means, but this looks pretty good. I have a couple of questions though:

1. How did you get this calf strain? Is it both or just one? What makes it hurt worse or feel better?
2. What are you and your trainer going to do on saturdays to work around the injury?

I don't know about you, but my leg muscles are very tight in general. Basically, I am like a crouched cat in the ready to attack position always. Meaning if I squat all the way down, I am on my toes like a catcher in baseball. I have tight calves. In the past when they have gotton sore (which is rare for me) I focused on slow stretching, like walking. I think with the above plan, depending on how fast you move through it or rest in between exercises, you could very well make it your cardio session as well and get your heart rate up without an additional "cardio" session. This, in my opinion, would keep you from even possibly going "too hard" in the cardio and risk further injury or prevent recovery. Not too mention, if you feel this may be the result of overuse, cutting out that "extra" cardio would help trim back on the training time.

I would also be careful on your pushups or planks or anything like that, as the calves are somewhat involved in those types of moves as well.

Just a few thoughts, but I'm no expert.

Hey M - thanks for the thoughts.

BNP = Behind the Neck Presses (which will be done from a seated position due to the current circumstances).

I don't know what T and I will do yet but I can say that he will do everything and anything possible to help me rehab. I'm going to talk to him about it tonight and also get his thoughts on my workout plan. He'll probably change some things around but that's ok I have 110% faith in him. We have been working out together for a couple of years now and I haven't met much better than him in all that time.

I hurt it running Hurricanes. It's sometimes called a tread and shred where you run for a timed period, jump off the tread do 2 exercises, jump back on at a higher speed/longer intreval etc. You're on & off 5 times w/2 minutes of timed rest between rounds. 5 rounds total. I'm running at my top speeds so far which ends each set w/1min 40 sec on the tread @ 7.0. When I 1st started running these my start speed was 3.5. I'm not a real runner although I'm trying to be. These workouts are more for metabolics than running but I honetly love them and use them as kind of a bench mark. I don't want to quit them.

I don't usually take a lot of rest between sets unless someone is hogging up the space I need to use (curls in the squat rack anyone??? arrrrgggg :-| ) so using this new workout to keep the heart rate up is a great idea. Thanks for the insight, it's been very helpful.

[thehobbes]

Hi kjake, if you've hurt your calf twice in that short of a period you probably need to get on a stretching routine asap - for ALL muscle groups. Do you foam roll?? If not it will help a ton. I would definately do some gentle stretching while getting past this injury.


I would also be careful on your pushups or planks or anything like that, as the calves are somewhat involved in those types of moves as well.

^^^Agreed, and in addition be careful on all exercises as far as bracing yourself with too much strain on your calves when you're doing something seated. Maybe drop the weight a tad so your legs and feet can relax some when you're doing the upper body lifts.


BNP = Behind the Neck Presses (which will be done from a seated position due to the current circumstances).

I'm not trying to be the shoulder police here, but just an fyi - those can be damaging to your rotator cuffs because of the awkward position. Seated military press works much better IMO. Then again, some people simply have better flexibility and can do things like BNPs without ever having a problem. Just be careful, I cringe every time I see someone doing those at the gym.



I hurt it running Hurricanes. It's sometimes called a tread and shred where you run for a timed period, jump off the tread do 2 exercises, jump back on at a higher speed/longer intreval etc. You're on & off 5 times w/2 minutes of timed rest between rounds. 5 rounds total. I'm running at my top speeds so far which ends each set w/1min 40 sec on the tread @ 7.0. When I 1st started running these my start speed was 3.5. I'm not a real runner although I'm trying to be. These workouts are more for metabolics than running but I honetly love them and use them as kind of a bench mark. I don't want to quit them.

That sounds like some good cardio - BUT, are you doing a sufficient warm up and cool down when you do Hurricanes? If you're not then that could cause some problems. It would be like coming in to the gym, jumping on bench press, and immediately doing a bunch of sets of your 5 rep max, then simply going home, no stretching, no light sets, no warm up, nothing.

Good luck OP!

[kjake55]

Hi kjake, if you've hurt your calf twice in that short of a period you probably need to get on a stretching routine asap - for ALL muscle groups. Do you foam roll?? If not it will help a ton. I would definately do some gentle stretching while getting past this injury.

I do foam roll but it's usually for post workout soft tissue repair. I'll have try a roll pre workout. I do stretch **a little** on weekends but it's not a regular part of my regime. I tried yoga once and was bored to tears with the whole thing. I'll look up some sites and get a routine that I can stick to.


^^^Agreed, and in addition be careful on all exercises as far as bracing yourself with too much strain on your calves when you're doing something seated. Maybe drop the weight a tad so your legs and feet can relax some when you're doing the upper body lifts.

Valid points I never thought of. Last night I kept all the weights light to mid range but part of that is I'm still trying to get out of the "I'm feeling sorry for myself" funk that I've been in since I got hurt. You know it's crazy the things you start thinking when you're hurting like "What the hell is wrong with you at your age trying to work out like this!" I know it's nutz and it'll pass but it did run through my head.


I'm not trying to be the shoulder police here, but just an fyi - those can be damaging to your rotator cuffs because of the awkward position. Seated military press works much better IMO. Then again, some people simply have better flexibility and can do things like BNPs without ever having a problem. Just be careful, I cringe every time I see someone doing those at the gym.

Never had a problem but hey I never had a problem with my calf before either. I'll definetly be conscious of my movements while doing them.


That sounds like some good cardio - BUT, are you doing a sufficient warm up and cool down when you do Hurricanes? If you're not then that could cause some problems. It would be like coming in to the gym, jumping on bench press, and immediately doing a bunch of sets of your 5rep max, then simply going home, no stretching, no light sets, no warm up, nothing.

**shmaeful face** I sohuldn't admit this out loud but what you described is basicaly how I work. I usually get to the gym after 45 minutes of traffic, do 10-15 body weight squats to unlock the muscles and hit the iron. I warm up on Saturday w/T but when I'm on my own warmups and cool downs just don't seem to enter into the equation. I guess I better start retooling that aspect of my workouts as well.

Thanks for all the good advise. You AM Chicks are the greatest!