Nearly Ripped Achillies Tendon + Calf Raises

[animal2b]

Ouch. I was doing calf raises on the leg press machine - which I've done for months and NEVER experienced any pain. But last Tuesday was totally different. I was calf raising 400 pounds (per usual) and in my left ankle felt a pain as if somebody had jammed a razor blade into my ankle.

So, I stopped and took off my shoe - figured they were falling apart and a piece of metal became exposed. I was wrong, so I was trying to figure out what was wrong. I hit the calf raises a second time - this time without my shoes to see if it was a shoe problem I couldn't see or not. It still hurt without the shoe.

So I headed over to the seated calf raise machine - put on 200 pounds and did them no problem. No pain. Headed over to the hack squat machine to do calf raises - couldn't - the pain was too unbearable.

I asked one of the trainers what was going on and he said:

"If you have a tight achillies tendon - doing calf raises on an angled machine will only make it worse. Your tendon is already very stretched out on the leg press, so then to extend it even further is killer. That's why its not a good idea to do calves on any angled machine. It didn't hurt on the seated calf raises b/c your feet are on a flat position."

He suggested I stretch out the tendon, so I've been doing it - but I feel the *SAME* pain when I stretch as when I did calf raises. Should that be happening?

I'm doing the isometric stretch where you push against a wall, one leg extended behind you, one infront, bending the knee. The extended leg is the one that feels the stretch and hurts like a mother.

The other thing I've read is that tendon problems CAN be caused from standing for extended periods of time - well, thats my job. I'm a food runner on my feet from 4pm to midnight!

I was wondering first of all, why it just started hurting recently? Think I can blame this one on the job - or my workouts? The way I see it, if I've always had a tight tendon, I woulda' realized it months ago when I did calf raises on the leg press - but it hasn't been a problem until now. So it must be caused from all the pressure of standing for 7-8 hours a day, four days a week.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Experiences?

[tarun_s]

it could be from an improper warmup. i've sprained my ankle before and everytime i do calf raises and stuff i gotta make sure its really warm and stretched out or it hurts like a mother. see a doctor or physiotherapist and make sure u stretch it good and do exercises with a tensor band to strengthen it.

edit: before stretching it good, u should really see a physio to see if theres any serious damage. stretching could make the damage worse.

[animal2b]

it could be from an improper warmup. i've sprained my ankle before and everytime i do calf raises and stuff i gotta make sure its really warm and stretched out or it hurts like a mother. see a doctor or physiotherapist and make sure u stretch it good and do exercises with a tensor band to strengthen it.

edit: before stretching it good, u should really see a physio to see if theres any serious damage. stretching could make the damage worse.

nah - my warm up is sufficient enough so there should be no problems. Plus, I've tried it out again on the leg press to see if I can do a calf raise and the pain comes right back. My heel is tingling as we speak and I'm not doing anything.

[tarun_s]

there may not be a specific reason for your heel to act up. i'd suggest giving it some RICE. and probably seeing a physio.

[Big Jeff]

Well, I've never seriously hurt my tendon doing standing calf raises, but occasionally, I feel some kind of twinge. Whenever I feel that, I just call it a day and go home. My calves are lagging, but I'd rather cut a workout short than **** myself seriously and need crutches.

I think one way you can protect your achilles is by working through only the bottom portion of the range of motion. So you won't get the full contraction at the top, but you should still be able to tax the muscle. Also, try moving your feet forward on the platform, so the pivot point is closer to your heels than the balls of your feet.

But most importantly, don't try to work through pain in your achilles. It's just not worth it. You will end up on crutches.