Should I be worried?

[*Floater*]

I booked a doc's appointment for tomorrow. I have low expectation's of doctors in general for this type of ambigious stuff, but my insurance will cover it, so might as well.

I generally train my calves twice a week - if I hit them hard (high volume, low weight usually does it), they become sore a day or two later and then return back to normal after a few more days. On my holiday though I just concentrated on cardio and on compound exercises such as squats and pullups, and at the dive resorts I didn't exercise.

Cameron, I've noticed that when I train the calves (or anything else), they adapt to the movement after a while and I stop getting sore, so in order to avoid sore calves (and those muscles next to the shin bone) next time I dive, can I do a certain exercise to keep them conditioned? High volume, low weight standing calf raises perhaps?

 

[*Floater*]

Just remembered a client from my early days as a personal trainer. A high school football player came to me during the off-season for some additional conditioning, and he really hit the calf raises hard on our first session. I mean, this kid was a monster (6'2", 235# high school sophomore), intent on showing no pain.

He didn't show for his second appointment, so I called his home. No answer. The next day, his mother called me and said that her son had missed 4 days of school because he couldn't walk. In fact, he had just walked to the bathroom for the first time that day- he'd been crawling from bed to bathroom for 4 days.

Of course, I'm now thinking she's going to start talking about lawsuits and such, but she says, "I don't know what you did to him, but that's exactly what he needs. Can I bring you a check?"

Cameron

I've had similar experiences with my calves, but the soreness has never lasted this long. It's good to hear that this isn't that unusual though.

 

[CameronMartz]

I booked a doc's appointment for tomorrow. I have low expectation's of doctors in general for this type of ambigious stuff, but my insurance will cover it, so might as well.

I generally train my calves twice a week - if I hit them hard (high volume, low weight usually does it), they become sore a day or two later and then return back to normal after a few more days. On my holiday though I just concentrated on cardio and on compound exercises such as squats and pullups, and at the dive resorts I didn't exercise.

Cameron, I've noticed that when I train the calves (or anything else), they adapt to the movement after a while and I stop getting sore, so in order to avoid sore calves (and those muscles next to the shin bone) next time I dive, can I do a certain exercise to keep them conditioned? High volume, low weight standing calf raises perhaps?

As muscles condition to a particular movement, soreness is definitely lessened. If you don't get sore at all, however, you should consider increasing intensity to avoid plateauing.

The key is that our muscles adapt to particular movements, as I said, and that muscles that are well-conditioned for one movement can still get very sore after performing new movements. This is what you talk about in your initial post. Though you do calf exercises, they don't exactly mimic the ways you were using your fins, and thus your calves got unexpectedly sore (assuming no DVT).

Short of getting in the water with your fins and practicing kicks (not always practical for a regular fitness program), you can try other calf exercises. I have a few good ones at http://www.divefitness.com/html/articles.html under "Preventing Foot and Calf Cramps." My guess is that you're already doing the standing calf raises, but you might not be doing the seated calf raise and the sock grabs, both great exercises to condition your feet and calves for finning.

Also, you mentioned that your straps were too tight. This alone can cause you to change your biomechanics in a way that you overworked some muscles. Getting your gear straightened out (like I think you might have) would otherwise be the first priority.

Cameron

 

[CameronMartz]

I've had similar experiences with my calves, but the soreness has never lasted this long. It's good to hear that this isn't that unusual though.

It's not something to aim for, but it happens, and I've only ever heard of this for calf muscles.

Cameron

 

[DandyDon]

Well, did you go to the doctor....?? :11:

 

[*Floater*]

Well, did you go to the doctor....?? :11:

Just got back. The doctor ruled out DVT because (a) she couldn't find any bumps or such in the sore calf, and (b) she measured the circumference of both my calves (at the same distance from the knees) and they were equal.

She agreed it was unusual for my leg to be sore this long, but sometimes I guess it can happen. She recommended I take advil or ibuprofen twice each day with meals for 3-4 days. The level of discomfort changes somewhat during the day, but at least right now I feel better than yesterday. Maybe it'll the next 3-4 days to recede to a level that doesn't inhibit my normal activity...

Anyway, I feel better knowing it's nothing permanent. In the past few days when I didn't seem to get better I sometimes wondered if I'd never recover 100%.

 

[DandyDon]

Good to hear. My calf swelled up a lot when I had my DVT in Oct, and the extra skin is still flaking off now that I've recovered. Ewww.

Hope you get to feeling better soon - glad it's nothing worse.