How should I rehab my injured calf muscle?

June 19, 2024 6:13 PM

Playing tennis tonight, I injured my right calf. I had the same issue years ago, but it healed and I haven't had an issue since. I once thought it was Magnesium-related, but now I think it's just "tennis leg." What are the best exercises you've used to strengthen/repair/rehab/stretch your similarly injured calf?

Ow.

posted by yellowcandy to Health & Fitness (4 answers total)

Best answer: See this page, the header "Calf Stretch"

A few things. The gif is animated, but you're supposed to hold the pose static for 15 seconds. Also, keep in mind you're stretching your extended leg calf (the back one), not the front one. My PT had me mix it up by angling my back foot as well. So 15 seconds with the foot turned in, 15 seconds with the foot facing forward, and 15 seconds with the foot turned out: \ then | then /. And you can do the back leg straight, or bent knee (bring your foot closer to the wall). I usually a set of straight leg/bent leg, x3 each side.

You can do 1-legged calf raises, either from flat on the floor or off a step or curb to let your heel drop even further. If you do the heel drop, make sure to come up on both feet.

This is a variant that was recommended to me by a PT, but I haven't started yet

I also use a stick roller, either flat or textured (those are just examples, not an endorsement of a brand)
posted by Gorgik at 8:44 PM on June 19

Best answer: Can you afford PT/physio? Honestly they’re great, and can also diagnose if anything else is contributing to the pain or problem. You can then always try out things you’ve found on your own as well.

I injured an already injured calf by stretching it too hard recently — be careful! My physio strictly informed me I mustn’t do any rehab exercise past a 4/10 pain level which seems wildly low (I did ballet as a kid, lol) but they know what’s what. And prevention of further injury is key.
posted by lokta at 3:19 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I recently injured my calf (light strain) and my PT gave me some very general advice that was helpful (you should probably consult a PT or other health provider to make sure you don’t accidentally make the injury worse). In my case I had been resting and not walking around as much to give the injury a chance to heal. PT said I should actually be walking around and using the injured leg to keep blood flowing and preventing stiffness (a little pain is ok with walking but if it goes beyond a 4 out of 10 definitely stop). My PT also gave me a series of exercises to help strengthen the injured area of my calf and some of the other support muscles/joints in my ankle. Even though these exercises hurt a bit initially I did find that after a week the pain had basically gone away. Overall I think in my injury the most helpful thing was just making a point to stay active and keep walking without pushing it too far.
posted by forkisbetter at 8:33 AM on June 20

Best answer: I'd echo the calls for PT if possible - several years ago, I kept re-tearing my calf while playing tennis. It was so aggravating to feel "healed" and then get hurt again.

I did calf raises/lowers and some light weight training to build up the muscle to help keep things stable.

I play 2-3/week and haven't had any recurrences in years.

Along with the exercises, she told me to lightly warm up before playing and stretch after (when most people do the opposite by stretching before they play). Don't stretch cold muscles!

Good luck and hope you can stay healthy.
posted by Twicketface at 11:26 AM on June 20