Help my cab locks up

[Chris89]

When I run for about 6 or 7 mins my cabs get locked up.

[bushmdc]

I think you mean calves. Anyways, it's different for every person but most people begin to feel mild symptoms of dehydration and electrolyte(potassium, sodium...) imbalances around mile six on a vigorous run. You might try drinking a sports drink a half-hour before your run and maybe taking a bottle with you.

[Chris89]

What do you mean by a sport drink

[bushmdc]

Gatorade, Poweraide, etc... Hey, I think i misunderstood your first question. If your calves are getting tight 6 min. into your run you might want to stretch before and after runs. Most of the time that happens when you increase your mileage too quickly. Your muscles need time to adjust to the mileage. Especially, if your just starting to run!

[LRSU_Dog]

Sports drinks, water, and supplements may not be your problem - unless you go into a run dehydrated. To be honest I am not sure what you mean exaclty when you say that your calves lock up, or if you are referenceing shin splints.

I addition to maintaining hydration when you work out (water has no substitute...) you need to ensure that you are properly stretching with both time and tension on all muscles you can. In your case special, and additional, attention needs to be focused on your legs as a whole, and your calves, shins and ankles specifically.

You may also want to consider stretching a mandatory part of your conditioning drills, as well perhaps take your run pace from current to slower until you have overcome yor calf problem.

Moo :)

[Chris89]

Well I see, I try to stretch my calves by just going up on my tip toes and going back down and that it . I use to be a really muscle guy . My calves use to be really built and tight could that be the case I don't know. What kind of excirces do I need to do ?

Chris

[tex8ball]

Just playin with your feet wont help you, you have to acually strech. Maybe your weight lifting program is getting in the way i dont know. I would try actual streching (10-15 min).

[LRSU_Dog]

Going up on your toes on a single foot can help guard against shin splints, however you need to stretch your entire leg, as each muscle group affects every other muscle group when you excercise - in this case running.

You need to stretch from top (head) down (feet) with at least 15 seconds of constant tension for each stretch. You will need to strech your waiste, hips, thighs, knees, claves, shins, and ankles.

If you do one, or too few, stretches focusing on one area, then you are not helping your situation - in that after you fix one problem another will eventually arise. Not to mention the fact that if you are fully stretched you decrease the possibility of excercise or exertion injuries which will cause downtime in training.

[souter22]

try drinking some milk before you go like 10-15 minutes its works just like sports drinks but way healtheir for you, and make sure you do a full body stretch. also try walking fast for a few minutes then jog for a few minutes and repeat. do that for a good week then start running more and then walk less, you legs wont cramp up as much and soon your body will get use to it. and thats a great thing.

[Chris89]

What do you mean a full body strech?

[Specialist Purdue]

Souter22 - try drinking some milk before you go like 10-15 mins.

Personally I would not do the drinking milk before a run. From doing Track and Cross Country in high school and just running on a regular basis you learn what work for you the best. If you drink milk before you run it leaves a nasty taste and film in your mouth and that is one of the last things you want to have when you are pushing yourself to keep a certain pace. I would go with what LRS said and drink water or Gatorade. Like I said you will find what works best for you and that is just my thought on the topic.

[LRSU_Dog]

A full body stretch is not just stretching your whole body in one motion (such as reaching for the sky) it means stretching all of your body.

The Top Down method (if you want to call it that) starts with you stretching your neck, moves to your shoulders and arms, to the side and waiste, to the hips, knees, and calves and ankles. You will have to do a variety of stretches to accomplish this, but if you take 15 good stretches with proper time and tension for the stretch you can go over your whole body in 5 minutes or less.

[groundup]

try drinking some milk before you go like 10-15 minutes its works just like sports drinks but way healtheir for you, and make sure you do a full body stretch. also try walking fast for a few minutes then jog for a few minutes and repeat. do that for a good week then start running more and then walk less, you legs wont cramp up as much and soon your body will get use to it. and thats a great thing.
Sorry but milk is probably one of the worst things you can drink before cardio workouts. The major reason being that it causes gas. The best thing you can drink is water or a sports drink. Sports drinks provide nutrients and electrolytes that water doesn't. They also usually contain a lot of salt so don't drink too much or you will retain too much water. I, personally, don't drink anything before PT. If you stay hydrated, your body will have more than enough water. You need to start worrying about hydration atleast two days before to give your body time to retain that water.

[Chris89]

Ground Up - Sorry but milk is probably one of the worst things you can drink before cardio workouts. The major reason being that it causes gas.

Sorry ladies but I don't want to be farting while I work out its just not me. I drink tons of water a day so I don't think its the liquid that is the problem. Ill try the strech tonight LRSU-Dog see what it does any more helpful hints put it on here some other people may need them and I am still looking for some more.

[souter22]

its were you take time and stretch most of your muscles. i have a pdf file that i use 2x a week that has helped i just do the stretches of it. ill see if i can upload it if not ill add it to my website and make a link.


ill have to go home and look, cant find it here at school

[Chris89]

Thank you....

[groundup]

Ground Up - Sorry but milk is probably one of the worst things you can drink before cardio workouts. The major reason being that it causes gas.

Sorry ladies but I don't want to be farting while I work out its just not me. I drink tons of water a day so I don't think its the liquid that is the problem. Ill try the strech tonight LRSU-Dog see what it does any more helpful hints put it on here some other people may need them and I am still looking for some more.
The farting would be beneficial. If you did have gas and didn't, it would be a hinderance. Gas = cramps.

[souter22]

kay let me just say its not like a whole glass of milk its just 1/2 a cup of milk, not alot, but it gets your blood vesles working and stuff, thats what my doctor says. if you drink too much its not good, but a small about is okay for you.

[Chris89]

I know I drink milk every night

[AbnMtn]

Chris,

Another thing that you may want to consider is how recent it's been since you started running and how often you run. If you started running recently and are running every day then you may consider allowing your muscles to rest a day. Once you can run without gettting the cramps, increase the frequency of your running again. You have to look at every aspect of your running program to find out the reason why your calves are cramping up.

[Chris89]

I take a day or two off running but I work my legs in a different format is that bad?

[AbnMtn]

Yeah, you have to consider that you may not be allowing enough time for your muscles to rest and get rid of the lactic acid (which is the substance that causes the discomfort in your muscles a day or two after a good work out). You can definately get cramps and could even cause damage to your muscles if you don't allow them to rest and get rid of the by-products caused by a good work out.

[Chris89]

Yeah, you have to consider that you may not be allowing enough time for your muscles to rest and get rid of the lactic acid (which is the substance that causes the discomfort in your muscles a day or two after a good work out). You can definately get cramps and could even cause damage to your muscles if you don't allow them to rest and get rid of the by-products caused by a good work out.
So, if I ran every other day and I walked every day would the help me out? So it be like M W F run and walk T TH SAT Walk/Swim/Upper body Sunday compelet rest?

How does that sound

[souter22]

yeah thats a great plan, i do that same one as well. and i can really see the difference a sunday makes. your body needs the rest, to "rejuice" for the next week.