Well somewhere on Tuesday I managed to **** up my calf, but somehow really underestimated it. My calf cramps or gets tight semi-regularly, so whenever this happens, I usually stop, drink some water/gatorade, rub on it, then when I get home, just heat it for a bit and foam roller it, no problem.

Well, not this time. I did that, and this was apparently the wrong thing to do. I hobbled around a bit yesterday and thought it would just take me out for the weekend, but today it is much worse -- I can't put any pressure on it and had to leave work early and work the rest of the day from home, just because walking around the office was way too much. The inside is definitely swollen (medial gastrocnemius or whatever) but doesn't appear discolored, yet. I'm just playing the RICE game right now. ****.

Well, I'm anticipating being at least a few weeks out on judo, if not more, as it looks like this may be a serious pull. It's frustrating to me because maybe I should have seen this coming and taken more steps to prevent a more serious injury with the frequent calf tightness, but I just have no idea what to do. Stretching doesn't really seem to do much for me and the literature on it seems pretty damning.

I had been focusing on strength gains from a lifting routine 3/week coupled with Judo and BJJ because most of what I've read cites strength issues as more likely to lead to injury than flexibility issues, also on doctor's orders (though not for the lower body, the upper body is more of the too flexible not strong enough 'floppy' posture issues, etc. I'd been having). Now I go and get a classic lack of flexibility injury.

What makes this more frustrating is it seems like every other week in judo I'm experiencing some kind of minor injury / annoyance, and I just don't know what my strategy should be for trying to combat this. Yeah, stuff like broken toes are part of the game... lower back issues and calf strains, though, maybe shouldn't be as much? I don't have any of these issues with BJJ, should I take some time off from judo, or at least the more serious randori classes (following the healing of this injury) and just focus on getting some **** right with my body first? It's obviously trying to tell me something and keeps getting louder.

Stretching doesn't really seem to do much for me and the literature on it seems pretty damning.

What?

Well, I can do a full round up if you want. I think it's given around here that pre-workout static stretching is a no-no, there are plenty of articles that link it to an increased chance of injury and reduced performance and strength. It's my understanding that static stretching in general reduces endurance and muscle load capacity, and that the articles that have demonstrated increases in ROM due to stretching have not been able to link that resulting increased ROM to injury prevention, whereas modest strength gains have a large return on injury prevention.

To be honest, my search on this started via google or wikipedia, and there are 2-3 threads on here from a few years back where some people threw out a wall of citations, I'm going to try and dig up one of those threads and post the link here, as it will contain better citations than I'll dig up harvesting google.

Here's one: No BS MMA and Martial Arts - View Single Post - Stretching and warming up = waste of time (http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showpost.php?p=570932&postcount=18)

Well, I can do a full round up if you want. I think it's given around here that pre-workout static stretching is a no-no, there are plenty of articles that link it to an increased chance of injury and reduced performance and strength.

Yes.


It's my understanding that static stretching in general reduces endurance and muscle load capacity,

No.


and that the articles that have demonstrated increases in ROM due to stretching have not been able to link that resulting increased ROM to injury prevention, whereas modest strength gains have a large return on injury prevention.

Haven't seen the studies.

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The point isn't "stretch to prevent injuries". The point is "stretch to lengthen muscles that are too short". If you know a muscle is too short, you should lengthen it, and stretching is a good way to do that. It also happens that stretching a muscle shortly before you plan to use it is a bad idea, so stretch it at some other point in time.

Hey dude, just thought I'd ask, do you wear compression gear at all? I've been prone to injury doing judo, but since I started wearing them I have almost no problems whatsoever. I tend to warm up so quick wearing them muscular injuries and minor niggles don't happen to me anymore, which is especially good in winter, because we all know how a dynamic sport like judo translates to injuries when you aren't quite warmed up enough.
I'd listen to your body and give yourself a couple of weeks off at the least though, and look into your strength program and whether you may be pushing it a bit hard or your form has been suffering. I've found myself getting a sore lower back lately and realised the volume of back exercises I'm doing + judo is too much.
This is all just my experience, so take it for what it's worth. Hopefully you get back out there soon, injury sucks.

Yes.



No.



Haven't seen the studies.

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The point isn't "stretch to prevent injuries". The point is "stretch to lengthen muscles that are too short". If you know a muscle is too short, you should lengthen it, and stretching is a good way to do that. It also happens that stretching a muscle shortly before you plan to use it is a bad idea, so stretch it at some other point in time.

I also have been told that static stretching decreases performance that follows it with in 60 minutes or so. I don't have the time right now to post sources but here is a little info to look into.

Static stretching has been shown to significantly reduce leg strength (Davies, Finlay, Hilly, & Purdam, 1992; Kokkonen, Nelson, & Cornwell, 1998), as well as jump height and peak force in static and countermovement jumps (Nelson et al., 1996). Fowles and Sale (1997) showed that 30 min of passive stretching induced a significant reduction in strength and motor unit activation 5 min poststretch, and a 9% reduction in strength was still significant at 60 min. These findings suggest that a neural inhibition was induced by the stretching and are consistent with the notion of an inverse myotatic reflex, whereby a sustained stretch is thought to stimulate golgi tendon organ discharge (Alter, 1996; Thigpen, Moritani, Thiebaud, & Hargis, 1985). The above research indicates that stretching has the potential to influence MTEN stiffness as well as neural mechanisms that might either positively or negatively affect neuromuscular performance, depending on the nature of the activity.

I also have been told that static stretching decreases performance that follows it with in 60 minutes or so.

Stretch after you're done working out for the day.

Everyone has such hate for static stretching. Yes, studies have shown that static stretching reduces force production during exercise. The literature is mixed when it comes to increased chances of injury (some say it increases, others it makes no difference, others that it reduces the chances).

Still, you should do static stretching as a cool down or at home when your done exercising. For right now stick with RICE, if it gets worse or shows no improvement see a doctor. You may want to look into doing some myofascial release with a foam roller or tennis ball. It's going to hurt a lot.

It's improving a lot - I can go up and down stairs again, for starters. I am thinking of going to BJJ Saturday ONLY to seehow my body responds to me doing some things in ultra slow motion, no resistance. I've been wearing a compression sleeve on the calf, and have foam rollered it a couple of times.