11 months post surgery
Coming up on a year here fairly soon. It is basically a month until I had the rupture - surgery came a few days later.
The pros?
I have no issues jogging or running. I regularly run 3-4.5 miles 3-4 days a week with no issues. I am probably 80% on sprinting ability. I feel there is lots of improvement to be had here still. I can get up to 12mph on the treadmill, haven’t pushed much beyond that.
I am probably 80% on jumping - my good leg helps compensate. One legged jumping is still very weak though IMO. I can hop around no problem (one legged jump roping, four square drill, etc), but just don’t have the spring like the right. I can regularly hit 42″ on box jumps but still feel “laggy” and it’s not nearly as easy as it was pre injury.
I weigh 175 and I am doing around 240lbs on bilateral calf press at the moment. Usually rep that out to around 12, so could be going higher in weight - I’ve just been focusing on volume, as I pushed it up higher before and felt the tingly sensation I occasionally get in a very small spot in my tendon get a little prickly (didn’t feel right but also wasn’t quite painful) so backed off. Unilateral I am OK on 80-100 on the injured side, 160 on the good side. As I said there is compensation happening. I can obviously do more on the uninjured side.
I can play tennis, basketball, pickleball, softball, and golf - really all I have tried or been able to do since the injury in January 2016. Started up in a pickup bball league again and have not been pushing it too much but can definitely hang with the others.
Cons:
I am not 100%, mentally or physically. But getting there. I still get some internal pulling sensations on the inside of the tendon in a small area probably no larger than an inch when heavy lifting and also after longer runs. Guessing the repair site where they tied off the suture. No pain, just a sensation. It does not feel like the uninjured side. I’m still quite aware I had an injury there based on feeling alone.
My calf is probably at 60%-70% the strength of uninjured side just based on calf press ability alone. Two legged lifts are easy, one legged not so much.
Size leaves a lot to be desired but it is very slowly filling in with size and definition - the inner head of the calf has been REALLY tough to build even though I have been very diligent about PT and hitting it with all sorts of lifts constantly. I eat a very high protein diet (~75g from just supplements daily, probably another 80g from meats, poultry, fish, and other food sources.
Top range strength leaves a lot to be desired (all the way up on my toes). While my heel does not drop any longer when I shift from two feet up and go down on one, my SL raise is relatively weak and I can not get up on my toes like I can on the right.
I think I am overdue for another routine change at this point. I really need to stimulate that inner head of the calf and also work on explosive movements more. Restarted an interval training program earlier in the week. Incline sprints for bursts, then brief rest, then more sprints. This will help out.
It has been quite a journey. Within a year I feel like a day doesn’t go by where you don’t think about the injury and your progress. I have seen a few people at the gym rolling in on knee scooters, a few had Achilles ruptures, late 20s. All basketball. It’s fun talking about progress and giving them some hope, as everyone is very down in the beginning of this injury.
Hoping I can start to forget about feeling injured in the next couple of months. I’ll be posting until I feel 100% back to normal.
Thanks for the update. I always look forward to see your progress. I see you returned to bball league earlier than you anticipated in your earlier posts. Congrats!
Question with your running, have you ever developed any pain in uninjured leg when running after the injury? I was doing just fine running every other day and when I hit 4.5 miles runs in my return to running program my hamstring in my uninjured leg had enough. My PT thinks it’s due to compensating for the injured leg and will analyze my running gait once my hamstring is better. Just curious if you returned to running with no complications.
Agnes, good to hear from you and that you’re doing well. I saw the number of unilateral raises you were doing - VERY good for your stage of recovery.
I had some compensatory pain yes. In my knee and my hip on the uninjured side. It was never really worse than a 3/10. This has subsided as my strength and stamina have improved. I now get some occasional knee pain on the injured side if I am trying to sprint around or from playing basketball. It just isn’t used to the level of activity yet. Otherwise looking good.
I started a new calf blasting routine a week or so ago. 10 reps VERY slow and controlled on way down, toes straight. 10 reps toes out. 10 reps toes in. All one after the other, no breaks - so basically 30 reps. I do 7-8 sets with either straight or bent knee in addition to mixing it up on flat ground, on platform, or calf/toe press. It’s worked wonders I swear I have put on more size and strength in a week to two weeks doing this than 11 months time total.
Best of luck!
Thanks for sharing the “calf blasting” routine, mibball. I tried it yesterday on the floor and did 8 sets of 30 (10x 3 toes directions) to have a baseline of how the calves feel after. Did them very slowly and controlled, some straight and some bent legs. As I suspected I need to use weights for this, so today I did it again after my regular calf raises exercises and used 30lbs in a backpack. Did half on stairs and half on floor. Managed only 7 sets today with no rest and had to stop due to the burn. Very nice! I am hoping to be sore in my calfs tomorrow.
I have done before toes out and in, but never on stairs and never with bent legs, so it definitely felt a bit different, which is a nice variation for calves. I will add it to my PT on some days. So again, appreciate you sharing it! And glad to see that it is helping you with your calf size.
Glad to hear that your running compensation pain disappeared. This injury really messes up the body… I am still rehabbing my hamstring, but it is definitely getting better. Started nordic hamstrings today and ran for 5 minutes as a test in PT. If pain does not worsen I can go back to my return to running program.
Good luck with your workouts and calves work! You should do something to celebrate your upcoming 1 year mark!