Calf pain..complete rest or not?

I've been blighted with calf strains for about 4 months..just as i think all is well after a mile or so one just tightens up and i'm forced to walk home...however the pain is short lived and with a day or so they feel as good as new(until i start to run again)-in the interim In desparation i go to the gym..to perform non-pounding
exercises...should i do 'nothing' for a few weeks in the hope that I'll speed my recovery..or do some exercise warming the muscle so that i can at least try and stretch the muscle..any thoughts would be appreciated.

I also uffer from dodgey calves. Is yours caused by not enough flexibilty in the muscle or muscle fatigue?

Nothing for 3 days. After 3 days you can start light stretches.

10 days no weight bearing excercise , not even the bike as when you stand up the calf is strained. Swimming only, even then be carefull not to push off too hard on the turn. These 10 days give the muscle a chance to heal.

10 days on the bike, stair climber or eliptiacl trainer. Hard as you like but look out for any signs of muscle weakness. These 10 days will build strength back into the muscle for the return to running.

14 days easy running keeping your heartrate low. Again strengthening the muscle.

After 5 weeks you should be fully healed & ready to start over again. But be carefull the scar tissue that has healed over your calf is not as flexable as muscle tissue and can easily rupture again. It might be worth a trip to a physio for some ultrasound to breakdown the scar tissue.

Good luck!

thanks pizza man
lack of flexibility is my key problem...i'll
give your recommendations a go.

There's a lot of it about!!! This is about the 4th similar thread in 3 weeks. I had very similar problems and it came on very suddenly (and went away just as quickly, until the next time). As well as all the stretching, the thing that seems to have sorted it (fingers crossed) is massage. I had an aromatherapy massage last week and then a self massage (as in this months RW) and did a 10 mile PB (after 9 years) on Sunday, when 3 weeks ago, I couldn't do a mile.

Good luck