Hello calves!

Ouch they were sore! Feel the benefit already as one day post I have increased pike movement. Also a nice benefit is it is much easier to stay on the ball of my foot during judo!

I did the Front Split series for the first time last night and I noticed the same thing.  Even this morning my calves/ankles feel much more mobile.

HELLO CALVES!!!!!!!! Is the understatement of the year for me. I thought was pushing it sensibly but apparently not as walking is now laughably painful. Lesson learned.

My question is that when we are a little sore the next day ie we've been sensible, is there anything we can do to ease the discomfort and/or speed recovery. I'm thinking something along the lines of specific limbers etc.

Cheers

Ben

The first time I did the front split series was last Friday (day the series came out).  Today's Thursday (6th day after stretch), and it's still sore!

Hi Alan

I was expecting sore but what I'm experiencing is beyond that. I've had to shelve my foundation work for today because I just can't do it. Like I said I, guess I pushed too hard. The strange thing is that I thought I pushed harder in the middle splits session but wasn't nearly as sore. Perhaps it's just that my calves are super zombies!

Cheers

Ben

I'm with you Ben. I didn't feel i was pushing all that hard. my left calf is so sore I can barely walk. The same thing happened a while back when I switched from heel toe running to forefoot. Your body will adjust

  Jumping rope twice weekly does not prepare you for a FS session.  Thanks for the limp.

Thanks Howens - That reminds me that the last time I felt this uncomfortable in the calves was when I gave barefoot running ago. 

Curtis - Too true mate. I've been doing jump rope 3 times a week as part of my cardio for foundation. Even though my calves have grown they weren't prepared for this!

I'm thinking that the upside is getting these flexibility deficits under control will only help with Foundation and Handstand with the added benefit of making me more resistant to injury. It might be a little while before I'm showing Kira's level of flexibility though

Cheers

Ben

BenHack said:

Hi Alan

I was expecting sore but what I'm experiencing is beyond that. I've had to shelve my foundation work for today because I just can't do it. Like I said I, guess I pushed too hard. The strange thing is that I thought I pushed harder in the middle splits session but wasn't nearly as sore. Perhaps it's just that my calves are super zombies!

Cheers

Ben

It was the same for me to be honest. I also thought I pushed much in the middle split. In fact in the front split series, I didn't even feel the stretch in the kneeling achilles

Alan Tseng said:

It was the same for me to be honest. I also thought I pushed much in the middle split. In fact in the front split series, I didn't even feel the stretch in the kneeling achilles

Perhaps it's just a case of misery loves company

Went through the Front Split series for the second time this past Sunday, and I was pleased to see my calves were nowhere near as sore yesterday and today as they were last week, despite the fact I was able to progress on my ROM in most of the stretches.  I think it was a combo of the calf raises and the intensity of the block Achilles stretches that my lower legs hadn't been prepared for; glad to see they're adapting fairly quickly.

If you are constant with the calf raises, you'll get used to it and the DOMs will go way down, skip a week, and it's hello pain all over again.

Cole Dano said:

If you are constant with the calf raises, you'll get used to it and the DOMs will go way down, skip a week, and it's hello pain all over again.

I can vouch for the DOMS going way down.  First time through I did 60, 50, 45 calf raises and felt sore for nearly a week.  Just the other day I did 50, 50, 50, felt less burn while doing them and woke up without and soreness at all.

And after my first experience, I will make sure I never miss a week of calf raises for the rest of my life.  Not going through that again. ;D

Yeah I too found my calf pain was much less the second time around. I did scale back the number of calf raises though. I think I'll only increase them at a gradual rate - walking is useful [emoji38]

Phew. Yeah. No kidding. it's sort of comforting to know that all across the land, others were limping their way through the week after their first go at the FS series. I mean holy cow.

Side note: my massage therapist was amazed at how soft and flexible my feet felt when he worked on them 2 days after I did this series!

Yeah, second time through I had the same lack of soreness experience and I did all 3 sets of 60 reps both times (so it was definitely due to my body adapting and not me taking it easier). The calf raises were also easier (though still not easy).

Foam rolling on your calves will really speed up your recovery!

Cole Dano said:

If you are constant with the calf raises, you'll get used to it and the DOMs will go way down, skip a week, and it's hello pain all over again.

Did FS for the first time yesterday. Felt fine afterwards so I didn't think I'd experience the doms....I was wrong lol. No way in hell am I skipping out on these

Crap I'm in trouble, I did the 60 reps and with some cramping near the end of each round...  .its Coach's fault tho he said to keep going in the vid, wasn't till aft he says to back off some if you have to...he's..