holy crap
That looks nasty, wow. I don’t know if its the same type of deal, but my calf sounded like it ripped apart and it dropped me right to the ground last fall. It was bad for a few weeks but only in very specific movements and it seems fine now. I think it was some kinda nerve that ripped because now when I touch my calf it makes the bottom of my foot tingle.
Anyway, I hope you heal up fast.
I understand your confidence took a hit with this. I know all too well how self esteem is set by circumstances. You need to stay calm, but remember self confidence can’t just be turned on and off like a light switch.
Best remedy: take action. Go to a doctor stat and find out exactly what broke. Get a second opinion if necesary. Determine what the treatment needs to be. Then you’ll be able to work out options. Once you start getting some control, things will fall into place.
That looks nasty, sorry to see that Farmer. I think if you post in the injuries and rehab section you might get more experienced or more knowledgeable responses. Agree with Cav on getting it checked.
Strength can stay when one gets old(er), but elasticity/pliability/recovery is a different animal imo. I squat light weights but I wind up taking 5 minutes between my “heavy” sets because in between sets I (re)stretch my quads, hamstrings, ankles, adductors plus some jacking jacks and a big standing jump before I start my next set. And I warm up before even starting my workout. I’m 50.
See a saw bones Farmer, take there advise, live on, one injury is not going to slow you down in the long run . I wish I could come and help with the farm for a while. Rock on brother.
Alexus - Holy crap is right. I didn’t realise my legs were so hairy at the back either!
jj - No nerve aspect for me thankfully, just a straight forward tear. Your thing sounded much worse. It’s been 12 days and things are healing fast. Thanks.
Cav - Injuries suck, but my mood is way better already. As far as getting it checked out, by the time I got to see a specialist here it would have already healed. So I’ve done some research (isn’t the internet great?) and I’m rehabbing it myself. From what I’ve gleaned it seems the most important thing is to keep stretching it to prevent any permanent flexibility loss, which I am doing now and then on to strengthening.
PG - You speak sense. I’ll be 44 soon and I have made absolutely no allowances/changes for my age in the way I train since I was 20, which is not smart. I’m a great believer in age just being a number and mentally it might be, but obviously not physiologically as I have just found out! I will now be doing a proper warm up and stretch beforehand, especially in cold weather.
dude - Thanks mate.
04/03/2013
Bike ride (on my road bike) - 20 miles in 82 mins
If pulling my hamstring has done any good it’s to get me back out on my bike (I’ve been running recently) and remind me how much I love cycling. Great ride, great weather. Had some decent hills in it too, I even got out of the seat and pumped up a few of them, which is rare for me, I normally stay sat down and grind them out. No hamstring repercussions, but sore quads today.
05/03/2013
Military press 10 x 10 supersetted with Pulldowns 10 x 10
Pushdowns 10 x 10 supersetted with EZ Curls 10 x 10
Left 30 seconds between sets, timed it with a stopwatch. Not putting the weights, it’s too embarrassing.
Rope face pulls
55 x 15
55 x 14
55 x 10
Band pullaparts
5 x 20 reps
I’m contemplating a 30 mile ride on Thursday, weather permitting.
and even then he didn’t go to the doctor, haha.
i haven’t got my bike up from wellington, yet… the gym here charges extra for spin… they have a dynamic concept II rower, though, which is kinda interesting. good thing that you can still bike… and curl 
Glad to see you are successfully working around the tear Farmer.
Yowsie. Ouch.
Way to keep going. Head down and persevere.
How’s the injury healing?
Thanks for the comments everyone.
6/3/2013
Bike ride - 10 miles over mountain and back - 56 minutes
7/3/2013
2 mile run
9/3/2013
Bent over row 10 x 10 s/s Push ups 10 sets of 11 reps
EZ curls 10 x 10 s/s Band pullaparts 10 sets of 12 reps
11/3/2013
2 mile run in 16:38
Hamstring felt good. Slightly crampy, but it was cold.
12/3/2013
Bike ride - 22.5 miles in 1 hr 55 minutes.
Probably the windiest weather I’ve ever cycled in. Felt more like 40 miles!
13/3/2013
Military press 10 x 10 s/s Pulldowns 10 x 10
Pushdowns 10 x 10 s/s Ez curls 10 x 10
Band pullaparts 3 x 20 reps
14/3/2013
Bike ride - 25.52 miles in 90 minutes
Managed to go much quicker today because it was flatter.
No pain from hamstring at all this week. I might try some light deadlifts tomorrow or the day after.
That’s some solid work there Brett. Go easy on the hammy, if you can do that stuff above there is no reason to push it. The way that bruise looked shows there was a lot of damage.
[quote]Dude623 wrote:
That’s some solid work there Brett. Go easy on the hammy, if you can do that stuff above there is no reason to push it. The way that bruise looked shows there was a lot of damage.[/quote]
Thanks for the concern buddy. I’m taking things really slowly. It’s only been 3 weeks.
Last night
15/03/2013
Deadlift 10 x 10 x 132 lbs supersetted with Push ups x 12 reps x 10 sets (30 second rest between all sets)
2 sets of light, high rep leg curls to failure (lying on the floor) on low pulley machine.
That’s it.
This morning, slightly sore hamstrings (both) but no ill effects whatsoever. Great!!
I’ve ordered an ankle cuff for the pulley machine so I can carry on doing the leg curls. Since I sold my bench I haven’t been able to do any curl type movement for hamstrings only stiff legged stuff. I wonder if that may have contributed to the tear?
Lets see…Your Hamstring , Daves bicep allot of bad mojo going around lately.
One of the great things I learned from reading stuff on this site is that the hamstring curl machine is a great tool. I use super light weight, and by moving and shifting my leg around I can literally feel different areas of the hamstrings being targeted.
Bulldog - Yeah, his was a lot worse though, at least I didn’t have to go under the knife. But then again he gets to wear a cool arm thingy like something off of Rollerball.
PG - Leg curls used to be the only hamstring exercise I did until I discovered the RDL and natural GHR and then dropped them completely. It’s a pity it took an injury to re-acquaint me with them. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with it, but I’m going to keep them in from now on.
Monday 18/3/2013
Bike ride - 33.47 miles in 2 hours 21 mins.
This is the longest ride I’ve done in over 20 years. I wouldn’t want to go any longer. 2 and a bit hours is a long time to be sat on a knife edge and my under carriage is still a bit sore.
Also, I didn’t like getting off my bike to find that my meat and two veg had gone completely numb. It was a bit disconcerting I can tell you. You’ve never known true fear 'til your knackers have gone AWOL. Always a relief when the feeling comes back.
Tuesday 19/3/2013
Military press 10 sets of 10
s/s
Pulldowns 10 sets of 10
EZ curls 10 sets of 10
s/s
Pushdowns 10 sets of 10
30 seconds rest between exercises
Leg curls on pulley machine
3 x max reps each leg (no weight yet on injured leg)
Wednesday 20/3/2013
Run - 2 miles in 15:35
First time I’ve timed it. I’m not sure how this rates, but it gives me a time to beat now.
Thursday 21/3/2013
Squat 10 sets of 10 (1 minute rest interval)
Bent over row 10 sets of 10
s/s
Band pullaparts 10 x 10
Rope face pulls 4 sets of 10 reps
Pulley leg curls
3 sets to failure each leg
First time doing squats since my hamstring injury (4 weeks tomorrow) and they felt absolutely fine. So I have now cycled, run, deadlifted, squatted and done leg curls since the injury with no ill effects, so I’ll gradually, very gradually start ramping up the weights a bit.
The only exercise I haven’t done since is RDLs, which is what I was doing when I did it. Surprisingly, or maybe not, I’m a bit reluctant to try them. I’ll leave it another month or so before I have a go. The memory is still a bit too fresh.
I gotta say nice time on the bike farmer. Did you every compete in road races on the bike.
Your hamstring sure seems to have healed fast. Congrats.
[quote]Dude623 wrote:
I gotta say nice time on the bike farmer. Did you every compete in road races on the bike.[/quote]
Thanks Dude.
No I’ve never competed. I cycled a lot in my early 20’s for pleasure and to commute to work in the days before I could drive.
Unfortunately, despite my best intentions, I don’t seem to be able to cycle for pleasure anymore (unless I’m with my wife) I inevitably get caught up in trying to keep up a certain pace or beat a best time (or race a tractor like yesterday) and it always ends up becoming a full blown workout.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Your hamstring sure seems to have healed fast. Congrats.[/quote]
Thanks. I generally do seem to heal fast, but I’d gladly trade that for not getting injured in the first place
Lots of catching up to do.
Saturday 23/3/2013
Pulldowns 10 x 10 reps (supersetted with) Push ups 10 sets x 13 reps (30 seconds rest interval)
Ez curls 10 x 10 (supersetted with) Sit ups 10 x 10
Monday 25/3/2013
Bike ride
20 miles in 1 hr 20 mins
According to Mapmyride it had one category 4 hill and one category 5.
Tuesday 26/3/2013
Deadlift 10 x 10 reps (1 min rest)
Military press 7 sets x 10 reps then 9-7-6 (1 min RI)
Band pullaparts 20-18-16-14-13-10 (30 secs RI)
Leg curls 4 sets to failure (30 secs RI)
Thursday 28/3/2013
Bike ride
34.12 miles in 2 hrs 23 minutes
One category 2 hill (6.65 km at a 4.9% gradient)
Gonna post this before it disappears!