Post by Chris23Post by Sean ConollyPost by Chris23Hello,
Soreness, pain in right shin and calf has been flaring up lately as I
play more. Seems all I can do is layoff, ice the sore areas, take
calcium, magnesium, maybe potassium. Not stretch it? Walking? I ace-
bandage it sometimes. It feels kinda banged up and sore in the shin,
And sore, minor spasm in the calf.
I think this has been a condition for some time at different times.
Got a full out charley horse two months ago while playing with
friends, Playing for decades now.
Any advice is appreciated.
I'd like to still play as much as I can.
How old are you? With age your body doesn't absorb as much of the vitamins
and minerals that you need, so if you're pushing 50 then calcium and
magnesium may help your body body retain the potassium you need. That's
really a question you should take to your doctor, though.
I'm right at 50 now, and still play out a fair bit, 4 to 7 times a month,
and even playing hard rock there's only a couple of songs that push what my
right foot can endure. I've never had much of a problem since my Army
training days, when I used to do around a thousand jumping jacks a day -
that really built up my calf muscles.
Good luck,
Sean
I'm 51. Wow, a thousand jumping jacks a day. I'm speechless. I am
somewhat haphazard as a player. I think I just launch into it too
hard and too long sometimes. I need to be careful. Thanks for you
advice. I may talk to a PT.
Chris
Heh, I'm not exagerrating the jumping jacks, either. It's a four count
exercise, so every rep is actually two cycles. We used to do 500 reps in the
morning and another 500 in the evening, so it was really 2000 cycles, or
4000 hops a day. When we were done we get the chance to 'relax' in the
'front leaning rest' position, while we did a few hundred push-ups. And this
wasn't special forces, paratroops, or even regular infantry training, I was
just in supply school!
Here's what I do to try to keep myself somewhat in shape for playing, but
again, talk to your doctor about what's right for you.
1. As I said, your body doesn't absorb nutrition as well as when you were
younger, so I take a vitamin supplement and a calcium & magnesium supplement
every day along with me prescription meds. They do blood tests on me four
times a year, so we know that the supplements are not causing any problems
with liver functions, or my potasium levels.
2. I work a desk job, so I have to go a little out of my way to find
opportunites to walk. I try to get at least one or two miles in a day
walking to lunch or around the parking garage when the weather's hot.
3. I have a long established habit of bouncing my legs while I'm at my desk.
I keep the balls of my feet on the floor and bouce my heels like I'm playing
fast double bass (I'm a heel up player). This helps burn a little energy and
keeps my calves in better shape. The biggest benefit though is that it
reduces the risk of throwing a clot from your legs, which can happen all too
easily if have to sit for hours on end in the same position. Here's a couple
of links about this condition:
http://www.webmd.com/dvt/features/deep-vein-thrombosis
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/10/23/britain.flight/index.html
4. The obvious stuff - eat better, less smoking and drinking, etc. It's not
just the obvious benefits to your liver and lungs, smoking and alcohol can
really drian your body of important vitamins like B and C. Your body
chemistry is supposed to be a balanced system, so once one element goes out
of balance it will start causing other other elements to go out of balance.
This is another reason why it's important to work with your doctor and get
regular blood tests.
5. Excercise, specifically cardio workouts. If your most strenuous workout
is playing a gig, then you're not getting enough excercise. It's the
difference between feeling tired after the gig, which is normal, and feeling
drained and exhausted the next day, which is not.
With good luck and the good Lord willing, I hope to keep gigging for as long
as I'm strong enough to load in and set up. I may be playng the seniors
circuit by then, but I don't care.
Sean