Your metabolism is kicked up and your body is just ready to go with that alcohol.

I haven't had a drink all summer, and my friends want me to go to Vegas with them in September. Last year was fine, but this year I'm 30 pounds lighter and off the juice. I wonder how quickly it'll turn into an interesting night for me...

 

Just got home from my hockey game. We only had 7 skaters. I'm exhausted.

 

cool, outdoors training is a dream of mine. enjoy it, trust me when i say you are LUCKY bro
the reason i ask is that now i realize with work (longer hrs) and family (parenthood), i will have less time to work out like i used to at the gym (let's face it, being off the market doesn't help lol). so the only sensible thing to do is make sure i have suitable equipment at home. i know this RARELY works BUT when i was studying abroad i had a few dumbbells and a barbell + a floor for pushups that kept me firm DESPITE gaining 30lbs

jumping rope at home is not a smart idea given the surface
a treadmill is not a wise idea given the size + cost (for one of proper gym standards)
so do you recommend having a bike at home or is it a waste of space/money?

 

Despite being located where I am and doing a lot of outdoor stuff, I probably do 50% of my cardio work on my spin bike. When I'm outside I'm usually just playing and it tends to be more interval stuff due to the mountains. Inside on the bike I can focus on LSD and just burning steady calories.

I don't know why working out at home would be bad. You can do a TON of good work with simple cheap adjustable dumbells and maybe a flat bench if even that. When I'm slammed with work or family commitments and can't get to the gym I do this all the time.

 

Pull up bar at home is a must.

 

Forgot to mention that, I got the p90x doorframe pullup bar. Its a bit sturdier than the cheaper ones on amazon.

 

My achilles tendon has been hurting like a mother for the past few days so I've done an extra hour on the bike instead. It's not gone, but better today. How long should I wait before I run again? I could probably run fine now, just don't want to be unable to walk tomorrow.

 

Ow. Nevermind. Just stretched a little bit and it still hurts like a son of a bee. No running today.

 

So after being out of the gym for 8 straight days because of strep throat and just too much going on in life, I made it back into the gym on Thursday.

Worked out chest; my strength was already down tremendously - which I'm not sure if it has to do with the fact that I still have strep [though controlled/only a few days of meds left] or the fact that I took a break.

Anyways - this is not the point of the story....

Friday I went into the gym in the AM to work out my back and shoulders, and had a great workout.

Before I begin any work out, I stretch out thoroughly. After a workout, I also stretch out thoroughly.

Yesterday after I finished working out, I went over to the area where I always stretch. I was extremely flexible yesterday - it felt great. You know, sometimes your muscles are extremely tight and you have trouble doing your typical stretches; this wasn't the case yesterday.

Since I don't know exactly all the technical terms for the stretches I do, I found this illustration that shows several of them [in regards to what happened]



Particularly extra flexible on the stretch #'s: #8, #9, #10, #13, #14, #15, #24

After I had finished #24, I went back to a neutral position and was starting to get off the ground and up to my feet, when my calf literally LOCKED - extremely painful. My muscle was fully engaged and it started swelling up right in front of my eyes. I was staring at the mirror in front of me trying to keep calm, but it kept swelling - I could even see it in the mirror. While I'm in all of this pain, the girl next to me see's it and asks if I'm OK. I wasn't... it ****ing KILLED. So I told her to please get a trainer, quickly. So she leaps off the ground and runs to get one of the trainers...

Manager comes over and tells me that it's Friday and they're all gone for the day. Ironically about 25 minutes prior I was bullshitting with 2 of the trainers there.

My calf was locked for what seemed like 3 minutes, was realistically probably no longer than a minute. I couldn't move my ankle at all, it was completely stuck in its position. After the minute passed, the muscle went back down and I was able to get up and walk away.

I limped all day yesterday because it was ultra sensitive. Started swallowing skelaxin immediately, doubling up to 1600mg per taking throughout the day just to make sure I can get my leg as loose as possible. Then I had a wedding last night and couldn't dance at all because of it. Today I woke up and it feels decently alright, but I'm hesitant to try any stretches or anything that may re-aggravate it.

I feel it in my stride still, but I don't think nearly as bad as yesterday. I'm wondering wtf happened. Did I over stretch it? I have huge calves; people always comment saying how ripped my calves are. My calves are very veiny, which kind of disgusts me - I think I have too much muscle down there for my size.

Did I just strain my calf? Or did I do more than just that? Like could I have tore or ruptured my calf, or would I be in excruciating pain and not able to stand/walk on it? I'm a hypochondriac at heart, so I'm praying that I'm just over thinking this.

Also... would it be bad to go workout today? Just do Bi's and Tri's today. I'd love to do cardio too, but I'm afraid that may be too risky. I generally like to do the stairs [but that is so much focus on calves], so maybe elliptical or stationary bike?

 

Dude, that's just a bad cramp. I used to get them snowboarding when I didn't drink enough water and/or get enough mag/calcium/potassium. Imagine it happening with your entire quad and being worried it would hyperextend your knee. :0

Rest up, light stretches and keep it mobile and blood flowing to it with light exercise. It'll almost certainly be fine.

PS-Its pretty well impossible to have too much calf muscle.