Ever had a calf cramp? I've had it twice before, and the pain is unbelievable. Your calf balls up, and you can't help but fall to the ground screaming.
These have been haunting me for a long while, until I came upon a site that said I needed to massage it. It worked wonders. This is what you should do:
1) Massage with your hands or a stick. Sit down, back against the wall with your foot flat on the floor. Your calf muscle is most relaxed in this position. Now, grab a metal stick (or you can buy one specially for massaging at a store), and do 30-50 strokes from the bottom of your leg, all the way up to under your knee.
2) Get a foam roll or a tennis ball. I prefer the tennis ball. What I do is relax, lie on my back, put a pillow behind my head (gonna be here a while, so why not), put on my iPod, and put the tennis ball under my calf. I move my calf around, and find the spot that gives the most pain. I then hold that position until the pain goes away. Sometimes the pain is so bad that I can only hold my calf on top of the ball. Sometimes, I can lift my other leg, and push down on it for extra pressure. It's important to not move until you literally don't feel it anymore. Sometimes, this takes up to 5 minutes.
Then, I find another spot, hold it, and repeat for as long as I feel I need it. I've spent up to an hour on one leg doing this.
I do this at least once a day, but it's best to do it three times.
So now, in just two days, I have almost completely eliminated my cramps. Before, I couldn't run for five minutes before I could feel my calves tightening up. I was scared to use them, knowing that a cramp might come and put me out for a week. Now, I can run much longer, and I can jump much higher than before.
1) Massage
2) Hydration
3) Stretching (after, not before)
!!
