Stopping exercise makes injuries worse?

[Wolf616]

I've been struggling with a strained achillees/what could perhaps be the return of plantar fasciitis from my teenage years recently - it started just before Christmas and peaked two weeks ago. It's mostly manageable now and a slight irk rather than debilitating, and is probably a mix of overuse and tight leg muscles (I inherited naturally tight calves from my Mum, naturally tight hamstrings from my Dad and mutated to have naturally tight quads too - thanks genetics!). I rested for two weeks over the Christmas period and then started cycling again, but fewer days a week, when I went back to work.

Has anyone else ever noticed that stopping cycling actually makes the aches and pains of such problems worse?

Undoubtedly if I do a long ride on one day then the next I'll have to take off just to deal with DOMS, but then if I take the next day off my heel pain (mostly left foot) becomes much more pronounced than if I cycle (not too far - 22 miles round commute). I stretch even when not cycling (after walking home or to work), but perhaps not as 'vigorously' as when I have cycled.

I guess my long round-a-bout question is: can stopping exercise when your body is used to it make injuries worse? This seems counter-intuitive, but anecdotally for me it appears to be the case. Is it just that tight muscles get tighter if you don't exercise them as you would normally?

 

[vickster]

Maybe try a different exercise like swimming. Doesn't have to be all or nothing

You should still stretch and foam roll. Cycling is often the cause of muscle imbalance, overdeveloped quads and calves, underdeveloped hamstrings and gluteus

Are you still doing the exercises the Physio gave you If you have ongoing issues, you should incorporate the exercises into your daily lifestyle, and see the Physio every 3-6 months for check ups

Also have you had your gait and pronation checked? Orthotics might be helpful on and off the bike

 

[Kajjal]

Very roughly speaking stopping exercise in the main is not normally a good thing as you lose the health benefits, flexibility and fitness / muscle. Keeping doing an exercise that exacerbates an injury is a very bad idea and can lead to long term problems.

You need to speak to someone who understands your injury to see what they recommend. A badly setup bike can cause all kinds of injuries so maybe worth looking at thst as well.

 

[fossyant]

It can indeed make injuries worse. But there comes a time, some rest is needed.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

Depending how hard you exercise, the body produces natural painkillers. Stop exercising for a day or so and these have had time to work their way out of your system. Hence you can often feel the aches and pains more acutely.

 

[Wolf616]

Maybe try a different exercise like swimming. Doesn't have to be all or nothing

You should still stretch and foam roll. Cycling is often the cause of muscle imbalance, overdeveloped quads and calves, underdeveloped hamstrings and gluteus

Are you still doing the exercises the Physio gave you If you have ongoing issues, you should incorporate the exercises into your daily lifestyle, and see the Physio every 3-6 months for check ups

Also have you had your gait and pronation checked? Orthotics might be helpful on and off the bike

Yep, still doing those exercises and my knee pain has all but gone. Occasional twinge, but nowhere near as bad as it was before. I do seem to spend a disproportionate amount of my time stretching and foam rolling, but only ever feel energised to do it properly post-cycling - hence perhaps more muscle tightness on rest days.

Very roughly speaking stopping exercise in the main is not normally a good thing as you lose the health benefits, flexibility and fitness / muscle. Keeping doing an exercise that exacerbates an injury is a very bad idea and can lead to long term problems.

You need to speak to someone who understands your injury to see what they recommend. A badly setup bike can cause all kinds of injuries so maybe worth looking at thst as well.

Well I have seen a physio for a different problem (see above) but haven't gone back since for a variety of reasons (cost mainly, but also the knees are far better now). Cycling doesn't appear to aggravate the injury, that's my point. Undoubtedly doing too much too soon probably caused it, but it doesn't make things any worse to cycle slightly more gently now (and in fact makes it feel far better).

Depending how hard you exercise, the body produces natural painkillers. Stop exercising for a day or so and these have had time to work their way out of your system. Hence you can often feel the aches and pains more acutely.

But how long do endorphins last (which I assume are the main 'painkillers') - no longer than 12 hours, surely?

 

[vickster]

What caused the Achilles strain or PF

 

[Wolf616]

What caused the Achilles strain or PF

My self-diagnosis (I know, I know!!!!) is a mixture of tightness in all of my leg muscles (particularly calves), overuse (my commute got 4 times longer and much hillier) & also foot position on pedals (I was using the stock pedals that came with my bicycle that have straps/cages on them). I first noticed it just before Christmas when I was trying to get home in progressively faster times and rushing up the hills where I live. It stopped hurting a few days later (no cycling during that time), but I made the mistake of walking too fast up a big hill and that brought it straight back. Rested it for about 10 days with ice etc. after that.

Since then I've cut down a bit on cycling, started doing stretches all the bloody time, and finally bought some SPD cleats and set them quite far back in the shoe to put less pressure on the old achillees. This has made it far less painful (note: it was never painful beyond a mild 'oh I can sense my achillees' type thing whilst actually cycling) when I'm walking around. The actual achillees pain has all but gone and it's mainly heel pain now - although much diminished - and as I had PF when I was a teenager it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume I am still vulnerable to that.