Aches, pains, etc.

[nonskanse]

I admit, I am currently out of shape, which is probably part of the reason for my grief below...
As an update, I finally got a good adapter on my old tv with a not-great remote so the ps2 worked again. I played for the first time in too long monday about 40 minutes, and tuesday about same.

I am only at standard and am playing DDRMax1 right now, but I noticed a pain in the arch of my foot yesterday. Today I have the same pain in my arch (I didn't play beyond when I noticed it hurting). Plus I have a horrible cramp in my left calf. I'm probably playing a little heavier or lighter on that leg, or I tense it up more...

But how do I get rid of this pain! I stretch daily anyway (used to do ballet in HighSchool) and I have been careful to stretch my feet and legs for a long time before and a little bit after workouts. I am (hopefully obviously) not playing today, but I can't take too long of a break because I'm often away visiting family on weekends. What can I do to speed recovery? Hot? Cold? Yet more stretching? Self-leg-massage?

Any tips are appreciated. I will probably stick to 5 footers starting tomorrow once I can play again, at least until I'm at a better fitness level than walking 1-2 miles a day (did that over Xmas break).

Also, which chatroom has tips on getting better at ddr? I need to conquer my 7-foot ceiling!!!

[nonskanse]

OOPS!!

This is posted here because I want to lose my 20 and its hard to do that when I'm in a non-fully operational state.

[abrannan]

The arch pain should go away as you build up strength in your foot, but you might try taping your arches for a few sessions, to give it a little extra support in the meantime. As for the calf cramping, that too will change with strength, but you can help it by stretching all through your workout (I usually will do a few seconds stretch between sets of 5 songs).

I you do experience a pull or slight tear, remember RICE.

(R)est
(I)ce
(C)ompression
(E)levation

[Laura Moncur]

Calf pain and shin splints are related. Go see the forum listing for shin splints:

getupmove.proboards26.com/index.cgi?board=ouch&action=display&thread=1092607161

The stretches that I mentioned there should help you.

[nonskanse]

Abrannan- I've had small tears and whatnot before and working out more has never helped . I don't have any good athletic tape for support in the arches but its good to know the aching will stop. I just will have to not overdo it. This is all new to me since when I did "dance classes" I had a lot more strength, endurance, etc. so these things didn't happen.

Laura -Thanks for the link to the shin splints page. I have actually had to do shin splints exercises before (dancing in sneakers but on concrete, lots of jumping around and running) and I am surprised I didn't think about how that could be linked to calf pain. I will try to stretch a little more and maybe do the shin splint exercises I know.