Quads Tightening

Question
QUESTION: I had been running on the tread mill 5-6 times a week at the gym mostly in the mornings before work for about 20mins, trying to do 4k. I was achieving this fine up until I had a bout of food poisoning and was forced to stop going to the gym for about two weeks. When I returned I found it very difficult to get back in to the routine of the 4k in 20mins. I found that my felt leg would tighten up, I believe from my quads and start causing my foot to turn in towards the right when running. It has been almost nine months and I still can抰 do more than 10-15mins before my left leg tightens up and I have to stop before I loose my balance. It eases as I slow down and walk and only happens when I run, usually, more than 10km/h and my heart rate is getting over 170. I have been doing a lot more spin cycling since and I don抰 get this effect or if I use the cross trainers. I have tried doing more stretching before and after but this only has a slight effect. Do you know why this might have happened or is happening and what I could and should do to alleviate it?
ANSWER: Hi Pritesh
It is really hard to pin point your situation,but what i allways do with athletes is trace back to when you started to notice something different in your run before your food poisoning.There are allways slight channges in your run and an injury does not happen overnight.Problems in musculature and mechanics come on very gradually.You allways have to be aware of this daily and not try to run thru these situations if they persist.It is not easy to stay ahead of the overload process.I would suggest you start lower weight program to tighten things up and really try to think back hard when you first started having problems.9 months ago is a long time for me dig down to your situation,but getting back to the basics is the way i recomend if you can't think back and pin point it.Think hard Pritesh.If you have any other questions just get in touch.

All the best

John

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi John

Thanks for your prompt reply. It抯 very much appreciated. It抯 my fault for not getting things sorted sooner. After the situation came about, I thought that I might me able to just 搑un through it?and it would settle. I haven抰 had many injuries and the few I have always seem to settle down after some time. Thinking back I would suppose that my left leg would start feeling like this at times before the food poisoning if I ran too long and too quickly. I did have the thought that I shouldn抰 push my self too quickly back into my schedule of workouts within a week of the food poisoning. However the situation was so frustrating not being able to have the energy to do any thing (even walk for a short time), that as soon as I could get back in the gym I did. Even though I could do very little.

The symptoms are as though my left leg becomes lethargic and I can抰 run with it ?i.e. bend the knee and my foot twists inwards.

In your reply you say to do a lower weight programme. What would you suggest is best? I apologise for asking again I抦 sure your very busy answering questions, but I must say your help is really appreciated. Thank you!

Pritesh  

Answer
Hi Pritesh
Leg extensions,leg curls,adductor,abductor,leg presses,half squats.I would also add a good ab work out and back extensions.I would also use a exercise bike for a while in place of running to help with the tracking if your knee and leg.The key to a successfull come back is a lot of patience and being consistent with your workouts.

All the best

John