Strained quads

I started doing cardio a week ago for soccer, a few days ago i was doing sprints and after 4 or 5 30yd dashes i felt a slight pull in my upper quads, maybe just a lil strain, but nothing major. So i rested for a few days, no big deal. Then tonite, a couple cute girls were goin around askin ppl to play soccer, so i was like screw studying, i'll play. So i stretched out my quads (probably not as long as i should, only like 10 seconds each, i usually go 35-40 seconds each, but they started playin). After a 1/2 hour or so, i started feelin that strain in my quads again, and as i kept playin it got worse and worse, it even hurts when i kick the damn ball or if i'm just walking, and even as i sit here and type it.

I don't think its a tear, just a bad strain. Anyways my question is what can i do to speed up recovery. I can't get ice tonite, cuz i'm in college and no car, and i can't really ice it during the week cuz i'm always busy with school, is there anything else i can do? Is it ok if i stretch it, or would that hinder recovery and make it worse? Would lite weight training help at all?

Thanks in advance for the help, i'm gonna take a shower, drink a protein shake and search around the net for more answers, and i'll post what i find.

Alright, so far first thing i did was look at what i got so far in supps.

I took a few aleves(nuproxen), 10g BCAA's, a few zma's, and then i had that protein shake. I didn't take creatine cuz i have to take that with sugar and i'm about to go to bed, and didn't take another multi-vitamin cuz i don't want to be wakin up constantly to go to the restroom.

So my plan for diet is to get back on track, my diet has been slippin lately, but i will get back up to 500g protein per day and then i'll continue with all the supps i mentioned and go with about 10-15g of creatine per day since i got tons of it sittin around anyways.

So far i'm guessin, i'm out for maybe 2 weeks and then i'll have to ease back into the cardio. I just tried stretchin right now and it hurt so i stopped.

Looks like i'll be ridin the bus everywhere on campus for a couple weeks, i'm gonna see if I can somehow pick up some icy hot or a hot pack.

Thats all i got for now, hard to find info on the net, but i'm open to any suggestions.

Sounds like a slight strain Bro. I doubt it's tore because you'd be in a lot more pain and most likely wouldn't be able to walk. If I'm not mistaken the best thing to do for strains is to wrap it and keep it warm. Don't stretch it out too hard or you can do more damage than good. And of course, give it some good rest ... so that means quit trying to impress the ladies! j/k Take care Bro.

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Thanks for the response tri. Ya, i'm pretty sure its just a strain which is a good thing i suppose. I'll definitely grab some wrap today and get a heat pack, I'll try to make sure I'm gettin enough sleep too, since i've been a lil guilty of that. Gonna have to stay away from the clubs i guess too.

Tri, honestly i don't think i can ever stop doing doin that. The great thing is that the other guys playin either just playin for fun and didn't work out, and the other guys were CC runners, so i looked huge, so i didn't really have to do anything. Honestly, i know it shouldn't just depend on the size of your muscles, but hey you know how shallow girls are.

You gotta lay low for a bit bro.......let that shit heal or it will never get better........the chicks and iron are not going anywhere and will be there when you get healthly......Ice for the swelling then heat after that. Rest it for a bout a week.........then try doing light leg extensions maybe ride the bike too......go easy or it well never heal up

I'll probably take this week definitely off from any quad work and will definitely lay low like you said. I might do some up lifting for my upper body, but I've got plenty of HW to keep me from the gym anyways.

BTW I like the bike idea, didn't think of that, will definitely start that in a week or 2 with light leg work.

I know the chicks aren't going anywhere. Its just tough to read the menu and not being able to order anything off of it.

i had the same thing happen to me on both of my quads when running it felt like they were about to pull. What did i do? I rested and it went away. Try a heat pad before activity.

Saboudian, I asked a few docs about what would be best to do for a pulled or strained muscle and they all said use ice. If I remember correctly heat will make the muscle hold blood and will not let the inflammation go down. Ice forces the blood out due to constriction and aids almost like a pain killer by freezing the area. They told me when I had a situation like this to put ice on it and keep it there as long as I could stand it, to the point where it actually hurt (ice freezing). Just another opinion on the subject bro. Hope it heals up quick for you.

heat before your activity to warm the muscle up. Its not a thigh bruise so the heat wont hurt you. Your warming the muscle to make it more pliable. Ice after activity