Iron to Rugby - Quad tear

[Iron Enthusiast]

Hi I’m 27 years old a two weeks ago completed my first Ironman Triathlon -3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42km run-. Since finishing the race I have started to train for Rugby again as it is a sport I used to play when I was younger and I thought it would be a nice change from the long slow endurance work I’ve done for the last year.

I was doing sprints on Sunday and on my last sprint I kicked the rugby ball and felt a pain in the centre of my right quad. I stopped sprinting and did a slow couple of K’s run and full stretching routine to warm down. That night and the next day I used a foam roller on the painful area and cycled slowly to & from work to stretch it out.
Last night -Tuesday- I was training with the Rugby club and could feel the pain in Quad returning and growing as the training session continued. Eventually we began to do sprints and I had to call it a day due to the pain and in order to avoid hurting myself any further.
Afterwards I iced the Quad and elevated it.
I can walk more or less ok, with a very minor limp- but can’t sprint at all due to the pain and reckon cycling might also be painful. There is no visible bruising on the muscle although when I press down on the area I can feel pain.
I understand that I am moving from a LSD orientated sport to one of explosive power and mostly anaerobic work and rushing that transition is most likely the root cause behind my injury .
Any advice on the above and guide as to the best way to recover would be much appreciated. Also does anyone know how long a recover period might be involved before sprinting again? I’m guessing that’s a "how long is a piece of string question

Many thanks in advance for your help!
IE


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[robsmith1234]

Hi

Well in terms of treatment does the rugby club have a physio to treat the injuries as that will be the best option.
If not once again complete return can depend on a variety of factors so I would take it by how you feel on it.
to rehab it need RICE-ing it for another 24-48 hours afterwards start doing some light stretching on it including knee extensors and hip flexors.
keep doing that for 48 hours. Afterwards start doing some normal squats without weight as this will start to strengthen it up again.
then slowly progress to 1 legged squats and light jogging slowly increasing the pace till your back to sprint speed. If it hurts don't do it as well.

Thanks

[physiobob]

I would get it scanned now. Don't continue training until you know the extent of it. A good friend of mine was playing 5 a side football with us on his birthday. At the end of the game he took one last boot of the ball and his central quads ripped in half. Nothing to be done with it now although it's a great party trick.

[Iron Enthusiast]

Thanks very much for your responses. I actually made a trip to the Physio this morning and he confirned it as a Grade one Quad tear. Frustrating stuff.

Now all I need to do is identify a programme to move from endurance based work to explosive based work. With an luck and alot of warm up (once the tear is healed) i'll be able to avoid further injury on the journey.

Thanks avyer much again!