PoleVaultPower.com

I am 55 years old and a former college vaulter. I had not picked up a pole for 30 years until I began coaching my son as a high school freshman last year. After working with him for a while and with his encouragement I have decided to attempt a comeback as a masters vaulter. I have been training for about 4 months. Every time I attempt to do some sprint work and sometimes after vaulting, my right quad gets very sore for about 4 or 5 days afterward. It does not bother me any during the workout and does not hamper my workout in any way. There is no real soreness the first day after but beginning the second day after the quad is very sore for three or 4 days and then the soreness is gone. Doe to a strained quad that took 3 weeks to recover from, I have learned the hard way not to push my workouts too much during these periods of soreness. I am still able to do weight training, plyo's, and distance during these periods of soreness but further sprint training and vaulting is out of the question until the soreness is gone. As it is now I am only able to do any sprint work or vaulting one day week. Does anyone have any ideas that might help with this dilemma?

By the time you get to our age often there are muscles that are switched off by the motor control center of the central nervous system. There are a variety of practitioners of various disciplines (medical, chiropractic, physical therapy, massage therapy, athletic trainer, personal trainer, etc) that can figure that stuff out, but it takes extra training after they graduate; so I suspect only 3-5% of all practitioners are properly trained in that stuff. Finding someone that does Functional Movement Assessment (FMA) might be a good place to start; but there are a lot of other approaches.

The reason your quad hurts most likely because it is trying to take up the load of whatever muscle is inhibited or not firing properly.

Hey bassman,
I too am a master vaulter who has recently come back from many many years without vaulting or any regimented physical program.
It seems that the legs are most always the problem with a vaulters comeback at this age. I pulled my left quad muscle just this last spring and ended up in physical therapy to get it to heal. As a result, I learned from my sage therapist how to heal that muscle in the least amount of time. this was done by working on it at home on my own time in between appointments,using the methods he explained to me. they worked like magic.

I had "chased this injury for 8-10 weeks before resigning myself to a physical therapy center.All these things can be done at home with no special equipment of any kind.
If you are interested,p.m. me and I will be glad to share them with you.

p.s. If 1bassman means that you are also a bass fisherman then kudos to you ...I've been bitten by that bug for 40 yrs. plus !!

My son's license plate reads "BASS DAN."

God bless him !! ...Did he get that sport from his dad possibly ??

Nope. I'm the ultimate city dude, although I do enjoy it when I fish.

larry d

Yes I have been an avid bass fisherman for 40 years. It is difficult however to find enough time for fishing and vaulting/training. If only I didn't have to work, mow the lawn, fix the car, and keep the house from falling apart I might be able to more zealously pursue both of these passions!

I'm a little late to this party, but I thought it might be helpful to add a few points of interest. I'm a CES (Corrective Exercise Specialist) through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. I have been working with corrective exercise for 18 years now. Vaultmd is totally on track (not that my validation is needed), If you're using a foam roller for self myofascial release make sure to pay attention to the hip flexors and the glutes when rolling. Also check out the voodoo floss on Rogue Fitness, it does an amazing job (when using their videos for guidance) at increase the supple capacity and functional range of motion of the musculature. If you can find a CES certified through the NASM that person could very well help you. 24HR Fitness and Life Time Fitness are two "gyms" I know that promote those training certifications. Also if you can find someone certified through the Postural Restoration Institute you're golden. Those two certifications are amazing and the practitioners are usually very intelligent and intuitive in working with more mature athletes that have the discipline to stay the course. Any other questions, I'd be happy to consult, just shoot me an email at kurtklein127@gmail.com. I personally have worked with a CES and PRI certified strength coach to keep my own body intact and I'd recommend them to anyone. Good luck!

Bumping because I missed the post above and only just now approved it. Whoops! Good post

I was paired with a PRI practitioner when I attended a Neurokinetic Therapy seminar. She was really smart.

Hey CESTrainer,

You know Mike Clark of NASM is married to a vaulter, don't you?