Sore for a WEEK???

So my son thankfully was able to recover from his other issues. And actually did fantastic. I took him to a national duals event and he went undefeated against opponents who were all either national champs/placers or state champs/placers.

I took him to a camp last weekend and it's one he has been to many times. A lot of drilling but that part is not really intense. Just high volume of it as you are mastering a lot of skills in a short period of time. There were only two changes to the camp's activities.

1. They did more live wrestling then usual.

2. Some kids damaged some property at the camp, so they ended up having to do some extra push ups and other calisthenics as kind of a punitive measure.

My son still performed well all through the camp. When we got home he was unusually sore. So that Monday I took him to an hour long massage. Individual Nationals was this weekend. Next day he was still pretty messed up, so I took him to a hot tub spa.

Now, normally 2 days of rest and rehab like that is all he needs. He doesn't even usually need the massage or hot tub, that's extra. But we get to the third day, and he is STILL messed up. Knots in his legs, triceps near the elbow and forearm muscle not far from the elbow.

So another day of full rest.

We get to day 4, and he is STILL messed up. I get him another hour long massage. More full rest. I talk about it on a facebook forum for grapplers and someone kind of panics and tells me to take him to the emergency room to check for Rhabdomyolysis. Take him to the ER and explain everything and the doctors were highly skeptical, but they went ahead and tested his blood....and....nothing burger.

Through all of this, he has had as much protein as I can get him, and has been very hydrated. Vitamins, Magnesium, etc.

So I finally cancel our plans to go to the Individual Nationals. Some parts of his body hurt to touch. Though he HAS said he is improving every day. It has now been a full week since this camp.

Has anyone ever had this kind of soreness for this long? This has never happened to him before in his entire life.

 

I've had this on occasion, how old is your son?

For me the is often related to cumulative stress, increased load, bad sleep, or some virus (no bad virus, just enough to prolongue recovery). Training at I got older I've had to factor in planned rest otherwise it leads to illness or injury, but for a child/adolescent I would expect this is a lot less of a factor, but still something to take into account.

 

He is about to turn 15. This week has been spring break so he has been allowed to sleep in a lot so I don't think it's that. He had a couple days rest before the camp as well. So you said you have had week long muscle soreness in the past? When/how did you return to training?

 

I've not had it at that age, in my 20s overward I can think of a few times, when it took longer than normal to recover, in my 20s it was mostly due to a change in routine, much higher intensity, and return to full training took a week which was easy training to start.

In my late 30s early 40s it is more common, but I don't think it is so relevant to a 15 year old. I follow the same protocol as I did in my 20s, monitor resting HR, and how I feel, return to training gradually, but these days is over 2 or more weeks

 

Sounds to me like he somehow overdid the training and strained the muscles beyond simple soreness. Could be an actual injury that may or may not resolve on its own.