Basically, it’s been five days and I’m unable to even sit in a chair without a struggle. I didn’t go too hard, mainly squats and leg press. I didn’t think it would take this long to recover considering I still run 4 times a week. Is it normal to be this sore and what can I do to help it?
I really really want to get back in there and work on my squat form but I can’t even get close to parallel right now due to the soreness
Edit* side note I went from an extremely sedentary lifestyle to a very active one about 6 months ago, starting with running but now my legs are paying the price of no strength training. So it may be that I’m just so new to the workouts
I’ve found that the best way to get through it is to move through that range of motion more often, unloaded. Stretch, do a handful of air squats, then do them again later, then again later. Not saying you have to work out, but moving thorough it and exposure will help.
Edit: also drinking lots of water will help.
Are you sleeping enough?
Would like to add, are you also eating enough?
I mean I get about 6-7hrs daily. My work schedule makes things hard, and then with overtime being unpredictable it’s hard
That’s understandable. DOMs from training legs definitely kicked my ass when starting out, but I gradually acclimated.
How many sessions have lead to 5+ days of this for you so far?
The first leg I’ve done in 7 years was friday. Before that I was just running 4 days a week(easy run, tempo, interval, and long run). I have huge legs but trying these different compound movements makes me realize how weak I am
But before that I’ve done leg press and calf raises and the like, some stationary bike. Free weight with barbells really scared me because I don’t want to mess up my back with bad form. Like it scared me to the point that I’d get under the bar and I start shaking because I don’t want to mess up. But now I can under there and do it, it’s just my legs are really tight and it gets hard getting down into a low squat
If that was your first leg day with barbell back squat, I think 5ish days is understandable.
First time hits different but subsequent sessions will not put you out that long if you keep up with it.
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I ride a bike on a daily basis and I’m not exactly sedentary aside from that, either.
But I too have found that a new activity can leave me sore for days.
I think it’s because of being in good shape already, you can go even harder without noticing on a muscle you might no usually use much.
If you’re just stating out, it’s not unusual to get sore or even injure yourself. Are you drinking enough water?
Not sure if this is relevant but working odd hours affected my strength, endurance, and energy. I’ll never accept a job where I have to wake up at 2am again.
Same happened to me when I started adding squats into the mix last year. For me it’s a mixture of age and new workout. I noticed that after maybe age 38 DOMS in my legs hang around for longer than ever before. I committed to a single day a week for legs which included squats and deadlift. I picked Fridays since I do easy workouts on the weekends so I would have time to ease back. Took about 5 weeks for me to move past that phase. At week 3 I was dreading the Fridays workouts knowing what would come. After week 5, I haven’t had a problem since and now really look forward to my Friday exercises.
Any new activity is going to cause your body to react. Eventually you’ll find recovery is easier and takes less time as your body adapts. In the meatime look into foam rolling, stretching/yoga, and a massage gun if you have one.
How long have you been going to the gym?
Well I’ve been going for about 4 months but I was only doing speed training on the treadmill, I starting lifting about 3 weeks ago. I try to get 2 days at least of squats but it’s getting hard
At that time frame it is normal
For reference I started lifting with machines first, because injury with the barbells scared the hell out of me, and then one day I was in there alone and finally tried it and it wasn’t too bad, I’ve just got really tight hamstrings
Yeah I can see how it can be intimidating at first, but like you said, it’s really not that big of a deal. One trick with tight hamstrings is putting a plate under heel when you squat and as your hamstrings loosen you gradually use lighter plates until you’re using none.
You mentioned 6-7h of sleep. I suspect you aren’t getting enough sleep and not stretching enough.
You said you went from sedentary to active. Do you have off peak weeks? Did you just start leg days? Is it muscle pain or joint pain? Do you stretch?
Your tendons and joints need time to build up. I suspect you did wide ranges, you’ve not been stretching, and you’ve really put a strain on the muscle ends. Stretch daily and move throw your motions.
I went through a similar relearning curve going from cycling -> cycling / yoga -> adding weights
If the stretching activity isn’t there, man the recovery sucks.
Good for you for doing it! You’ll figure it out!
Heyo, I’m usually a runner too and just got into lifting about 5 weeks ago.
You said you did a Leg Press and Squat on the same day? Those are both pretty hard on your legs and hit fairly similar muscles, the training program I follow specifically splits them so that they aren’t done on the same day. Plus those first time DOMs really hit hard usually.
Running will also fuck up your recovery big time. You might feel fine when you run, but the accumulated systemic fatigue really messes with things. Maybe consider replacing some of your runs each week with biking or the Elliptical (or cutting them altogether if you want lifting to be your priority)
Right now, the best you can do is some active rest, good food, and good sleep.
I was recently sore in my legs a good 3 days, when it’s normally just a day. I could barely walk for two of them.
