Why does it take me so long to recover from leg workout?

[saibuster]

Hello, My name is Ito, I'm 28 years old and new to this forum.
I'm relatively in good shape, 1.73 meters, 68 kg, mostly lean.

Ok this is a bit long, but i want to write every bit of information that might
help me in getting a solution for this problem, so please bare with me


My workout is divided 3 times a week, working different body
parts each time.

I've been working out for the last 5 month and seen great results so far.
Im trying to eat well, not always eating as much as i need, or in the right
order. I get mostly get around 7 8 hours of sleep every day sometimes less.
I rarely drink and smoke socially about once a week.

My problem is my post leg workout recovery. It takes me about 3 to 4 days to recover, during which i feel like i can barely climb stairs, sit and stand back,
and do any other daily movement. It feels like the "good" sort of pain, nothing around the joints or bones, just post workout muscle soreness.

When i work on any other muscle group, i usually get post workout pain a day or two after. This feels natural and "good" and is usually not too painful to prevent me from everyday movements.

My "legs and shoulder" days consists of (in that particular order) Squats, Dead lift, Calf raises, Arnold press, military shoulder press, and an exercise which i dont know the name of (pulling a rope upward to work on the front side of the shoulder)

I do 5 minutes warmup on a bicycles or any other cardio machine that is available, followed by light stretching. I divide my sets to 5, First one very light, second one heavier and the last 3 full on. I finish my workout with about 5 to 10 minutes of stretching and flexibility exercises.

Is it normal to have this sort of pain after this exercise? My gym instructor said that after a while it would disappear, but it doesn't. I love working on my legs but i dont think i will be able to continue working on them if it means that im getting crippled every week for 3 to 4 days.

I would really appreciate to hear any advice on this issue or solution.

Thanks and regards! Ito.

P.S

I forgot to mention that my legs are getting stronger and bigger, so I'm probably doing something right.

[Eric-B]

That's not unusual even for a very experienced lifter. A few things to consider...Are you eating enough for proper recovery? Maybe put deadlifts on back day? Which muscle group is the most sore (quads or hams)? What type of post-workout stretches are you doing?



You're saying it's basically 3 work sets for each exercise? That doesn't seem like a lot especially considering that you're only doing two compound lower body movements, but I'm sure you make the work sets intense. I have a feeling there might be a hole in your recovery methods.

[Skullcrusher Scott]

Ito,

This is a pretty common problem people have when doing legs. And its not usually the day after that it is so bad, but the day after the day after. You are stretching which is good and you aren't doing too much on your leg days. There are alot of different things that can help you. (1)Water. Make sure you are drinking plenty of it to flush out toxins and harmful free radicals. (2) Glutamine/BCAA's. There are plenty of recovery aimed products on the market designed to speed recovery and reduce soreness. I prefer Xtend by Scivation (Green Apple). (3) Make sure you aren't taking the days off after legs because of soreness. You need to work through it. Stay consistent. And in time the more experience you have the less time for recovery. And I am talking muscle soreness here, not joints or tendons, thats a whole different bag of apples.

Read this article here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek158.htm

Its a great article on preventing soreness!!!

Keep up the great work Ito!

Skullcrusher

[Hishiad]

Could be a circulation issue...

Also try to add some muscling rolling to the stretching.


A small 12" long hard foam pad that's round with about a 3" diameter that you apply to the muscle (rather firmly) and just roll it over them in both directions.


Do this for the front and back of each calf, do it for the quads and do it for the hamstrings...


Also if available perhaps 15 or so minutes in the hot tub could help get the blood flowing


but listen to the other posters and read the article supplied I'm just adding more suggestions I'm no lifting expert my any means!

[saibuster]

thanks guys, great answers! and that article is awesome, i will definitely try some of the stuff that is mentioned there.