Any benefit of working a certain muscle group lightly ?

[pipios]

I am fedup with leg doms, and I have tried everything! Stretching before, during and after legday, intraworkout suplements, ben-gay at night and I just can't get rid of leg DOMS!!!!!!! As some of you know, I am a mailman, and I have a walking route that makes me walk between 5 to 6 hours a day, with a bad. I created a thread asking for advice and some of you responded, I tried all of them and it doesn't work. My leg day is wednesday, and I usually stretch, them do light leg extentions to warm up and usually do squats, leg-press, stiff legged DLs and some other hamstring excercise, then calf raise and seated calf raise to finist the day. I added extra stretching and it didn't work either. Last 2 weeks, I have suffered horrible workdays walking with doms and it is terrible, I mean, it even transfered the pain to my lower back in some kind of compensation move I don't even know how to explain.

Should I just workout my leg with low weight ? Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance...

[Brackneyc]

I am fedup with leg doms, and I have tried everything! Stretching before, during and after legday, intraworkout suplements, ben-gay at night and I just can't get rid of leg DOMS!!!!!!! As some of you know, I am a mailman, and I have a walking route that makes me walk between 5 to 6 hours a day, with a bad. I created a thread asking for advice and some of you responded, I tried all of them and it doesn't work. My leg day is wednesday, and I usually stretch, them do light leg extentions to warm up and usually do squats, leg-press, stiff legged DLs and some other hamstring excercise, then calf raise and seated calf raise to finist the day. I added extra stretching and it didn't work either. Last 2 weeks, I have suffered horrible workdays walking with doms and it is terrible, I mean, it even transfered the pain to my lower back in some kind of compensation move I don't even know how to explain.

Should I just workout my leg with low weight ? Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance...

Do them the day before you have a day off. Break them into a ham day, and a quad day. HTH.

[drudixon]

Do them the day before you have a day off. Break them into a ham day, and a quad day. HTH.

I like this idea.

Personally, i love doms, but the furthest i walk is my mailbox...

[bigvin73]

Do them the day before you have a day off. Break them into a ham day, and a quad day. HTH.

^^^^this and I love doms myself but I try and do them the day before I'm off. I walk a lot myself they normally loosen up as the day goes on

[230plus]

Try walking up 2 flights of steps...Dammit. Regardless if you loosen them up by continued movement, you keep them inactive for a period of time....such as sleeping...you wake up and its worse. My advice to you is as someone said, break them up.

[BalhamBeast]

I think the worst thing you can do is sit around the day after a heavy workout. I did a half marathon about a year and a half ago and I made myself go for a three mile walk the next day just to get some blood into the muscles. Working as a postman is probably a good thing in respect to your leg DOMS. I'd look at your nutrition - try upping your magnesium and potassium levels and see what happens. Most people are deficient in mag and it is pretty crucial to recovery. You could also try an Epsom salts bath or some contrast showers.

[JRT6]

I like DOMS too as it reminds how satisfying a good heavy squat day feels. A little more frequency of your legs days may help quite a bit.

[pharmamarketer]

I walk to help my leg DOMs get better. But I do not walk as much as you and I like DOMs. You can go lighter, yes. However, if your goal is growth, I would venture to say that it is going to come to a grinding hault.

If I were you I would suck it up and try and fight thru it a bit longer and see how it goes.

[MrNismo]

You sure it's DOMS? There is a difference between DOMS and 'bad' pain.

What about doing legs on Friday since Sunday will probably be your worst day of DOMS which I presume you have off as a mailman.

Lastly, you could try a 5x5 program where you squat 3 days per week. I've found I have almost no DOMS on these types of programs versus programs where I only hit legs once per week.

[quietchef]

I've experienced this as well, being my career choice demands me to be on my feet 8+ hours every day. This also leads to tightness in my lower back/hamstrings. The Friday of my workweek usually gets to be my leg day, as I get to sleep in the next day and typically end up eating more on the weekends anyway. For me to do legs any other day would be detrimental to my work performance. I did a stint of 3x per week full body workout, and a combination of less exhaustion of the individual muscle groups and a greater frequency seemed to help the situation.
Might be worth a try.

[tsoden]

I am fedup with leg doms, and I have tried everything! Stretching before, during and after legday, intraworkout suplements, ben-gay at night and I just can't get rid of leg DOMS!!!!!!! As some of you know, I am a mailman, and I have a walking route that makes me walk between 5 to 6 hours a day, with a bad. I created a thread asking for advice and some of you responded, I tried all of them and it doesn't work. My leg day is wednesday, and I usually stretch, them do light leg extentions to warm up and usually do squats, leg-press, stiff legged DLs and some other hamstring excercise, then calf raise and seated calf raise to finist the day. I added extra stretching and it didn't work either. Last 2 weeks, I have suffered horrible workdays walking with doms and it is terrible, I mean, it even transfered the pain to my lower back in some kind of compensation move I don't even know how to explain.

Should I just workout my leg with low weight ? Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance...

Move your leg day to Friday. Then you have the weekend to recover.

[ironwill2008]

Should I just workout my leg with low weight ?

If you stop employing progression, you'll stop making mass/strength gains. So that choice is yours.


Everyone's experience with DOMS in various body parts is a little different. For most people however, the more experienced you become, the less DOMS you'll have to deal with. Not much consolation for you right now, I know, but that's the reality of the situation.


Try shifting your 'leg' day around so you'll have some days off work following (as has already been suggested above). That's what I did back in the day, and it helped get me over the hump. I worked a very physical outdoor job involving climbing ladders and telephone poles, and sometimes walking long distances up- and down-hill often carrying heavy equipment.

Sometimes, the most-direct approach of just gutting it out is the only thing you can do.

[x-trainer ben]

I am fedup with leg doms, and I have tried everything! Stretching before, during and after legday, intraworkout suplements, ben-gay at night and I just can't get rid of leg DOMS!!!!!!! As some of you know, I am a mailman, and I have a walking route that makes me walk between 5 to 6 hours a day, with a bad. I created a thread asking for advice and some of you responded, I tried all of them and it doesn't work. My leg day is wednesday, and I usually stretch, them do light leg extentions to warm up and usually do squats, leg-press, stiff legged DLs and some other hamstring excercise, then calf raise and seated calf raise to finist the day. I added extra stretching and it didn't work either. Last 2 weeks, I have suffered horrible workdays walking with doms and it is terrible, I mean, it even transfered the pain to my lower back in some kind of compensation move I don't even know how to explain.

Should I just workout my leg with low weight ? Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance...

I asked my mailman to approximate his daily walking mileage and he told me on this/my route 5-6 miles and on his old route it was 10 per day(6 days a week) That is a lot of mileage so no wonder your muscles *never* have time to recover. Since stretching did not work break up the workout into 2 days, OR do what i do and use some cardio machine for 30 min after to move the blood around. My other successful strategy was to hit them again on the 2nd day which sounds counter intuitive but works like a charm (for me) every time.

[pipios]

Well I started this week, I separated the DLs from squats. I did DLs yesterday, and I am starting to feel the DOMS, but only on hamstrings, and will do squats on Thursday. Let's see if this helps. Thanks every1

[acrawlingchaos]

If you lift with regularity, you shouldn't be getting much in the way of DOMS after a few weeks.

[induced_drag]

If you lift with regularity, you shouldn't be getting much in the way of DOMS after a few weeks.

The above....and also as someone mentioned....could be your nutrition or rest.

I only get DOMS when I switch to something I have not done in a long time. I do not ever get it for "regular" workouts. (although I kind of wish I did )

It sounds like something else is out of whack....either your recovery or nutrition. If you have been training steadily, your DOMS should dramatically decrease over time. "Active recovery" , working a muscle group lightly the day or two after pummeling it, can help. But that is what your walking is. It should be helping you feel better.

I would look to make sure you are sleeping enough, or eating well. Something does not sound right.

[-=FLEX=-]

I really don't see how walking every day is an issue that would limit your training.

Before I went to university I was an order picker in a distribution warehouse, walked and lifted boxes all day every day minimum 8 hours/day. We got two 20 minute breaks per 8 hour shift and then a 15 minute break for every 2 hours of overtime.

And I still lifted every day after work, and trained legs twice a week.

I think maybe your bra strap is too tight, OP.

Man the f'k up.

[EjnarKolinkar]

DOMS cure, sleep, adequate nutrition, time, aquired durability.

You should be able to stimulate growth with squats, RDL or DL and 1 calf exercise for many moons. Muscle and fitness super 6 movement, 30 set burnout waiting to happen.

Fifth the motion to train legs on Friday with the whole weekend to eat, sleep and recover. Also training (pick one) squats and a dead lift variant 2-3x a week might be less flashy but you might get through the noob DOMS quicker.

I am a still weak beanpole, but my crippled DOMS days are in the rear view mirror, thanks to 3x a week squatting for a few months.

[Phattso]

DOMS is part of the deal when you sign up to lift weights. I disagree that DOMS will ease up after some time. If it eases up, you are not working hard enough, but just maintaining - IMO.

If you want to progress, you are always challenging your muscles. New growth and more strength requires some good pain.

Just read this: http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/trai...lifting-weight

Take a Cold One

Tough workouts don't have to result in aching muscles. Immersing yourself in cold water immediately after intense exercise can reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) by nearly half, say scientists in Ireland. That means a faster return to peak performance and a lower likelihood of missing your next workout. Do this: Fill your bathtub with 50- to 59-degree Fahrenheit water (cool tap water is usually cold enough) and soak in it for 5 to 12 minutes in order to reduce the inflammation that causes DOMS, the scientists recommend.

[frozensparky]

I only get DOMS when I switch to something I have not done in a long time. I do not ever get it for "regular" workouts. (although I kind of wish I did )

This is the same for me as well even the wishing I could get them. I thought the obvious was to switch to friday if you have the weekend off, won't help with the doms but you should recover by the end of the weekend.

[nixter]

When I did legs once a week I'd get doms every time. Since doing them twice a week I haven't had them at all. You don't even have to do twice the work if you dont want. Just split your current leg day in two equal parts.

[pipios]

I really don't see how walking every day is an issue that would limit your training.

Before I went to university I was an order picker in a distribution warehouse, walked and lifted boxes all day every day minimum 8 hours/day. We got two 20 minute breaks per 8 hour shift and then a 15 minute break for every 2 hours of overtime.

And I still lifted every day after work, and trained legs twice a week.

I think maybe your bra strap is too tight, OP.

Man the f'k up.

Man the f*p up is a good advice man, I know weight lifting is not easy and pail is a must, but it really hits me on the streets when walking. Some people say DOMS dissapear over time, some say they don't. In my case I still feel them, everybody is different you know. I decided to split legs in 2 days starting this week and already feel kinda better.

Thanks for being sincere, it motivates me