If I train a muscle every 4 days I’m sore for 2-3 days after. If I train a muscle once a week I’m sore for 5-6 days after. Anyone else like this?

[jonwalter]

I’ve been training for 26 years and it’s always been this way. Curious if others have the same issue. I like training a muscle every 4 days so I’m not as sore, but I’m getting old (43) and I lift heavy weights and it’s taking it’s toll on me. About to switch to doing a muscle once a week to give my body extra recovery time, but I hate being sore all the time. Upper body is just an annoyance but leg soreness basically every day is the worst.

And I’ve tried every supplement, macro ratio, diet plan, etc. and no change.

 

[ginnyweasley1222]

@jonwalter How's your overall sleep and how well do you respond to stress?

 

[jonwalter]

@ginnyweasley1222 Depends. Most of the time both are pretty good, but I’ve had periods where they were really good and periods where they were really bad and it didn’t change my level of soreness.

 

[dawn16]

@jonwalter I used to have the same issue. I recommend doing more compound exercises and starting really light and gradually building up your weight. It sucks to lift way under yo ur regular capacity for a while but it builds everything up and makes you focus more on form.

 

[jonwalter]

@dawn16 I’ve tried that and unfortunately t doesn’t help.

 

[greensto]

@jonwalter Are you having protein before and after your lifting session? Have you had any lab work done to see if there are any issues?

 

[jonwalter]

@greensto Yes to the protein and all my lab work has come back normal

 

[nofy]

@jonwalter I have similar issue with my quads. Foam roller helps combined with some kind of exercise which I try to explain best I could. My yoga teacher recommends it to me and it helps but it takes 2-3 weeks until it will bring you significant results. Based what he said it's mainly linked with tight muscles which can't release enough.

Lie down on your back with legs straight and then try to tense your quad muscle in right or left leg, stop it for one w seconds and release together with breath out. Do it for several rounds 10-20, depends on your feelings. You can do it even when you are in bed before you fall asleep. You can combine it with foam roller before this exercise.

If you apply it please let me know about your results

 

[jonwalter]

@nofy Thanks will give it a shot

 

[nofy]

@jonwalter Just one more tip, if you will feel your quads like a big stiff hard one piece thing I will be almoste sure that this is the issue.

 

[picadvic]

@jonwalter You should still aim to move your muscles in those range of motions regularly. Increase frequency, decrease intensity.

If you use weight then just do a quick full bodyweight warm up everyday or every other day. Or grease the groove.

 

[thesacredbeautiful]

@jonwalter Interesting - you must be moving some weight to be that sore, badass! If you can afford the cost/time, sports massages reduce soreness. No conclusive evidence they increase gains or performance that I’m aware of, but soreness is lessened.

 

[jonwalter]

@thesacredbeautiful I’m decently strong for my age, but even when I was younger and not as strong I had the same issue. Literally had it since day 1. It’s some sort of genetic thing or some sort of biological deficiency.

 

[ginnyweasley1222]

@jonwalter I've found static and dynamic stretching helps with the soreness.

 

[jonwalter]

@ginnyweasley1222 When do you do that? Immediately after the workout? A day or days after?

 

[ginnyweasley1222]

@jonwalter Dynamic stretching before the workout to warm up the blood and brace your body for the workout.

Static stretching is done after your workout to relax and destress the muscles. Breathing deeply with control is key here.

 

[jonwalter]

@ginnyweasley1222 Ah ok. I do that already but maybe I need to do more/longer amount of time. .

 

[jainty123]

@jonwalter If you have access to a garden hose with a jet nozzle, try jetting cold water over your legs for a few minutes after your final stretches. I used to run and this always helped immensely to reduce the soreness after. Almost, but not quite, like an ice bath or cryotherapy.

We used to do this with our horses after jumping or a hard trail ride and it worked great so I tried it on myself.

 

[jonwalter]

@jainty123 I’ll give that a try. We have a hot tub that we turn down to 80 and make it a make shift pool in the summer, so I can also try hopping in there to cool my legs.

 

[waterfall123]

@jonwalter It would help if you could send the routine you’ve been doing. But most likely I would say your probably just doing too much volume. Sometimes it’s hard not to overtrain when your having fun