Runners - managing leg workouts + running?

[Pete]

Anyone here consistently running and also doing leg workouts?

I find that no matter how long I keep up a leg workout regime, I'm always sore for days at least 2 days afterward. This makes running difficult as the muscle tightness/soreness really affects my stride and therefore makes my legs and feet more prone to niggles.

Anyone experienced similar issues and found ways to manage it?

[two_phat]

I know what you mean - its a real struggle if you're DOMS are bad.

however, I've found that these things helped..

1. 5-10 minutes worth of stretching after legs workout

2. 5-10 jog after legs workout

3. Doing legs right before your rest day(s) so you can recover without running at all - unless you run on your rest days too?

4. Harden the f*ck up.

Number 4 is usually the option that I've had to take as DOMs always seems to be there.

[TheGus]

Never run if your quads are still fucked though, you'll injure yourself and hinder your leg recovery. I try to keep my running to either straight after leg training or 3 days after.

[Flex]

Anyone here consistently running and also doing leg workouts?

I find that no matter how long I keep up a leg workout regime, I'm always sore for days at least 2 days afterward. This makes running difficult as the muscle tightness/soreness really affects my stride and therefore makes my legs and feet more prone to niggles.

Anyone experienced similar issues and found ways to manage it?

Are you training for a particular running event? Normally it's best to try and coincide leg day either with your rest day the next day or a low intensity recovery run.

What's the main goal with your running training - to improve running endurance/performance or are you just running to lose weight?

[Pete]

Running for fitness and to improve my running. I do anything from 7.5 up to about 17 or 18 kms. My most common runs are a 9 and 12 km route near my house.

I usually have at least one day between workout and run, e.g. Thurs workout, Saturday run. I ran on Sunday this week and it was still horrible...

[runveerun]

Running for fitness and to improve my running. I do anything from 7.5 up to about 17 or 18 kms. My most common runs are a 9 and 12 km route near my house.

I usually have at least one day between workout and run, e.g. Thurs workout, Saturday run. I ran on Sunday this week and it was still horrible...

How many days a week are you running? If you are doing just one long run a week and no other that's not good for you either. I would suggest if you are running for purely fitness and not for an event to do HIIT instead as it's high intensity and will improve your fitness without going long.

If you however like me enjoy the LONG runs I would re-arrange my leg work out to be at the opposite end of the week to your long run.

Are you eating enough protein to recover? That makes a huge difference also if you don't eat enough protein to recover your muscles you will be sore for longer. Are you taking any glutamine? This may help also for recovery, I find it helps me recover better.

[Pumpupthejam]

4. Harden the f*ck up.

Number 4 is usually the option that I've had to take as DOMs always seems to be there.

NO. THat is not an answer. I've got shin splints from running often on hard roads and treadmills etc, and I'd consider myself a fairly 'hard' bloke. You can be a tough as you want but you'll still face injury from excercise or sport.

Get new running shoes if the ones you have are old. Look after your body. Get adaquate rest. Proper stretching etc, use anti-flammatory gel and pills and go see a physio every now and then for professional advice.

Being 'hard' and just continuing with pain in your legs will screw you up even more.

[two_phat]

DOMs is completely different from Shin splints. Don't confuse the two. I've also had shin splints and am VERY careful with what I run on and with.

However DOMs is something that tends to come hand in hand with weight training. Its somewhat unavoidable if your training hard. So in regards of DOMs, as long as your not overdoing your running, it is an option.

[Pete]

To answer a few questions above...

I try to do a minimum of one weekend and one mid-week run. When I'm training for something, it might be more like 4 runs a week. I play squash twice a week also.

The DOMS itself is not so much the problem as the niggles the tightness of the muscles causes: runners knee, numb feet, inflamed achillies, etc. All these things seem to disappear completely when I'm avoiding leg workouts.

I eat plenty of protein... I eat 5 meals a day + pre-workout shake. Total from all sources last time i added it up was around 225gms, which is heaps for someone 70-75kgs.

I think the thing I most need to change is sleep as I sleep poorly and rarely get more than about 7.5hrs.

[runveerun]

hmmm about all else I could suggest is REALLY good shoes do you have properly fitted running shoes? I don't know whether lack of sleep would cause niggly pains, but I guess if you don't sleep right you don't heal right. Take some protein before bed too if you aren't already. Let us know how you go on!

[teamfatboy]

I'm with Vee on this one... If you were thinking about new shoes anyway, go to a single-purpose sporting footwear shop (not Hannahs, not Rebel), get them to check your gait/footfall. A lot of them will capture foot pressure and it's amazing what a trained operator can tell.

Another pointer is that "running" shoes generally aren't as supportive for leg exercises where the weight's thru the sole (so squats, deads) where "cross-trainers" often offer more support and stability.

But it sounds like you could usefully stretch more after a leg workout - some of those things sound to me like you could do yourself a favour by e.g. rolling out the ilio-tibial band (ITB) on a foam roller, as well as stretching quads/hams/calves.

I'm not so sure that glutamine would help, but glucosamine and chondroitin is often tipped to help with connective-tissue health.

[Pete]

I have properly fitted shoes from Shoe Science and I take a glucosamine/chondroitin supp

I've stretched after the last two workouts and I think it has really helped. The last run I did was pain free!

[teamfatboy]

Good to hear - must be a nice feeling!