I am just curious, how long should my legs be sore after starting a new workout routine where i am doing the compound movements (squat,lunge,stepup)? It is the first time i really tried to go as heavy as i could, almost to my max... im doin 5x5 this week next ill do 4x6. I did this workout (which is in my journal) on tuesday, its now friday and im still hobbling along like a duck bc my quads/glutes are sore as heck. My 2nd lower body day this week is tomorrow, i dont know if ill be able to do the workout if my legs are still this sore... is it normal to be sore for 2+ days after?
Sore Legs
- Thread starter USFbull22
- Start date
its not my first time working out, i have been since last july... i guess it was my first time really going super heavy and doing the 5x5 set/rep routine. I needed to go heavier since last month i lost more muscle then i wanted to. For squats the highest was around 155 lunges i used 2x 40lb DBs and for stepups 25lb DBs. I did do those exercises with an old trainer, but he never had me go heavy. I know i should be goiong heavy, but how do i know if its to heavy and will hinder my recovery for the next lower body workout?
I used to work my legs so hard each Sunday (for about 6-to-12 months at a stretch) that it took most of the week for me to recover (usually 5 days, sometimes 6 before I felt good again). If & when I work them less-hard, then they're feeling fine after 2-to-3 days; if I baby 'em during a workout, then they feel pretty-much alright all the time (just a little stiff, but not sore).
Generally...
New to lifting = mucho soreness (1st day seems easy & is typically overdone*)
New exercise initially overdone (beginner or advanced) = mucho soreness*
Hard (or easy but overdone) workout = mucho soreness*
* Possibly fatigued even; being somewhat tired is fine, but being fatigued (overly-tired) is dangerous to one's health as it can lessen the ability of one's immune system & adversely affects one's judgment... carried to an extreme (with no time to recover), it causes death. Training to failure is walking the thin line between quite-enough & way-too-much... so it requires a lot of recovery-time, else things will eventually (prematurely) break-down rather than continue to build-up.
Generally...
New to lifting = mucho soreness (1st day seems easy & is typically overdone*)
New exercise initially overdone (beginner or advanced) = mucho soreness*
Hard (or easy but overdone) workout = mucho soreness*
* Possibly fatigued even; being somewhat tired is fine, but being fatigued (overly-tired) is dangerous to one's health as it can lessen the ability of one's immune system & adversely affects one's judgment... carried to an extreme (with no time to recover), it causes death. Training to failure is walking the thin line between quite-enough & way-too-much... so it requires a lot of recovery-time, else things will eventually (prematurely) break-down rather than continue to build-up.
Last edited:
Don't work them. It sounds like you are trying a full body routine for the first time...hitting each muscle 3x a week. IF this is true, then cut it down to 2x a week for the first 2 weeks. After that, then hit it up 3x a week again.
If you keep tearing down a muscle before it's fully healed, then that can lead to injury.
If you keep tearing down a muscle before it's fully healed, then that can lead to injury.
Wait before hitting them again. The first time I started going heavy on deadlifts and squats it took nearly a week for them to recover. I never had to wait so long for any other body part to recover. Probably has to do with the fact that we are constantly using them to walk around with. 
I would suggest working other body parts instead. I would not skip a workout. I personally need to hit the gym four times a week.
I would suggest working other body parts instead. I would not skip a workout. I personally need to hit the gym four times a week.
Yeah, I would say don't hit the legs again. Anytime you're going to the gym to do a bodypart and that bodypart is almost painfully sore from the last workout, you're probably gonna get hurt if you try it.
Like Chucke says, do something else for that workout. Your quads will thank you and the extra recovery time for them will do more benefit than trying to pulverize them again!
Good luck!
Like Chucke says, do something else for that workout. Your quads will thank you and the extra recovery time for them will do more benefit than trying to pulverize them again!
Good luck!