[inspired by you]

Well it seems I have strained my hip flexors (mainly on the left side only). This stinks really really bad. I'm not even sure what I did. All I know is the pain is miserable. My boss and DH both say that I have been over doing it. I work out at Curves, which compared to what many of you do is a cake walk. I work out 6 times a week and the past few weeks its been 7 times supplemented with walking whenever the weather is nice. I didnt work out Friday, Saturday or Sunday to give it a rest and see if that would help. Well, I went and worked out this morning and the workout was fine. It was once I got to the stretching that the real pain kicks in. I know how important stretching is and I don't dare continue working out every day and just avoid the stretching. I have stretching exercises that are suppose to help but they hurt more than anything. So I was wondering if any of you have had this problem and what did you do and how long was it before you started feeling better. I'm already stressed because I start a new job next week and have to adjust my work out schedule, now this. I cant NOT work out, and I'm afraid if I slow down I will go back to the lazy me that never wants to work out. I'm just aggravated, stressed and whiny I guess, so thanks for listening to me vent.

[Athenawithheart]

Bummer! But take it easy for a few days and then see how you feel. Maybe you can do upper body only in the meantime?

[funniegrrl]

Overtraining isn't the same as a specific muscle strain, but yes, working out 7 days per week is definitely overdoing it. Your body needs one full day of rest per week to recover and rebuild and get stronger for the next round. Here's a good article on the subject?
http://www.stumptuous.com/sit-yo-***...rtance-of-rest


Was your diagnoses, and the stretching exercises, done by a doctor? With an injury, please don't dork around with advice unless it comes from a doctor or physical therapist.

As for prevention, sometimes leg/back issues are due to not having the correct shoes. This wouldn't be so much of an issue for Curves, but for your walking, absolutely. Most people, especially women, don't have perfect alignment & gait, so workout shoes that don't offer the correct support can cause problems when activity levels increase. You might visit a real athletic shoe store in your area (not some chain in the mall) and get fitted for proper shoes.

[JayEll]

Depending on your age, you should really take a break every 3 or 4 days for recovery.

Here's something else to think about: I had to give up Curves because the hydraulic machines were causing me to develop bursitis in my shoulders, and a friend of mine had this happen in her hips as well. Something about the fact that when you push faster, the resistance increases greatly, doesn't work for some people. So I would definitely pay attention to the machines you are using and how vigorously you are using them. I'm not saying that's the cause--lots of people use Curves without getting this--but it's worth being aware of.

I changed over to a regular gym with weight machines more like Nautilus, that don't use hydraulics, and never had the problem again.

Jay