[ataraxia3]

What are some ways to help ease the pain in your muscles after working out? My thighs have been so sore it even hurts to walk. It really hurts doing my daily workouts with this muscle pain, and i don't want to have to skip workouts because of it. What should I do?

[L J]

My very smart friend, who is a massage therapist and into exercise herself, recommend I buy a foam roller. Link to Amazon foam rollers. She said if I roll myself after working out, before the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) sets in it will not be as bad. I am always fine the day after, but day 2 is a beast. At least it lets us know we are working those muscles!

ETA: Are you warming up thoroughly before working out again? After my warm up, at least 80% of my soreness is gone, so I'm not actually working out with muscle pain. What is your workout schedule like?

[Rhiko]

Do you stretch your muscles when your muscles are warm and when they are cooling down after you finish?

Having a bath and adding some herbal bath salts (specially made for muscle soreness) do help. I used to have one after every soccer match and I felt great afterwards. Massaging your muscles with deep heat or other muscle reliever every night before bed will help too.

I also wonder if you aren't pushing yourself a little too hard. Perhaps try decreasing your workout a little until your muscles build or get used to the new routine. However, you know your body better than I do, so you don't have to decrease if that's not the problem

[BreathingSpace]

Originally Posted by Rhiko

I also wonder if you aren't pushing yourself a little too hard. Perhaps try decreasing your workout a little until your muscles build or get used to the new routine. However, you know your body better than I do, so you don't have to decrease if that's not the problem

That's what I was thinking, but not sure how long you have been working out. If you just started, then that's pretty normal. If you have been working out for a while, I would say just tone it down a bit.

Muscle soreness like that is because your muscle fibers "tear" in a sense (I don't mean "tear" like you would rip a piece of paper violently by the way, they are tiny tears, you should google it). And then your body tries to heal that with an inflammatory response.

Anyway, when I did my 30-day yoga challenge my body was so sore all the time and I couldn't sleep. So I found "Robaxacet" really helped. I would take half a pill every 2nd night. It helped with the inflammation and helped me sleep!

[Andrea85]

Make sure you are hydrating enough. Also, I found that a cardio workout after strength training helps a LOT in decreasing muscle soreness.

[Sum38]

How long have you been working out? If this is your first week; it will get better by 3rd or 4th session.

[Keep Moving Forward]

Ever since I started foam rolling, I'm hardly ever sore from working out. It's kind of painful the first time or two, but after you'll feel so great & loosened up. It's even improved my flexibility!

[domesticbliss]

stretch! stretch before and after you workout, and the next day when your muscles are tight.
the thing that has made the biggest difference with my post workout soreness- HOT TUB.
I go to a YMCA to work out and they have one near the pool, it is heaven, and I even stretch in there, it has made a world of difference!

[geoblewis]

What part of your thighs are hurting and what exercises are you doing that involve that part of your thighs. It could be a form issue as well.

When I first started doing squats, I absolutely quit. My knees hurt, my quads hurt like heck! After that, I avoided them at all cost. But two years ago I started attempting them again when my Pilates trainer taught me how to do them properly using my glutes and hamstrings a lot more. Since then, I don't get that sore in my quads, my glutes get really worked (and some soreness) and my knees are NEVER in pain. It's all about engaging the glutes to hold the squat and to come up out of it. My trainer explains it rather indelicately, as if you're using your butt cheeks to pull up the chain attached to the drain plug from an old fashioned tub, and doing a Kegel exercise at the same time. It really works!

[ataraxia3]

Thank you for the replies everyone I really appreciate it.
The work outs ive been doing lately are a mix of: Leslie Sansone videos..anywhere from 1 - 5 miles depending on my energy, squats, yoga, zumba, other cardio HIIT workout videos, occasional trips to the gym for elliptical & treadmill. Now that i think of it, i probably haven't been doing enough stretching before & after my work outs. I'm going to have to make sure I do a warm up before every work out.
The pain is usually at the very top of my thighs - kind of going down from the groin area down along the top part of my thigh on both legs. I've been working out for about a month now consistently and i'm starting to push myself a little harder than i was in the beginning.
I'm going to look into the foam rollers and the Robaxacet I took a warm bath tonight and that definitely helped xoxo

[ohmanda]

How do foam rollers work? I mean what do you do with them?