Runners, do you run when legs are sore?

WickAndArtoo

Hi! I don't do strength exercises very often, so when I do I get very sore (even if it is not much of a workout). I am trying to start doing strength workouts more often, and yesterday I did some squats and lunges. My question is do my runner friends run if they have sore legs from a work out?

Nikki10129

Depends on how/where they're sore. Muscle soreness, particularly in my quads I don't mind running with, I actually find running helps loosen the muscles up and takes away from soreness.

Any sort of joint pain I won't run, and any pain in my calves I won't run (even if it's the muscles there) because I've had stress fractures and they are very painful.

AigreDoux

A little bit sore, yes.
But I don't push myself so hard in strength training that I am horribly sore.

bagge72

I do, but if it is the day after leg day, I tone my pace way day, and some times just do intervals between walking and jogging. I do find it does help the DOMS go by quicker for me.

prattiger65

I don't run if I am in PAIN. If I have DOMS from lifting, I run. There is a difference, (to me anyway) between soreness and pain, pain means an injury to me, so I rest it.

cwolfman13

I'm not a runner, but I am an avid cycling enthusiast...yes, I ride if I'm sore...but I'm rarely never so sore that I would even think about it. The good news is that if you keep lifting, the DOMs will go away in pretty short order.

A nice run or spin is actually a good way to treat DOMs

jenilla1

If it's a little soreness in the muscles I'm cool with it. Actual acute pain or joint issues will stop me, though. I don't mess around with injuries.

squarewheels66

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I'm not a runner, but I am an avid cycling enthusiast...yes, I ride if I'm sore...but I'm rarely never so sore that I would even think about it. The good news is that if you keep lifting, the DOMs will go away in pretty short order.

A nice run or spin is actually a good way to treat DOMs

Agree. I used to get DOMS quite bad when training in an unstructured way i.e . I was not doing enough easy but never able to do quality hard sessions

Since I've adopted the 80/20 easy/hard approach I don't suffer as much.

I think there is a breakthrough point when you get to a certain level of activity where it just settles down - for me this is 4-5 hours aerobic + 2 sessions of weights a week.

Drinking heavy on a day of exercise is bound to make my legs sore

WickAndArtoo

Thanks for the replies every one, my soreness is in my quads, and is definitely not injury. I actually didn't push myself hard at all, my muscles get sore the first day of starting up again because I always lose steam for a month or two between strength work outs. It would be fabulous to get consistent so that I would stop becoming quite so sore every time . Basically what happens is that I work out, am very sore so I figure I should take time off until the soreness goes away (usually 3-4 days) but by then I have totally lost motivation! So thats why I asking, because if I can run then maybe I won't lose the motivation. I ran last time this happened two months ago and it did seem to help the soreness, but I figured to check and see if that is normal. Thanks again for taking the time to help me out

pzarnosky

Nikki10129 wrote: »

Depends on how/where they're sore. Muscle soreness, particularly in my quads I don't mind running with, I actually find running helps loosen the muscles up and takes away from soreness.

Any sort of joint pain I won't run, and any pain in my calves I won't run (even if it's the muscles there) because I've had stress fractures and they are very painful.

Same!

spiriteagle99

Just keep the run easy. There's a reason they call it 'recovery pace'.

dewd2

I started my winter weight training about 10 days after my marathon. I swear I hurt more the day after lifting than I did the day after the race.

Since I was already taking it easy I did not run for a couple days until I got into my routine. Now I am lifting and running (though not as much running in the off season) and no longer get the sore. Just give it some time to get used to the new routine .

Good luck.

MeanderingMammal

Not from lifting, but a core element of my endurance training is the back to back long run. The Sunday times are always on sore/ tired legs having done a good LSR the previous day.

The point is to condition to running while fatigued, which is good prep for doubles; marathons or ultras on consecutive days.

Mike_take2

Yes, sometimes it's more of a Frankenstein tempo walk, but I still do it...

lporter229

Yes, but slow and easy. I generally do lifting on the same day as speed work or faster runs so that the next day can truly be a recovery day. That is a day that I run at a pace and distance that feels comfortable, no matter how slow that may be.

GiddyupTim

Quite often. The sore-muscle runs are hard, but I think it helps them to feel better sooner.

GottaBurnEmAll

If my joints are sore, no.

If it's DOMS? Yes, I run.

shanae727

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

If my joints are sore, no.

If it's DOMS? Yes, I run.

this!

BrianSharpe

prattiger65 wrote: »

I don't run if I am in PAIN. If I have DOMS from lifting, I run. There is a difference, (to me anyway) between soreness and pain, pain means an injury to me, so I rest it.

^^^ This.....

Unless you've really overdone things being active will help with recovering from DOMS (having said that, if i was sore I'd probably keep the run shortish and slow). Having said that I did find that I had to cut back on my squats during the later stages of my training plan last year as I wasn't getting enough recovery time and my legs felt very sluggish from fatigue.

liftorgohome

I hate leg days!! Trying to get back in a routine of twice a week but usually too sore from just one day. I think I over do it a bit. I've got chicken legs!!

Bluepegasus

If it's just DOMS, then yes, I always run, it actually helps loosen up the muscles. If I'm quite sore, then I'll just have an easy run.