Soreness

danibee41989

I used the leg curl machine on Monday and my legs are killing me now more than ever. However, I want to do cardio today. Should I? Or will this make my legs hurt more??

princesslmc2

Depends on how sore the legs are. If it's more like "yeah, I got a GREAT burn/workout in yesterday," then I say go on and do the cardio. I find that doing cardio and getting the blood pumping helps relieve my soreness and helps them heal more quickly.

However, if you're more like "OMG - I totally over-did and now I can barely stand to stand up without crying out in pain," perhaps you need to give your muscles time to recover. Then next time, go a LITTLE lighter on the weights.

All about learning to listen to the body. :-)

jaimejean478

Moving the muscles more should help the recovery a little. Go for it even if you have to take it easy!

Tiana405

You're sore still from legs on Monday? Definitely plenty of time in between to do cardio. Just be sure to stretch REALLY well. I don't do cardio the day I work out legs or the day after and sometimes they're still sore the day after that, but... I still do cardio and it's fine. I say go for it! : )

Majunta

Go easy on yourself with cardio...

jerren

Whenever I'm sore from working out, it goes away during the next. Adrenaline pops in and its like the pain all goes away. Good luck with the next work out!

danibee41989

Thanks all!! I think I'm going to do some cardio tonight

rmhand

DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) Stretch, do the same exercise again with less weight, drink water and stretch some more. Some cardio is a great idea!

sam363

I used the leg curl machine on Monday and my legs are killing me now more than ever. However, I want to do cardio today. Should I? Or will this make my legs hurt more??

Give them a good stretch and either walk or a light run for 30 mins. If you feel pain with doing this and it's too much then you need to rest. No sense in injuring yourself.

eandskp

Yep, with movement, you will gradually restore your muscles back to normal. Right now, you are experiencing "microtrauma" to the muscle fibers which is why the muscles are swollen and you feel pain. It's not from lactic acid as that is normally flushed out within 30-60 minutes after training. Some short-term treatments include stretching, topical application of sports balms, creams, and submersion in a hot tub or time in a sauna. Some also turn to aspirin and anti-inflammatory medication (Ibuprofen) to reduce the pain and inflammation. I tend to steer away from chemicals so I usually reach for Bromelain capsules or Arnica Gel.