Help! Over 40, need ideas on recovery after exercise!

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mewdds
mewdds Posts: 22
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been exercising for 6 weeks now. 6 days at least of cardio for 30 min and seeing a personal trainer for 30 minutes 3x/week. My body is fighting me every step of the way! If I do squats, my rear still hurts days later. It's been years since I've worked out this much, but it has never taken this long to recover. My quads never seem to recover. I feel like it's getting harder, not easier as the time goes on as the aches and pains keep mounting. Any ideas on how to recover bettter and FASTER? I've tried Advocare night time recovery, magnesium, I eat a lot of protein,eat 5-6 times a day and drink a ton of water. I've been getting therapeutic massage once a week, and stretch (usually) before working out. Nothing seems to be working. Is this just getting old?

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  • wbgolden
    wbgolden Posts: 2,071 Member
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    Extra vitamin C seems to help me quite a bit. Also, don't underestimate the power of epsom salt baths.

    Makes me want one now!
  • Tangerine302
    Tangerine302 Posts: 1,509 Member
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    Just probably using a lot of things that you haven't used in a while. :) I remember when I first did the 30 day shred. I didn't think it was too bad on day one. The next morning my legs felt like rubber walking down the steps. ha After that they were fine until I tried another move on another level. Just a lot of things you don't move/use on a regular day.
    I've never had a personal trainer unless you count Jillian.:) Maybe you need a few rest days in between. You don't want to get an injury either.
    Good luck to you!
  • mewdds
    mewdds Posts: 22
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    LOVE epsom salt baths! They are awesome! I will try that more often and the Vit C. Thanks!
  • TK421NotAtPost
    TK421NotAtPost Posts: 512 Member
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    How much of a calorie deficit are you doing right now? A sizeable deficit plus lots of cardio/resistance training could lead to recovery problems.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,695 Member
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    I've been exercising for 6 weeks now. 6 days at least of cardio for 30 min and seeing a personal trainer for 30 minutes 3x/week. My body is fighting me every step of the way! If I do squats, my rear still hurts days later. It's been years since I've worked out this much, but it has never taken this long to recover. My quads never seem to recover. I feel like it's getting harder, not easier as the time goes on as the aches and pains keep mounting. Any ideas on how to recover bettter and FASTER? I've tried Advocare night time recovery, magnesium, I eat a lot of protein,eat 5-6 times a day and drink a ton of water. I've been getting therapeutic massage once a week, and stretch (usually) before working out. Nothing seems to be working. Is this just getting old?
    Don't do any cardio the day you train legs. Or if you do make it very light. Also, are you training quads 3 times a week? If you are, then you need to have your trainer back it down to 2 times or less.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    You should really be addressing this with your trainer. If he/she is unwilling or unable to address it, then you might want to rethink that relationship.

    A lot of people get sore when initially starting a program, but six weeks is a bit much.

    That fact that "nothing seems to be working" should tell you one thing--that a lot of these interventions don't really have much of an effect. Sometimes it's best to look for the simplest answer--you are beating the crap out of yourself. I am sure the trainer has the best intentions--he/she wants to push you hard in your 30 min to help you get faster results--but it seems pretty obvious to me that you started off doing too much too soon. Sometimes that just happens, it's not really anyone's "fault".

    I would take a break for at least 2-3 days and maybe ramp up a little more gradually. I don't know what you are doing in your training sessions, but possibly even cut back to 2x per week.

    I am not a big believer in supplements, but you do have to pay attention to your food if you want to sustain a higher-volume routine. That means an appropriate macronutrient ratio, eating after workouts and not eating too little.

    You should also be balancing your routine, if you are not doing so. These days, the mantra is "hard, hard, hard" but that is not always sustainable, esp for older adults. There is still a place for some longer-duration, lower intensity endurance cardio and some medium tempo cardio in your routine. When working out every day, you have to build in some "active recovery".

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