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overworked leg muscles?

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miriamh23
miriamh23 Posts: 26 Member
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hi ya'll, i was just wondering if anyone knew anything about overworking muscles? or maybe someone may be going through the same thing? see i go to Zumba three times a week and get great cardio and good toning for my butt and thighs, and i also go running on the days i don't go to Zumba followed by some strength training that involves the leg muscles again like squats, lunges, jumping jacks, and wall sits. so today after my workout my legs felt super tense and really tight like they were wound up or something. i also want to add that i do stretch before and after every workout. i hope it's cool that i posted this thread here, just wanted to see if anyone could help? :)

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  • antelucyferum
    antelucyferum Posts: 6
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    It's totally a thing! .. overworked muscles, especially legs. Sometimes stretching before a workout strains muscles, if they aren't warm enough, and makes injury more likely in the workout. At least, that's what most of the research indicates over the last five years. A good alternative for many people is dynamic stretching, which loosens joins and gets synovial fluids circulating. (For example, leg swings that look like goose-stepping, and arm swings.)

    But other than that, rest days are golden. Some people only need a day between working muscle groups, and some people need two. It's up to the person's legs and running route/pace whether or not running works them enough to warrant a rest day. I've found it difficult to build muscle when I don't give a muscle group enough repair time, even though it feels strange and frustrating to take a day off. :)

    Or you could focus on only one part of your lower body on each lifting day, so that you have run / lift with focus on quads / run / lift with focus on hamstrings and glutes / run / lift with focus on calves.

    Good luck, and thanks for the reminder that muscles need pampering too! (Oh, for a massage ... )
  • miriamh23
    miriamh23 Posts: 26 Member
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    ha ha, thank you for the information, it's very much appreciated. :) i think i'll try the leg swings before workouts instead of doing full on stretches.

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