Why do my Thighs BURN?!?!

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annie_p
annie_p Posts: 319 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
This has happened twice now to me. The first time, I did 30 Day Shred, the next day Wii Active 2, and by the third day I could barely get out of bed! I couldn't walk without shooting, stabbing, burning pains radiating through my thigh muscles. I couldn't squat to save my life, and it was just a miserable couple of days. The second time it happened, I did Pilate's for the first time(I think it was a Crunch video or something like that). I woke up the next day, not quite as bad, but still painful. I'm still getting a little twinge every now and then, and this second occasion was last week.

I'm very careful about my knee positioning, kick-boxing doesn't do this to me, or anything else for that matter. Am I doing harm to my body and it's retaliating against me? Any suggestions???

I make sure to cool down and stretch after my workouts. I get plenty of protein in a day. HELP!
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Replies

  • kaylou
    kaylou Posts: 375 Member
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    Did you continue on or did you stop after the pain. Anytime I start something new I have pain for a couple days but you just fight through and eventually it goes away.
  • randi50
    randi50 Posts: 112
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    Make sure you are doing stretches for those muscles before and after.
  • starboardzor
    starboardzor Posts: 312
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    I've worked out my legs to the point I couldn't sit down on the toilet the next two days without crying, haha. But I'm so used to sore muscles I look forward to it. If you feel like the pain is not your normal sore muscle pain, then you should probably see a doc.
  • dragonbug300
    dragonbug300 Posts: 760 Member
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    Sounds like you're doing it all right to me. The burning sensation and muscle soreness are all normal after-effects of working muscles that aren't used to being worked. Keep working out. It'll get easier each time.
  • 6Janelle13
    6Janelle13 Posts: 353 Member
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    generally it's from a build up of lactic acid which is a natural by product of muscle use. Drink a lot of water after your work outs. It will get better with time as your body adapts to its new demands and becomes more efficient at meeting those needs.
  • annie_p
    annie_p Posts: 319 Member
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    Did you continue on or did you stop after the pain. Anytime I start something new I have pain for a couple days but you just fight through and eventually it goes away.

    I have not gone back to 30 Day Shred. This pain is so terrible I can barely walk...let alone work out. I've done Wii Active again, but never 2 days in a row, and haven't gotten the pain from doing it that way.
  • acknan
    acknan Posts: 261 Member
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    Are you doing too much, too soon? If your body can't recover, you can't work out again the next day. Maybe doing less more often will help you rather than killing yourself with such painful workouts...
  • annie_p
    annie_p Posts: 319 Member
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    generally it's from a build up of lactic acid which is a natural by product of muscle use. Drink a lot of water after your work outs. It will get better with time as your body adapts to its new demands and becomes more efficient at meeting those needs.

    I was thinking it had something to do with this. Just wasn't sure how to fight it off.
  • xxMsComptonxx
    xxMsComptonxx Posts: 53
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    I did jillian michaels target trouble zones dvd and i felt the same way. i only did it once and my thights were soo bad i thought my legs were going to give out on me when i walked up and down my stairs in my house. it last for about 3 days and finally went away. in those three days i also did the cross trainer at the ymca so i just went through the pain. but it sucks i know!
  • Mayor_West
    Mayor_West Posts: 246 Member
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    It's called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and is very, very common, especially when you change exercises or start a new program. The main cause of this is that during resistance training the actual muscle fibers are broken down and through a combination of rest and amino acids (via protein intake), the fibers are repaired and then become stronger. The conditions only last a few days, depending on the lag between changes.

    As for treatments, keep your protein intake up and get plenty of rest. You can also apply a balm like Icy Hot and take Ibuprofen as well.
  • annie_p
    annie_p Posts: 319 Member
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    Are you doing too much, too soon? If your body can't recover, you can't work out again the next day. Maybe doing less more often will help you rather than killing yourself with such painful workouts...

    That's what I'm thinking, because the Wii Active doesn't bother me if I do it every other day. The Pilate's was only a one day thing though, so that's where I'm hung up. My thighs are very muscular, (I was a dancer for years, and could leg press more than majority of the guys in my highschool weight training class) so it's not like there's nothing there. I"m just sick of the pain!
  • annie_p
    annie_p Posts: 319 Member
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    It's called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and is very, very common, especially when you change exercises or start a new program. The main cause of this is that during resistance training the actual muscle fibers are broken down and through a combination of rest and amino acids (via protein intake), the fibers are repaired and then become stronger. The conditions only last a few days, depending on the lag between changes.

    As for treatments, keep your protein intake up and get plenty of rest. You can also apply a balm like Icy Hot and take Ibuprofen as well.

    Thank you for the information!
  • npryor100
    npryor100 Posts: 99 Member
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    The first time I had a personal training session I couldn't raise my arms above my waist for three days. So I understand what you're going through! That was no fun. I've eventually come to the conclusion that a little soreness is a good thing, but a lot of soreness is just demoralizing. So if I'm really sore I try to go lighter next time.

    My best tips for helping soreness:
    -massage the muscles during a hot shower
    -streching multiple times per day
    -extra protein after a workout, like a glass of milk
    -if you have access to a gym, alternating sitting the hot tub and then in the pool. I've been told there is something about going from hot to cold and then back to hot again that can help.
  • rvice2
    rvice2 Posts: 132 Member
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    You're muscles are tearing and breaking down which is how new muscle is formed. Eat high amounts of protein to aid in the muscle recovery. The burning is most likely lactic acid build up. Low fat chocolate milk after a work out will flush the lactic acid out. Keep up the good work - sore muscles means you are working them!
  • loriefolk
    loriefolk Posts: 352
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    JM has pushed me to where I couldn't walk down the steps without my Dh holding on to me. It HURT so bad... but it felt so GOOD!! That lasted for about a week and that was more than a month ago - no problems at all since!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    generally it's from a build up of lactic acid which is a natural by product of muscle use. Drink a lot of water after your work outs. It will get better with time as your body adapts to its new demands and becomes more efficient at meeting those needs.

    I was thinking it had something to do with this. Just wasn't sure how to fight it off.

    It's not lactic acid. Lactic acid is built up DURING an exercise and is gone within minutes after finished. This is called DOMS, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It happens when you begin a new, strenuous program and can be complicated by not allowing the muscles to correctly recover before using them again. You need to give sufficient recovery time after a strenuous workout. Stretch the muscles immediately after a workout, and make sure you feed your body to recover during the first 12 to 24 hours after a new workout. Water's great, and it's a good idea, but it will do very little to fix this issue. The body recognizes microtears and muscle fatigue, it then treats this symptom as it would an injury, it swells the area to prevent further injury, then essentially begins repair, until the repair is sufficiently complete, you won't have full use. Working this muscle in the same fashion again will a) give diminishing returns compared to giving it proper rest time and b) cause you to lengthen and intensify the amount of discomfort or pain associated with it.
  • sweetheart03622
    sweetheart03622 Posts: 928 Member
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    First and foremost, make sure you're stretching out before and after your workouts. Regarding the pain, if you walked around for a few minutes did it ease up? If so, it's probably just your body reacting to the new workout and being a bit sore. Keep yourself well hydrated and make sure you're eating protein after your workouts to repair the muscles. If the pain doesn't ease up after a few minutes of movement it might be something you'd want to get looked at.
  • em80
    em80 Posts: 91
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    I had the same problem with the 30 day shred so I stopped. I'm doing Chalean extreme at the minute and there's quite a bit of squatting in that, when I've finished I might try the 30 day shred again.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    I miss those days :cry:. It lets you know you did something your muscles aren't used to. Even though it hurts horribly, you need to keep moving. Stretch the sore muscles A LOT! If you just rest until they don't hurt any more, it will take even longer to work out the lactic acid. I remember one time before I lost the weight I jumped into a huge amount of abs in one day. I was sore for a week! I didn't do anything to work them, so the lactic acid stayed. As others have said, drink plenty of water, get your protein, and keep moving those muscles.
  • thkelly
    thkelly Posts: 466 Member
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    It's called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and is very, very common, especially when you change exercises or start a new program. The main cause of this is that during resistance training the actual muscle fibers are broken down and through a combination of rest and amino acids (via protein intake), the fibers are repaired and then become stronger. The conditions only last a few days, depending on the lag between changes.

    As for treatments, keep your protein intake up and get plenty of rest. You can also apply a balm like Icy Hot and take Ibuprofen as well.

    this above......

    and it's usually two days later. if you work out your legs on monday you'll be sore on tuesday, but the soreness will really set in on wednesday.
    i'm about to find out how hard i worked yesterday. i did my leg workout and it was tough walking down the stairs leaving the gym. today they are fairly sore, but tomorrow is going to be worse i'm sure.

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