Constant leg pain! Help!

loribethrice
loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
edited November 15 in Fitness and Exercise
What do you guys do for constant muscle pain? My thighs and front/back of my knees constantly hurt unless I'm lying on my back and it's really making my biking ridiculously hard. Even just walking is hard.

Replies

  • LovelyIvy466
    LovelyIvy466 Posts: 387 Member
    If it's really bad, you should see a doctor.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Sounds like it is time to visit a dr?
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    I have. They just say it's from exercising. I've had the pain since I started exercising last July. I go 5-6 days a week and do 65 minutes of the bike each time.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    edited April 2015
    Can you do other exercises - elliptical, rowing machine, strength training, swimming, etc? It's good to change up one's exercise routine anyway, for fitness purposes.

    To deal with your overworked muscles.. aside from rest.. try stretching them. Search youtube for quadricep and hamstring stretches, and do them hourly. Using a foam roller may help too. Again, youtube has info on that.

    Your knees hurt too?
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    I'm not allowed to do standing exercises because I have issues with my autonomic nervous system. I do row at times, but that kills my knees too. My gym doesn't have a pool. I have done strength training before, but I don't do it often. I do yoga to stretch, but it doesn't seem to help my legs at all. Just my upper body.

    My knees kill me in the front and back.
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    edited April 2015
    1. Is it injury type pain, or DOMS-type soreness?
    2. Do you do any hip strengthening/flexibility work to supplement your biking with core stuff? Do you train opposing muscles? (e.g Hamstrings<=>quads)? Are you working your glutes in any way to be able to recruit them for additional help?
    3. Have you considered adjusting the seat distance on the bike you use?
    4. What about taking a few days off until the pain goes away, then starting back with a few additional rest days?
    5. Do you do the same *intensity* workout every day? Maybe alternating "low resistance, fast cadence" and "interval" and "higher resistance, slower cadence" days would help?

    Actual knee pain doesn't sound like DOMS or "Just exercise" to me...that sounds like muscles out of balance drawing your kneecap alllll over the place, combined with a maladjusted bike seat and maybe a touch of overtraining by doing the same thing all the time.

    Can you *walk*? (ETA: I mean, for exercise)
  • iofred
    iofred Posts: 488 Member
    Try using magnesium tablets, which apparently works for my better half
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    iofred wrote: »
    Try using magnesium tablets, which apparently works for my better half

    Magnesium also fixed this problem for me.
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »
    1. Is it injury type pain, or DOMS-type soreness?
    2. Do you do any hip strengthening/flexibility work to supplement your biking with core stuff? Do you train opposing muscles? (e.g Hamstrings<=>quads)? Are you working your glutes in any way to be able to recruit them for additional help?
    3. Have you considered adjusting the seat distance on the bike you use?
    4. What about taking a few days off until the pain goes away, then starting back with a few additional rest days?
    5. Do you do the same *intensity* workout every day? Maybe alternating "low resistance, fast cadence" and "interval" and "higher resistance, slower cadence" days would help?

    Actual knee pain doesn't sound like DOMS or "Just exercise" to me...that sounds like muscles out of balance drawing your kneecap alllll over the place, combined with a maladjusted bike seat and maybe a touch of overtraining by doing the same thing all the time.

    Can you *walk*? (ETA: I mean, for exercise)

    1. I'm not sure. What does DOMS feel like? It just feels like my muscles are on fire constantly, especially in my thighs and knees. Sometimes also in my shins.
    2. I just ride the recumbent bike for 65 minutes straight. I don't do anything else really. I walk at work because it's part of my job.
    3. I adjust it throughout my whole workout. I'm 5'9 and I can never find much of a comfortable middle ground so I am always changing.
    4. I took a whole week off in February and another whole week in March with no help so far.
    5. When my legs aren't hurting as bad I go harder, when they are hurting I lower the intensity a bit. I try to aim for 100 calories every 15 minutes or less.
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    Myhaloslipped wrote: »
    iofred wrote: »
    Try using magnesium tablets, which apparently works for my better half

    Magnesium also fixed this problem for me.

    I was thinking of getting magnesium. What kind do you use?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    loribethrice wrote: »
    I have. They just say it's from exercising. I've had the pain since I started exercising last July. I go 5-6 days a week and do 65 minutes of the bike each time.

    have a rest day in between exercise days?
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Why so much time biking every day? Are you training for a specific goal? Are there any classes or other equipment to use so you can e.g. use the bike every other day and give your body a break? Maybe just spend every other day going for a long walk if nothing else is available ot you.
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    loribethrice wrote: »
    I have. They just say it's from exercising. I've had the pain since I started exercising last July. I go 5-6 days a week and do 65 minutes of the bike each time.

    have a rest day in between exercise days?

    I do either 1 rest day or 2 rest days straight. It depends on how tired I am.
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Why so much time biking every day? Are you training for a specific goal? Are there any classes or other equipment to use so you can e.g. use the bike every other day and give your body a break? Maybe just spend every other day going for a long walk if nothing else is available ot you.

    I just can ride the recumbent bike without passing out so that's what I do. I have to workout because of my autonomic disorder and they told me to use the bike when I did cardiac rehab since I feel the best on it. My gym doesn't have any classes...it's only exercise equipment.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    20 minutes ice 20 minutes heat. i just use the cold/hot rubs...I think the sting they bring to my body takes my mind off my pain...lol
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    http://www.amazon.com/Cramer-G-Atomic-Balm-1-Pound/dp/B0001DJZ8O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427993737&sr=8-1&keywords=atomic+balm+muscle+rub

    Be careful, it stains and burns.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    i wouldn't have thought walking and recumbent bike would cause that. i don't know, but maybe something else is up, nutritionally or to do with circulation or something like that. maybe see a doc
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    loribethrice wrote: »
    I have to workout because of my autonomic disorder and they told me to use the bike when I did cardiac rehab since I feel the best on it.

    Should have stated your medical conditions in your first post. Do you have peripheral neuropathy or claudication? Typical muscle remedies probably won't work for those. Regardless.. your pain is not normal, so don't take anything, including magnesium, until asking your doctor. In the mean time, try the 2 stretches hourly that i mentioned earlier. Post your results after 2 days.

  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    yikes, good call Cherimoose, missed that post.

    OP if your doctors aren't interested in figuring this out, find ones who are.
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    loribethrice wrote: »
    I have to workout because of my autonomic disorder and they told me to use the bike when I did cardiac rehab since I feel the best on it.

    Should have stated your medical conditions in your first post. Do you have peripheral neuropathy or claudication? Typical muscle remedies probably won't work for those. Regardless.. your pain is not normal, so don't take anything, including magnesium, until asking your doctor. In the mean time, try the 2 stretches hourly that i mentioned earlier. Post your results after 2 days.

    I don't have any neuropathy from what my testing says. I just have dysautonomia (POTS version...Postural Tachycardia Syndrome), chronic migraine, hypotension, GERD, IBS, and a few other stupid things with my reproductive system like PCOS and endometriosis. They're all connected to the dysautonomia, so it's all just one bag of crap. I have been stretching, but since that didn't work I just took some time off from exercise. I'm going to start back in a few hours after 2 weeks of rest.
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