Want to Run but Legs Are Sore
JordanS9592
Posts: 94 Member
So, I’m 340 pounds, and I’m fat and out of shape, but I was a college wrestler, so I can move and work hard. Today, I regrettably cheated on my diet, and I haven’t been losing the weight that I want since I started changing my diet in the last couple of weeks. To make up for today, I was going to run for a couple hours. I’ve done it before, and I have a high tolerance for pain when I set my mind to it. The problem is, I did a hard workout two days ago, and my legs are really sore. I think what killed me the most was doing the 200 body weight squats. I have full range of motion, but my thighs especially are really tender. I was hoping I could stretch and be good to go. Any thoughts?
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Replies
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in my older age, i try to run 3 times a week. now, i'm not a doctor, but what works for me is long stretches before AND after the run. i also do 5 minute walks before and after the run to warm up and cool down. and if my legs are already on fire, i just run at a slower pace. or sometimes i run treadmill as i find it easier on the joints.1
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Listen to your body. ☺2
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I know you probably mentally feel the same way you were when you were a college wrestler, but your body is not the same body. "High tolerance for pain" is not necessarily the best thing to do. Pushing your body beyond where it's ready is a good recipe for injury. Using exercise as "punishment" for overeating is also not a good thing to associate with it. I think you are better off taking a rest, and a deep breath, and setting diet and exercise goals that are reasonable. You are not going to lose the weight or get in shape overnight, but you can seriously set yourself back by doing too much too soon.14
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JordanS9592 wrote: »I was going to run for a couple hours.
Two hours of running is something you train for and work up to over time. If you are serious about starting running I suggest you look into a training program like C25K (Couch to 5K).9 -
If you’re discouraged and are trying to make up for overeating by exercising, don’t hurt yourself, take a long walk instead, or a swim, or a bike ride.4
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Firstly, I applaud your enthusiasm. I wish I had as much.
Two hints::- Walking one miles burns roughly the same calories as running one mile (running has a "carry over" effect).
- Body retains more fluid after intense training while it repairs and rejuvenates for one or two days.
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Thanks for the tips. I might walk for an hour, we will see. The DOMS is pretty deep right now.1
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You didn’t mention this exercise in your other thread about being down because you hadn’t lost weight in 2 weeks. You know if your legs are that sore you are probably retaining a lot of water.
Pounds lost from calorie deficit + pounds gained from water retention = 0?
It’s a possibility.7 -
corinasue1143 wrote: »You didn’t mention this exercise in your other thread about being down because you hadn’t lost weight in 2 weeks. You know if your legs are that sore you are probably retaining a lot of water.
Pounds lost from calorie deficit + pounds gained from water retention = 0?
It’s a possibility.
I’m not too educated on water retention, but I have a feeling you’re right because my body feels a lot stronger and I can see a slight difference in the way my shirts fit. I do need to get that number down though.0 -
I know you probably mentally feel the same way you were when you were a college wrestler, but your body is not the same body. "High tolerance for pain" is not necessarily the best thing to do. Pushing your body beyond where it's ready is a good recipe for injury. Using exercise as "punishment" for overeating is also not a good thing to associate with it. I think you are better off taking a rest, and a deep breath, and setting diet and exercise goals that are reasonable. You are not going to lose the weight or get in shape overnight, but you can seriously set yourself back by doing too much too soon.
I’ve been listening to the autobiography of David Goggins, so I just figured I’d do what he did to get in shape for the military. I can’t tell where to draw the line between mental toughness and overtraining, especially in these early stages. I feel like I can push a lot harder, but I don’t want to be injured being stupid either. I’m just going to take a long walk tonight and see how it goes.2 -
JordanS9592 wrote: »I’ve been listening to the autobiography of David Goggins, so I just figured I’d do what he did to get in shape for the military. I can’t tell where to draw the line between mental toughness and overtraining, especially in these early stages. I feel like I can push a lot harder, but I don’t want to be injured being stupid either.
Goggins is inspiring, but he also injured himself numerous times, and came close to serious organ failure and death. Accept that fitness happens slowly, and that weight loss is mostly about your calorie intake, not exercise. If you happen to eat too much, just eat less the next day - never change your fitness plan. For running, a good plan to follow is C25K, and for strength, check the pinned post for a list of programs.. which are superior than doing a ton of bodyweight squats.
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Let's take a step back here a minute and address the real issue as I see it. You 'cheat' on your diet so you want to run for a couple hours. Stop this nonsense now before it becomes an issue. So you went over your calorie goal. So what? Don't punish yourself or try to 'make up' for it. Move on. Do better tomorrow.
I don't care at all about daily totals. My goals are weekly. If I eat double what I should on one day I can adjust the rest to get close. Or not. These changes you are making are lifetime changes. Don't let one day ruin it.
Exercise is for HEALTH. Not for weight loss.
Good luck.15 -
Cherimoose wrote: »JordanS9592 wrote: »I’ve been listening to the autobiography of David Goggins, so I just figured I’d do what he did to get in shape for the military. I can’t tell where to draw the line between mental toughness and overtraining, especially in these early stages. I feel like I can push a lot harder, but I don’t want to be injured being stupid either.
Goggins is inspiring, but he also injured himself numerous times, and came close to serious organ failure and death. Accept that fitness happens slowly, and that weight loss is mostly about your calorie intake, not exercise. If you happen to eat too much, just eat less the next day - never change your fitness plan. For running, a good plan to follow is C25K, and for strength, check the pinned post for a list of programs.. which are superior than doing a ton of bodyweight squats.
Thank you for saying that. This makes a lot of sense. I was struggling with how to apply the principles of that book, and what you’re saying cleared it up for me.0 -
Let's take a step back here a minute and address the real issue as I see it. You 'cheat' on your diet so you want to run for a couple hours. Stop this nonsense now before it becomes an issue. So you went over your calorie goal. So what? Don't punish yourself or try to 'make up' for it. Move on. Do better tomorrow.
I don't care at all about daily totals. My goals are weekly. If I eat double what I should on one day I can adjust the rest to get close. Or not. These changes you are making are lifetime changes. Don't let one day ruin it.
Exercise is for HEALTH. Not for weight loss.
Good luck.
This is really good advice. I can see how working out for the wrong reasons can lead to damaging habits. Thanks for the support.1 -
Firstly, I applaud your enthusiasm. I wish I had as much.
Two hints::
[*] Body retains more fluid after intense training while it repairs and rejuvenates for one or two days.
If one is insistent on managing DOMS, besides staying hydrated and getting All The Sleep, bromelain (supplement derived from pineapple) has an ant-inflammatory effect. Magnesium and calcium can also help.
Actually, running burns more than twice as much calories as walking. The movement is completely different: you use more muscles and running involves a little jump where both feet are in the air at the same time.3 -
Firstly, I applaud your enthusiasm. I wish I had as much.
Two hints::
[*] Body retains more fluid after intense training while it repairs and rejuvenates for one or two days.
If one is insistent on managing DOMS, besides staying hydrated and getting All The Sleep, bromelain (supplement derived from pineapple) has an ant-inflammatory effect. Magnesium and calcium can also help.
Actually, running burns more than twice as much calories as walking. The movement is completely different: you use more muscles and running involves a little jump where both feet are in the air at the same time.
But surely it takes less than half the time to do that mile? So you're exercising for half the time, therefore it should even out together? (Im just guessing I wouldnt have a clue never having run in my life)3 -
Firstly, I applaud your enthusiasm. I wish I had as much.
Two hints::
[*] Body retains more fluid after intense training while it repairs and rejuvenates for one or two days.
If one is insistent on managing DOMS, besides staying hydrated and getting All The Sleep, bromelain (supplement derived from pineapple) has an ant-inflammatory effect. Magnesium and calcium can also help.
Actually, running burns more than twice as much calories as walking. The movement is completely different: you use more muscles and running involves a little jump where both feet are in the air at the same time.
But surely it takes less than half the time to do that mile? So you're exercising for half the time, therefore it should even out together? (Im just guessing I wouldnt have a clue never having run in my life)
Time doesn't matter. It is mass x distance. A mile is a mile no matter how fast you run or walk it. I burn about 100 calories running a mile in 10 minutes or 7 minutes (it is not exact but close enough to not worry about the difference).4 -
Go to the swimming pool even if you don't know how to swim. You can start running in the pool without side effects from too much pressure on the joints and knees. They have water bikes and treadmills, too. Start there. Embracing more gentle stuff can be just as effective without lots of pain for the foreseeable future.
Pain is the precursor to change but don't inflict more pain on yourself to make up for diet errors.3 -
I’m going to suggest setting goals that support weight loss instead of trying to change your whole life at once. If I were in your position I would start with simple goals.
Example goals:
1 log my food every day, everything, even if over calories (no judgement for going over, work on habit building first.
2. Walk for 15-30 minutes 5 times per week.
These are just examples. Doing intensive exercise that causes so much soreness that you can’t move for several days makes it too easy for you to break the habit and want to quit. Once you establish habits you can build on them with adding new goals. To me this is making the journey the goal instead of a number on the scale. It feels more sustainable to me to break it down.3 -
emmamcgarity wrote: »I’m going to suggest setting goals that support weight loss instead of trying to change your whole life at once. If I were in your position I would start with simple goals.
Example goals:
1 log my food every day, everything, even if over calories (no judgement for going over, work on habit building first.
2. Walk for 15-30 minutes 5 times per week.
These are just examples. Doing intensive exercise that causes so much soreness that you can’t move for several days makes it too easy for you to break the habit and want to quit. Once you establish habits you can build on them with adding new goals. To me this is making the journey the goal instead of a number on the scale. It feels more sustainable to me to break it down.
Thank you. I know my body can take more than that because I was a college athlete, but I will take your principle of not doing too much to prevent injury, and apply it to my situation.1 -
JordanS9592 wrote: »emmamcgarity wrote: »I’m going to suggest setting goals that support weight loss instead of trying to change your whole life at once. If I were in your position I would start with simple goals.
Example goals:
1 log my food every day, everything, even if over calories (no judgement for going over, work on habit building first.
2. Walk for 15-30 minutes 5 times per week.
These are just examples. Doing intensive exercise that causes so much soreness that you can’t move for several days makes it too easy for you to break the habit and want to quit. Once you establish habits you can build on them with adding new goals. To me this is making the journey the goal instead of a number on the scale. It feels more sustainable to me to break it down.
Thank you. I know my body can take more than that because I was a college athlete, but I will take your principle of not doing too much to prevent injury, and apply it to my situation.
I will also echo the other comments to you about c25k. I built a strong walking base first and started the program in February. I completed it in the prescribed 9 weeks and have continued running since then. I’m now trading for a 10k which didn’t seem foreseeable a few months ago. I met some amazing people at my local Parkrun and have now connected with a local running club.
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What's the benefit of doing 200 repetitions of anything? Isn't sometimes less more (said hopefully)? If I do 20 squats I feel like I'm doing a lot...0
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What you used to be able to do in college bears no relation to what you can do now. Start where you are today, not where you once were or where you want to be in a year or two. Yes, you have a mindset that allows you to bear a certain amount of pain. However, that mindset is likely to do more harm than good. Your ability to heal is not the same as it was when you were 18. You have several years of overeating and under-exercising so when you work out you are putting a lot more stress on joints, muscles, tendons, bones, etc. than you were as a younger man. Do yourself a favor and think long term. You didn't get where you are overnight. You won't get your fitness and slimmer body back overnight either. Take it one step at a time and think about what will do the most good over time. Getting injured will set you back, possibly permanently. So be careful. Be smart.3
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JordanS9592 wrote: »Cherimoose wrote: »JordanS9592 wrote: »I’ve been listening to the autobiography of David Goggins, so I just figured I’d do what he did to get in shape for the military. I can’t tell where to draw the line between mental toughness and overtraining, especially in these early stages. I feel like I can push a lot harder, but I don’t want to be injured being stupid either.
Goggins is inspiring, but he also injured himself numerous times, and came close to serious organ failure and death. Accept that fitness happens slowly, and that weight loss is mostly about your calorie intake, not exercise. If you happen to eat too much, just eat less the next day - never change your fitness plan. For running, a good plan to follow is C25K, and for strength, check the pinned post for a list of programs.. which are superior than doing a ton of bodyweight squats.
Thank you for saying that. This makes a lot of sense. I was struggling with how to apply the principles of that book, and what you’re saying cleared it up for me.
Given your current all in attitude, I think you need to really think about what soreness feels like vs what pain feels like. Soreness isn't necessarily a bad thing, pain is. It would also be good to think about what it means to train smarter, not harder. How long ago was your college athletic career? How much fitness have you lost?
This is honestly not the time to go all in in the way that you likely did in college because the potential for injury is high. Frankly it's high for new college athletes who do that as well - there was an article I was reading last month that talked mentioned the heavy load put on new college rowers being attributed to injury. While I'm pretty sure you won't be doing a similar workout schedule to college rowers, going on a 2 hour run after just getting back into fitness after X years off is just not a good idea.
In short, you need to slow way down. Follow a program that is suitable for beginners because that's likely where you're at right now. Heed people's suggestions about couch to 5k, find a suitable strength training program (see this post), and make sure to count calories as accurately as possible.1 -
Actually no.
Actually, running burns more than twice as much calories as walking. The movement is completely different: you use more muscles and running involves a little jump where both feet are in the air at the same time.
The difference is at most 50%, and at worst 2%. Not 100% as you claim. For most circumstances, "roughly the same" holds. The actual actually is it's important for people just starting out or returning to the fold to focus on obtainable goals than quibble over bio-mechanics .2 -
I've run into a few people who were inspired by that Goggins book. It is pretty amazing. My own personal story is in my 40s went from being an unfit 250 lb blob that got winded walking up stairs to 200lbs and run marathons. Only sharing this because at the start I got injured often. I then read an article by coach Galloway, a running guru, and used his method. What stuck with me was his point that nothing ends a fitness regimen quicker than injury. I got frustrated at my lack of weight loss and then tried to push through aches and pains . All I did was turn aches into injuries.2
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