Lunges - rookie error or inevitable

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Oishii
Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Embarrassingly, I killed my legs doing lunges on the wii fit. My day requires me to be able to, preferably, run to and from work, but I couldn't today because of the pain. I have a lot of questions:

1) if i'd warmed up and stretched properly, would I be in less pain?
2) Should I do more lunges, or not? Will it make it worse or better?
3) Will lunges help me run better in the long run, or am I developing muscles I won't need to use?
4) does the pain just mean I did it right? I got all my stars from the wii fit coach, so I think my form was probably ok.

Thanks in advance. Off to try to sleep it off! :laugh:

Replies

  • Chloe_P78
    Chloe_P78 Posts: 43 Member
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    1) Yes
    2) Yes - see comments below
    3) Yes
    4) Yes

    Sad but true - lunges do hurt, but like all things, hurt less over time. I have found that lunges and squats have really helped with my running, especially where hills are involved. Stick with it, it's worth it :)
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    Where does it hurt? As long as you aren't hurting yourself, and are actually just sore, yes, you should keep going. Warm up, cool down, stretch, hydrate.
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
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    If you're talking Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, stretching hasn't been shown to help that.

    You develop a tolerance for the exercise, so you won't get as sore for the same exercise in the future.

    Doing the exercise more shouldn't hurt anything, and may make it feel temporarily better.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    ahh my friends the DOMS!

    Are you doing forward or "backward" lunges? I find the back ones are easier to start with.
  • Woolooloo
    Woolooloo Posts: 82
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    Lunges hurt while you are getting into them, jumping lunges still hurt me at times. The pain gets more manageable as your body gets used to it. Honestly if I don't feel at least a little sore then I feel like I'm not working hard enough.

    To me, stretching afterwards helps me more than warming up, but both are a good idea. Get a foam roller and learn how to use it if you need to reduce leg workout pain.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Lunges hurt while you are getting into them, jumping lunges still hurt me at times. The pain gets more manageable as your body gets used to it. Honestly if I don't feel at least a little sore then I feel like I'm not working hard enough.

    To me, stretching afterwards helps me more than warming up, but both are a good idea. Get a foam roller and learn how to use it if you need to reduce leg workout pain.
    Foam rollers are heaven sent.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    Lunges are hard work! Weird tip - going lower until your legs are completely parallel to the ground might help as you use your hamstrings and gluteal muscles more and your quads less. Make sure your knee doesn't go over your foot. You might want to build up with static lunges before moving to step-lunges. Good luck!

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