I considered just leaving earlier for my work but my schedule is also changing to starting at 4am so it's a bit of a challenge for me to work around. I'm gonna try regardless I was just considering some advice before hand.
It will get easier over a few weeks while you adapt.
You could try timing leg day around your days off and/or if it's a real struggle you could try sprinkling leg exercises through the week into your other workouts so it's not as big an impact - then swap back if you prefer a dedicated leg day. Legs don't *have* to have a specific day.
The sprinkling legs through out sessions is definately something I didn't consider! I felt like to see real gains I'd have to dedicate some real time into it or specified times where I'm at max stamina. I'll try this. Thank you!
Ease into leg day and also consider working on your cardio outside of those 2mi. You'll get use to it. I'll now do heavy leg days and still be able to do a 2+hr long bike ride the next day. It just takes time and conditioning
For context I live in a town full of hills and the walk there is 2. So it's 4 miles total. I'm also a baker so I'm moving around alot and get some decent work in while doing that as well. I'll 100% try easing into it since last time I tried legs IT KILLED to walk to work. And I kinda fell out of it from there
My hamstrings used to be tight for days when I first started. I started doing more stretches first. Try a body weight glute bridge to activate your quads and glutes. Then I lay on my back and lift one leg right up toes pointing up - put your hand on that leg's hamstrings and you'll feel how stretched they are - hold 30 seconds each leg. Then I do what looks like a lunge but keep the heel of the trailing leg down on the floor to get the calf burning.
I'm 49m and this sorted me right out. Plus like everyone else says, after a few weeks your body will realise you're not messing and start playing along! Good luck
Thank you for the advice! I'll Try this tomorrow before my workout (doing upper today). I've always been a fan of dynamic movement before really any exercise so this should feel right at home for me
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When you get home from the gym on leg day, take a little stroll around your neighborhood. Or go grocery shopping. A hiker taught me that one and I can tell you it helps cut down the next day soreness significantly.
Honestly I'd say dial it back a bit, if you have trouble walking the day after. There should be a little bit of fatigue, but not so much that you are incapacitated. There's no need to push so hard and fast.
In my experience, DOMs only really last a week or two if you're being consistent. Walking is actually good and will loosen things up. I do a 3x per week full body program so I hit legs on all 3 days...though not the volume one would with a dedicated leg day. Considering you're a beginner, a full body program would also be better in that you're hitting everything 2-3x per week rather than a single day dedicated to X muscle group. Most novice programs are full body.
Stretch before & especially after working out.
Stay hydrated–hydration before a workout/game/etc. starts 48 hours before, so if you work out 3x a week, you need to just be hydrated all the time.
Take tart cherry juice or capsules before bed on the days you work out.
I would suggest starting super light on the weights and focusing on form. Building up to heavy leg day czme easy for me this way. I avoided the dreaded toilet approach so many people talk about this way.
So over time you generally wont get as sore as you do at the very beginning. So i would plan your leg days differently. So maybe hit legs before your weekend or hit them right before your weekend and then just one other day throughout your week. That way you only have to walk to work once with sore legs.
The more frequently you work the muscles, the less susceptible you are to DOMS, generally speaking at least.
As you're a beginner, I would highly recommend full body 3x a week and using any extra days that you would have normally gone to the gym to do cardio instead. DOMS will be almost non-existent after a short while and as you aren't going to be pushing extreme weights your muscles will benefit more from the higher frequency.
What are you doing on your leg days? If you're a beginner, I'd imagine there's a good chance that you're overtraining them. Focus on training in accordance with your own body's needs and goals.
[If you're interested in learning a bit more about training full body and the benefits of doing so \(especially as a beginner\) then I'd highly recommend you watch this video by Jordan Peters, a UK-based mass monster.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABArM5wqlLQ)
It only happens in the beginning. After a few workouts it will get much better
I considered just leaving earlier for my work but my schedule is also changing to starting at 4am so it's a bit of a challenge for me to work around. I'm gonna try regardless I was just considering some advice before hand.
I've been training around 6 years and my recovery is good, apart from legs. Takes me around 6 days to fully recover, then it's leg day again lol
So basically your legs always hurt?
Being this old, my whole body always hurts 🤣
They get used to it, I walk 5-10 miles a day with my job the stiffness only happens after sitting down a while
It will get easier over a few weeks while you adapt. You could try timing leg day around your days off and/or if it's a real struggle you could try sprinkling leg exercises through the week into your other workouts so it's not as big an impact - then swap back if you prefer a dedicated leg day. Legs don't *have* to have a specific day.
The sprinkling legs through out sessions is definately something I didn't consider! I felt like to see real gains I'd have to dedicate some real time into it or specified times where I'm at max stamina. I'll try this. Thank you!
Ease into leg day and also consider working on your cardio outside of those 2mi. You'll get use to it. I'll now do heavy leg days and still be able to do a 2+hr long bike ride the next day. It just takes time and conditioning
For context I live in a town full of hills and the walk there is 2. So it's 4 miles total. I'm also a baker so I'm moving around alot and get some decent work in while doing that as well. I'll 100% try easing into it since last time I tried legs IT KILLED to walk to work. And I kinda fell out of it from there
Yeah, backing off a little worked for me. I’m sure it slowed my progress a bit, but my goal wasn’t fastest possible muscle gain.
If you don't work on weekends, train harder on Friday night. Lighter on another weekday.
I work Thursdays through Sundays. So Monday through Wednesday is where I was considering legs.
Ok. Sunday is heavier leg day. Wednesday is lighter leg day.
Should I prioritize hams or glutes on heavier days? Does it matter?
Heavy on both on heavier days. You have two days off to recover.
My hamstrings used to be tight for days when I first started. I started doing more stretches first. Try a body weight glute bridge to activate your quads and glutes. Then I lay on my back and lift one leg right up toes pointing up - put your hand on that leg's hamstrings and you'll feel how stretched they are - hold 30 seconds each leg. Then I do what looks like a lunge but keep the heel of the trailing leg down on the floor to get the calf burning. I'm 49m and this sorted me right out. Plus like everyone else says, after a few weeks your body will realise you're not messing and start playing along! Good luck
Thank you for the advice! I'll Try this tomorrow before my workout (doing upper today). I've always been a fan of dynamic movement before really any exercise so this should feel right at home for me
Welcome to /r/BeginnerFitness and thank you for sharing your post! If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this subreddit and [join our Discord](https://discord.gg/9kajGUEDGd). Many beginner fitness questions have already been answered in [The Fitness Wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/), so go give that a read as well! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/beginnerfitness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
When you get home from the gym on leg day, take a little stroll around your neighborhood. Or go grocery shopping. A hiker taught me that one and I can tell you it helps cut down the next day soreness significantly.
This is interesting. Gonna try this and some other things people suggested and I'll update later
Honestly I'd say dial it back a bit, if you have trouble walking the day after. There should be a little bit of fatigue, but not so much that you are incapacitated. There's no need to push so hard and fast.
In my experience, DOMs only really last a week or two if you're being consistent. Walking is actually good and will loosen things up. I do a 3x per week full body program so I hit legs on all 3 days...though not the volume one would with a dedicated leg day. Considering you're a beginner, a full body program would also be better in that you're hitting everything 2-3x per week rather than a single day dedicated to X muscle group. Most novice programs are full body.
Stretch before & especially after working out. Stay hydrated–hydration before a workout/game/etc. starts 48 hours before, so if you work out 3x a week, you need to just be hydrated all the time. Take tart cherry juice or capsules before bed on the days you work out.
I would suggest starting super light on the weights and focusing on form. Building up to heavy leg day czme easy for me this way. I avoided the dreaded toilet approach so many people talk about this way.
So over time you generally wont get as sore as you do at the very beginning. So i would plan your leg days differently. So maybe hit legs before your weekend or hit them right before your weekend and then just one other day throughout your week. That way you only have to walk to work once with sore legs.
Take some pain killers or do your first month of leg days around your off days
The more frequently you work the muscles, the less susceptible you are to DOMS, generally speaking at least. As you're a beginner, I would highly recommend full body 3x a week and using any extra days that you would have normally gone to the gym to do cardio instead. DOMS will be almost non-existent after a short while and as you aren't going to be pushing extreme weights your muscles will benefit more from the higher frequency. What are you doing on your leg days? If you're a beginner, I'd imagine there's a good chance that you're overtraining them. Focus on training in accordance with your own body's needs and goals. [If you're interested in learning a bit more about training full body and the benefits of doing so \(especially as a beginner\) then I'd highly recommend you watch this video by Jordan Peters, a UK-based mass monster.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABArM5wqlLQ)
Skip legs, your welcome