The morning after...

[big10hunter]

So I've been working out for about a month now. It seems like things should start going better the next day, but they are not. I am in my 40's and I am having a lot of soreness in my legs the next morning after the previous days leg workout. What are some of you older (like me) gents doing to recover faster?

 

[Slim Jim]

Stretch

 

[shaun]

How many times a week are you working out legs? Are you taking in any post workout? Are you stretching or anything to work the acid out of your muscles after a workout?

 

[big10hunter]

Not much after workout. I stretch for a couple of minutes.

 

[hflier]

Make sure you are taking a good set of multi-vitamins and some fish oil. I am 50 and started running again and I find that I can actually tell when I forget to take them based on how I recover. I ran a 5K last night, the first time in a long time I was able to run that far without stopping and today I am not sore at all. Also, one other thing is your diet. Since I cleaned up my diet I recover faster.

 

[hflier]

Oh one other thing I forgot which is extremely important to prevent soreness and injury. Shorten your stride. It is better to keep the cadence up rather than long strides. Long strides will injure you and tear up muscle fiber and make recovery more difficult. Its a little hard to reel back on your stride at first, but it pays off. It difficult to keep the stride down when you are a middle aged runner because we all still think we are 20.

 

[big10hunter]

I will admit my diet is not on pace for training. I am starting to switch that slowly. I get burned out when I just jump on the training/diet wagon all at once. With all of my stiffness and being sore the next day, I am starting to wonder if some of those commercials are correct about loosing testosterone as you get older. I know some guys take Testosterone pills, but it just does not seem safe to start messing with your body that way.

 

[Trout bum]

I'm in my 40's as well. To prevent soreness I take in some form of recovery drink immediately after I work out. Chocolate milk, whey protein or R4 for runs longer than an hour or high intensity workouts seem to do the trick. I stay away from NSAIDs. Easy elliptical work on recovery days seems to get rid of the lactic acid build up that causes muscle soreness as well. The better shape I'm in the easier the recovery days are. Rest is an important part as well IMHO. I just try to listen to my body and not push my way to injury. There are others on this site who can likely give a better explanation from a physiological perspective. Just keep after it is my advice.

 

[BigSurArcher]

My dad is 52 and he started drinking a protein shake every morning and evening post-workout, and he swears it's helping his recovery. He also started taking Muscle Pharm Assault pre-workout around the same time, which has high quality creatine in it, so it's tough to say which one is actually helping him out. He thinks it's the protein though. That's about 50 extra grams of protein he's getting every day, and ~5g of creatine.

 

[unm1136]

Chocolate milk. Little Creatine beforehand. I also like HMB for how it reduces my muscle soreness after a workout, but it has gotten expensive in the last year or so. I have stopped taking it.

I remember a Swedish study that said that the quicker you get your post workout supplements into our system the more benefit you get from them. Transit time through the gut was an issue, and so I try to take my post workout chocolate milk while my heart rate is recovering from my workout, but before I cool down and stretch. I have come close to yakking a couple of times, but it seems to help.

pat

 

[jmez]

Start drinking a protein shake right before your workout. I'm 42, was having the exact same problem as you and protein fixed the issue. Some of the soreness is due to lactic acid but that should be gone by the next day. What kind of workout are you talking about. Unless doing quite a bit of anaerobic work you won't be producing any lactic acid. You break down muscle fiber when you work out. You need protein to rebuild the muscle fiber. If you aren't intaking enough protein then takes longer for the muscle to rebuild, extended soreness.

Chocolate milk is ok but also contains a lot of fat unless you are using skim milk. Find a low fat protein and drink one prior to your workout and then one in the evening. You will notice a difference within a few days.

 

[ohhiitznik]

I'm not in my 40's so I can't give you experience from the age perspective. But stretching, and eating clean with vitamins in your diet will help recovery. You don't have to get fancy with protein shakes if you don't want to. Some guys do that if they feel they aren't getting enough from their meals. I'll use a protein shake once in a while or chocolate milk is a good substitute. Stretching and fixing your running stride to a shorter midfoot strike stride is going to help with recovery faster than any amino acid will.

 

[big10hunter]

So y chocolate and not white milk?

 

[Steve in nm]

Make sure you are taking a good set of multi-vitamins and some fish oil. I am 50 and started running again and I find that I can actually tell when I forget to take them based on how I recover. I ran a 5K last night, the first time in a long time I was able to run that far without stopping and today I am not sore at all. Also, one other thing is your diet. Since I cleaned up my diet I recover faster.

Im 53 and run/walk 10 miles a day( i have a bad knee so i cant run it all) and im with hflier take your vitamins and fishoil i also drink a whey protein shake before i go to bed and that seems to really help.
Steve

 

[Ramcam]

I run barefoot style which will shorten your stride.http://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/ I also have a glass of Musclemilk after some times before.

 

[ohhiitznik]

Chocolate milk tastes better!

 

[Trout bum]

The sugar in chocolate milk creates an insulin spike that results in faster protein absorption during the critical period immediately after your workout.

 

[big10hunter]

Worked out hard today. Protein shake before and stretched good during.

 

[Ross]

Being in the older crowd, I try to stretch after each work out, drink ALOT of water and on intense days &or hunting I take extra Vitamin C. Hey if an olympic athlete says drink chocolate milk for recovery, who am I to not drink it as well...I enjoy chocolate, so I drink it also

 

[Lawnboi]

Stretch, chocolate milk (or whole milk). I used to do the protein drink thing, but being Im trying to gain weight I switched over to milk with good results.

I try to stretch for atleast 15-30min a day. Helps out a lot, not only with not feeling sore. Flexibility is very overlooked.