Strange leg pain only in the mornings when walking

[zolly]

I have this weird leg pain that comes and goes, but it only ever happens in the mornings. It's obviously worse if I've done leg exercises the night before. I don't think it's related specifically to the leg exercises because if I don't do leg exercises for a couple of days I still sometimes get it.

When I get up, I walk to the station. I walk pretty fast so that I don't miss the train. During the time my achilles tendons in both legs get sore. My hamstrings also hurt a bit. My right leg hurts much more than my left, and sometimes it gets so bad that I start to limp. I also experience pain on the outer muscle of my lower right leg.

This pain goes away after a couple of hours and doesn't come back until the following morning.

I'm a bit worried that this may be a symptom of a larger problem, but I have no idea who to go see about this. Oh, and I don't own a car so I'm used to walking a lot. I'm also 5"7 and weight 64kgs so I'm not overweight.

 

[Lupus]

There are these magical people who've trained for years and years on problems with the human body, I suggest you contact one and get their opinion and get it sorted out. As asking an internet forum about it is not the way to go.

 

[Seriously]

Age is a bastad, we all go through it.

 

[zolly]

There are these magical people who've trained for years and years on problems with the human body, I suggest you contact one and get their opinion and get it sorted out. As asking an internet forum about it is not the way to go.

Thanks captain obvious. The obvious answer is to go see a GP. I was wondering if there was someone else who specialises in this sort of thing which I could go see without having to go see the GP.

Or in the absolute worst case scenario, maybe there is someone else here who has dealt with something similar and has some suggestions on how to manage leg pain that I could try out that wouldn't kill me.

 

[zolly]

Age is a bastad, we all go through it.

Indeed, the big three zero is only a few months away, but I'd rather just get it checked out anyway.

 

[TheGrove]

I get pains in my knee and below in the mornings especially my left leg, so I have started stretching inthe morning for a few minutes as I get out of bed and this has helped a lot. The pain is also worse if I do heavy squats and don't stretch before and after properly.

Your muscles are rather cold when you wake up so maybe try stretching before putting strain on them walking around and what not, see if it helps.

 

[RiaX]

30 is not that old.

Your legs need a rest dude. You have probably torn a good couple of muscle fibers in both your legs. Now although you say you dont exercise legs for a good couple of days that doesnt mean the pain is not due to training.

When you train your muscle fibers 'tear' and the body releases a hormone to break down/repair the damaged fibers and rebuilds new ones. This is how your muscles get bigger. This process causes inflammation and increased blood flow to the muscles. Its also the reason why your muscles look puffed up after training

Now the reason I think you are getting pain in your legs only in the morning is because your body is repairing itself so the blood flow is increased and there is an increase in 'pressure' resulting in pain. Now the reason the pain goes away after a couple hours is because the blood flow from the legs back to the heart is dependent on movement of the legs, something that is not done much during sleep. Hence why is goes away after a couple of hours

So you might be thinking but I still get this pain even when I dont train but you walk everyday and walking is exercise and a humble form of leg exercise as well. So when you do train your legs and walk around so the body is struggling to repair. As you get older the recovery time for the muscles will take longer.

What you can do is apply some anti-inflammatory gels or take an anti-inflammatory tablet, rest the legs as much as possible. You might want to consider making a recovery formula and some magnesium and calcium supplements (dont need to buy supplements from a store if your budget is tight just google foods high in them and eat that). Perhaps someone from the body builders thread can guide you to a better recovery solution. I would say just go buy those single dose recovery sachets from dischem and have it for 2 - 5 days and see what happens with anti-inflammatory gels/tablets and rest.

How long has this been going on ? if you go to the GP they wont be able to do anything about it until you eliminate what ive just stated above

 

[zippy]

Don't do impact exercises/sports. Stop running. Try swimming. Also do back stretch exercises. Simple touch your toes, sway left to right. and see if that helps after a week.There are some bone diseases for which there is no known cure, other than exercising.

 

[zolly]

How long has this been going on ? if you go to the GP they wont be able to do anything about it until you eliminate what ive just stated above

Well, the first time I noticed it was quite a few months ago when I got new shoes. I then swapped back to my old shoes and it seemed to go away. But now I'm still using my old shoes and it's back, so chances are it wasn't related to the shoes. I noticed the pain about a week ago, although it's only gotten bad in the last few days.

Recently I've been doing a lot of regular and single legged squats. I'm going to lay off the leg exercises for a while and see if it goes away again. I would love to cut back on the walking (I walk at least 3-4kms a day) but then I couldn't get to work.

 

[TheGrove]

Well, the first time I noticed it was quite a few months ago when I got new shoes. I then swapped back to my old shoes and it seemed to go away. But now I'm still using my old shoes and it's back, so chances are it wasn't related to the shoes. I noticed the pain about a week ago, although it's only gotten bad in the last few days.

Recently I've been doing a lot of regular and single legged squats. I'm going to lay off the leg exercises for a while and see if it goes away again. I would love to cut back on the walking (I walk at least 3-4kms a day) but then I couldn't get to work.

Do you warm up properly, do you stretch properly?? My joints feel it when I go 130+ on the squats and stretching really really helps especially the next morning.

 

[zolly]

Do you warm up properly, do you stretch properly?? My joints feel it when I go 130+ on the squats and stretching really really helps especially the next morning.

I probably need to do a better warmup for my legs.

Wow! I don't do that many. I usually do about 30-45 regular squats, and then 15 single legged squats per leg.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try what you suggested and see if it sorts me out.

 

[TheGrove]

sorry I meant 130kg+

Squats put extreme strain on your joints, stretching and warming up properly helps a hell of a lot

also check out Starting Strength, good place to look at simple training and building up good strength which also helps take strain off joints.

 

[zolly]

Thanks. I've got Starting Strength somewhere but I haven't had a time to take a look at it.

I've been doing mostly body weight squats, although I sometimes use 4kg dumbells.

I noticed though that I get very wobbly when I do the single leg body weight squats, so my ankles are probably weaker than I realised. Well, going to need to give them more time to recover and then take it slow.

 

[RiaX]

Dont do any leg exercises for a couple of weeks. The walking should be enough to keep fit and healthy. Unless you trying to get buff ?

 

[TheGrove]

Dont do any leg exercises for a couple of weeks. The walking should be enough to keep fit and healthy. Unless you trying to get buff ?

Walking is not sufficient exercise to keep a good fitness level, lol I would be superfit then and never need to go to gym.

No need for single leg squats, go see a physio and check that all is in order then try build some leg strength up. A lot of the time these pains are from lack of muscle strength and putting too much strain on the joints.

Physio's will normally recommend working the leg out with sufficient resistance to not cause pain but develop strength in the limb.

 

[ChocolateBadger]

DVT...

 

[ponder]

Maybe it's blood clot?

 

[zolly]

Maybe it's blood clot?

Doubt it's that. A friend of mine at work had a blood clot in his leg and his symptoms were nothing at all like mine.

I am actually trying to gain muscle and put on weight, but I'm going to cut back my leg routine a bit. I can generally lift weights and feel a bit sore the next day but am fine after another day. Clearly the leg work I do is more than I can handle because I'm guessing it's actually taking me longer to recover than expected.

If I cut back and I keep on having issues, I'll go see a doctor.

 

[RiaX]

Walking is not sufficient exercise to keep a good fitness level, lol I would be superfit then and never need to go to gym.

No need for single leg squats, go see a physio and check that all is in order then try build some leg strength up. A lot of the time these pains are from lack of muscle strength and putting too much strain on the joints.

Physio's will normally recommend working the leg out with sufficient resistance to not cause pain but develop strength in the limb.

I meant for while his legs heal up

 

[RiaX]

DVT...

no