Recovery time for squats.

[absvan]

Hi All,

Whenever I do squats during my leg workouts, it takes more than two days to recover. Every other body part takes a maximum of 48 hours. But for some reason after I do squats, my legs are sore atleast for the next 72 hours.

Any thoughts?

[openeyes]

The larger the muscle, the longer the recovery time. Someone could about get away with working out biceps every day, while with quads (for squats) it's closer to once a week.

[Angela]

My quads are also the slowest to recover of all my muscles, sometimes four days' worth.

[SmellyOrc]

Train them while they're still sore. Also, eat more.
Training them while they're still sore send them a message that they'd better recover, or else. By eating more, you're making sure your body is getting the stuff that it needs.

[Angela]

Well, training my muscles while they're still sore sends them the message that I'm willing to get an injury. I don't recommend risking injury.

[absvan]

My diet is pretty much clean and decent. I recently started taking Animal Pak too which has everything you want in terms of supplements. So I am pretty confident about my diet. Since squats take a l lot of time to recover, I cant do them with deadlifts in the same week. I alternate b/n them.

I agree with Angela about not working out your muscles while they are still sore. It can lead to injury and may be even overtraining. However I do light training. Not weights, but something like walking - light cardio.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by absvan

Not weights, but something like walking - light cardio.

Good idea, absvan; to keep everything flowing and moving in an easy, light way. I've heard that described as "active rest" -- I like that, and psychologically it's easier to get myself moving when I'm sore if I think of it as active rest.

[Dbarker]

Light workouts when the legs are still sore, with weights, has helped my body seem to recover faster in the past.

[Jim11]

If it is just light soreness I don't think it's a bad idea to just keep working it every 2-3 days. Try that for a awhile and see if it subsides a bit. If you do them and there's any real pain or they don't loosen up after the first set or so, then you'll know you probably shouldn't continue this method

When I started working out my quads were the last muscle to lose the soreness. they're never sore at all now

[SmellyOrc]

Originally Posted by absvan

I agree with Angela about not working out your muscles while they are still sore. It can lead to injury and may be even overtraining. However I do light training. Not weights, but something like walking - light cardio.

I'm currently in a state of overtraining, and nowhere near getting an injury. If you train smart, you can also train safe. It's true that most injuries happen during fatigued states. So what? Keep training them, lighter if you wish, and they will adapt. Lets say you just got a job as a woodcutter. After your first day you're sore to the bone. If you had the luxury of taking days off till you're not sore anymore (highly unlikely), you will keep getting sore. However if you keep woodcutting, day after day, week after week, after a few weeks you won't be sore anymore! Training muscles when they're sore, does not give them a message you want to get injured. It sends the message that you will keep using them, so they better recover - quick. Or else.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating training when you feel you're close to an injury or something. Just train through the soreness, and they will recover quicker. Believe me.

[Ibanez]

Soreness signifies bad conditioning. Increase the frequency.

There was a time when I was squatting about 4 times a week. All is needed is proper adaptation.

[VacMan]

Here's a cool new twist on training through soreness based on research from Brian Haycock (Hypertrophy Specific Training).

He's a real smart guy and I've included a quote from an interview with him. You can find the whole thing here: TESTOSTERONE NATION

T: One of the things that shocked me about HST is you say to train through soreness. Explain that.

BH: First let me qualify that statement. A person should never train a muscle if there's a risk of injury or they simply feel that it needs more time to recuperate. We all need to use common sense and our own best judgment each and every time we go into the gym or attempt a lift.

Now, my comments about training a muscle while sore come from research showing that muscle tissue is designed to recover from microtrauma even while it's still being traumatized. This is a fundamentally foreign idea to most, if not all, bodybuilders. Heresy! they cry.

Without going into detail, animal studies of overload-induced muscle growth use models that don't remove the load for anywhere from one week to eight weeks. Later studies on humans demonstrated that after eccentric-exercise induced muscle damage, a second workout of eccentric reps didn't hinder the recovery from the first workout.

Now, considering that training only elevates protein synthesis for about 36 hours, and muscle is able to be trained again within 48 hours without negatively effecting recovery, training a muscle every 48 hours becomes a viable and desirable method to maximize the rate of muscle growth. Of course, sometimes some residual soreness will occasionally still be present after the previous workout. From what we now know about how muscles recover, having to train a muscle while still sore from the previous workout doesn't seem so outlandish. It actually makes sense.

[4Mind4Life]

Some suggestions:

1) Make sure you're doing them properly -- (you shouldn't be feeling that sore...)

2) Get a good stretch before & after workout

3) Stay hydrated throughout your workout

4) Stay active after working out....after the workout, make sure you aren't just sitting around, keep up the blood flow and stay walking

5) If you are doing leg workouts with another exercise that is training the same muscle group, this could be lengthening the recovery time...

GOOD LUCK!