Weight training legs - DOMS?

Discussion in 'Player' started by JonIsAnOwl, Jun 30, 2012.

  1. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Hey guys,

    Just looking for a bit of advice on this. Yesterday I did a heavy legs session which consisted of squats, lunges, quad extension and hamstring curl machines. Of course, the day after, I can't walk.

    With pre-season coming up in just over 2 weeks, I need to be doing my leg exercises while also training. I would tend to do them on a Friday and rest over the weekend. But in all honesty, I need to be training on a Saturday too.

    What can I do to avoid it? Or at least lessen it? It's quite literally a pain in the arse and it's something I need to try and remedy. Will it eventually stop being this bad if I do it regularly, say once a week? I would aim to get 2 in a week, but that may be pushing it.

    I've heard stuff like ice baths, stretching and so on. If you guys can give me some tips it'd be really appreciated.

    Jon
     
  2. Impossible6

    Impossible6 Member

    Feb 15, 2011
    Australia
    Club:
    Central Coast Mariners
    Your body will adapt. Should be less sore next time. Have contrast showers (40 secs hot, 40 secs cold a few times, always end on cold) post-workout focussing the water on whatever muscles you worked.
     
  3. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Thanks for the response. I'm hoping you're right in that next time it won't be as bad because jeezzzzzzz this is bad. I've always done lighter weights than what I did on Friday, and of course.. It's understandable that if I suddenly pump the weight up it'll kill my legs. Just hopefully as you say, it'll adapt.
     
  4. Alexandre Pato 7

    Alexandre Pato 7 Legends that will never be forgotten <3

    Mar 16, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    I'd say you're doing too much, 'cuz there should be no need to do squats and quad extension-that'll mess up your quads on their own. So I say you should choose two exercises where squats is the one and then one of hamstring or lunges. And of course you'll adapt after a while. I'm sad that I didn't really get to do squats in the off-season because we really had no off-season and I had to perform my max in every training session, and the schedule was poorly fitting for squats.

    Just a question out of pure interest; how many kgs, reps and sets do you train with for squats?
     
  5. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Interesting Pato, thanks for the input. My legs have finally recovered from the pain but I've tweaked my hamstring a little so going to have a couple of weeks off.

    I didn't do a great deal of weight, 60kg, 6 reps, 4 sets.
     
  6. Alexandre Pato 7

    Alexandre Pato 7 Legends that will never be forgotten <3

    Mar 16, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Well, it's safe to say it isn't that much, but you're not the tallest/heaviest guy are you? Like 65kg?

    At max I've been training a bit at 130kg but that's almost a year ago and I didn't go deep.
    Now I'm feeling it hard to train at 110kg :( I almost never do squats and I hit the gym waay to infrequently. Also, the deepest I go is 90 degrees, but in the last reps it's hard to get down there :p
    I'm ~80kg btw

    But squats can really help to get good leg strenght and you can get good results quite quickly, at least in comparison to benchpress : d

    Btw, John, you had Ronaldo's workout routine I recall. D'ya mind to send me that? thanks : )
     
  7. FORZAROSSONERRi

    Nov 18, 2011
    Melbourne
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Wear compression shorts/tights. Seriously, these do wonders for sore legs, I just got back from a match of indoor, and I had training last night, and training tomorrow night, my legs will feel fine by tomorrow night for training. Also, just do a light session on the saturday? Work on skills that aren't intense such as short passing/ball control etc.
     
  8. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Nope, it's certainly not that much. I weigh just over 10 stone, which is 65kg I believe. So I could be squatting my own body weight soon. Which is okay.

    130kg is very impressive. How old are you? There's this absolutely huge guy at the gym who squats 120kg and he must literally be 15 stone or so of pure muscle. Scary man.

    Squats are awesome for leg strength. I just can't leave it out of my routine I'm afraid and so I'm very keen to learn how to reduce DOMS the following days. I've hit a bit of a plateau with a bench press, only 40kg! It's weak but I just can't break past it. But that's not hugely important in football, I'd much sooner be working my back and shoulders.

    I certainly do have a routine, I'll post a link. I'm not 100% certain if it's completely accurate.. But it seems to be a good total body workout to do during the season when you can really only lift once a week.

    http://www.cristiano-ronaldo.org/cristiano-ronaldo-vs-lionel-messi-78_.html

    I think the most impressive one there is his shoulder press. I'm assuming it isn't a military press, but rather on a machine. He's an amazing athlete really. I have so much respect for the work he puts in.
     
  9. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I do actually wear compression gear, and it doesn't seem to help with DOMS. It helps after a training session, but not after an intense weights session. Also.. The day after I literally cannot walk at all. So even a light training session would be out of the question I'm afraid.
     
  10. Alexandre Pato 7

    Alexandre Pato 7 Legends that will never be forgotten <3

    Mar 16, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    IIRC we are born in the same year, I'm 18 ( filled this year).
    I kinda have naturally strong legs, and I'm naturally quite fast-but not sprinter material, like the tier below. But still I get DOMS after every squatting session, as I do it really rarely and it's really pushing your body. Now that said, like I said before you must then limit the other things you do along with squats. Maybe just do some that are a little deep and then do calves instead afterwards.
    Also, that wasn't much for bench- I know a guy who's like maybe 2kg heavier than you that trains at 60kg, but he's not really that strong and it's a lot about the technique. But some people just struggle with some exercises, doesn't mean that they're weak or anything

    Cheers
     
  11. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I'm born in 94.

    I'm in the same bracket as you. I'm naturally agile and quick but definitely not a sprinter. I'd say I have a lot of Type II A muscle fibres, rather than Type I or Type II B. That's the best way to describe me. I'm pretty quick, and can run for a long time naturally too.

    I'm thinking I'd like to get up to 2 legs sessions per week by the end of pre-season, and then maybe limit it to just the one during the season.

    I don't like doing calf exercises, I always seem to end up straining them afterwards and it's something I'd like to avoid. I think I might just do lunges after and stick to just the two. Thanks for the advice.

    I think my major problem is I focused a lot on hypertrophy. I have quite a big chest now, but it's weak as hell. I did the classic '3 sets 8 reps' thing with the bench press and just gradually kept increasing the weight which led to me getting some decent lower pectorals with no strength. Added to that, I have terrible shoulders so I'm bound to struggle with the bench press.

    I'm planning on changing it to 6 reps of 4 sets for upper body now.

    One of my friends has recently joined a gym and he's been mouthing off like "A summer in the gym and I'm going to be so strong." I was struggling not to laugh at that, cos he aint got a clue. He bought himself some dumbbells that added up to 10kg weight in total (5kg per dumbbell) and he was doing like 50 reps of them. He persisted with that for a while before eventually saying 'Nothing is happening... Why?' and giving up.

    He won't listen to a word I say. He says he doesn't need to do lower body exercises despite playing football :ROFLMAO: and just needs to focus on upper body.

    Getting stronger is surprisingly complicated and I can't wait to see how long it is until he gives up.
     
  12. Alexandre Pato 7

    Alexandre Pato 7 Legends that will never be forgotten <3

    Mar 16, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Yeah Type IIA-fibers is what I'd describe my body as if I had to pick one, though we all know it ain't that simple.

    2 leg sessions will do wonders. Personally I'm just pissed of I can't play or do anything at the moment as I'm struggling with pain deep into the gluteus, feels almost like it's where the bones are. It's the same problem I posted a thread about like in ~February and I've had some odd pain now and then. But now it's bad. If i hadn't had that I'd be squatting like hell now!!1 ;)

    Hypertrophy can feel really good, but it doesn't do much in lifting as much as possible.

    And about your friend, yeah we all know someone like that : P
     
  13. Chicharito352

    Chicharito352 Member

    Jun 22, 2011
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    I've heard that a recovery shake or that recovery gateroade right after the work out can prevent soreness.

    I don't want to de-rail the thread but has anyone felt weaker after being sore and recovering?

    After a few days of rest I tried going back to my workout but I didn't have enough strength to finish it. Any tips?
     
  14. FORZAROSSONERRi

    Nov 18, 2011
    Melbourne
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Means you havn't fully recovered, or your preparation leading up to that workout was inadequate. Consuming enough protein to ensure appropriate hypertrophy and recovery is occuring?

    1lb protein p/lb body weight.
     
  15. Alexandre Pato 7

    Alexandre Pato 7 Legends that will never be forgotten <3

    Mar 16, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Yeah, chicarito it probably means you aren't fully recovered.

    but I think you meant 1g protein/lb body weight my fellow Rossonero ;)
     
  16. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I always have a protein shake after workout, everybody should.
     
  17. FORZAROSSONERRi

    Nov 18, 2011
    Melbourne
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Of course! Thanks for correcting :) We wouldn't want a 170lb man going round eating 170lb's of meat now aye ;)
     
  18. dejansavicevic10

    Jun 12, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Nigeria
    You should foam roll after your workout and stretch. Then the next day, you should do a light recovery session (cardio= light jogging, biking)
     
  19. Alexandre Pato 7

    Alexandre Pato 7 Legends that will never be forgotten <3

    Mar 16, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Would be kinda hard : d : d


    Well, from what I've learned from my studies is that stretching after an intensive session, especially weight-lifting with legs is not good at all. You can do more damage to your muscles then and IIRC it's easier to stretch you to a muscle strain. Though I agree with the rest that you wrote.
     
  20. dejansavicevic10

    Jun 12, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Nigeria
    Very interesting opinion. Could you please share your source for not stretching after strength training, because of fears of increased muscle damage? This is news to me.
     
  21. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I'd say it makes sense. Stretching is actually stretching muscle fibres to lengthen and loosen them. Weight lifting damages the muscle fibres in your body so they regrow back bigger and stronger. I don't have any scientific proof to back up with he said but it makes sense to me.
     
  22. dejansavicevic10

    Jun 12, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Nigeria
    I disagree! So, if you dont stretch when the muscle is warm from strength training, ie working out, when will you stretch? Before you start an activity, when your muscles are cold? That is the whole point of foam rolling prior to stretching, it breaks up adhesions, and helps make sure that your muscle fibers are in the same direction, then you stretch. Experts like Verstegen, Boyle and co recommend stretching after the workout. Please point out one expert or experts, who are against stretching after a strength training workout?
     
  23. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Weight training and running are two completely different things. It's acceptable after running because the muscles fibres aren't actually torn. You won't develop big muscles from just running. But weight training actually damages the muscle fibres, and stretching is pulling those muscles fibres to lengthen them.

    It's the same concept as stretching an injured muscle.

    The experts are no doubt recommending stretching after a run. Not after weight training.

    However, I have no scientific proof to back this up, I don't know any experts but this is just how I interpret it.
     
  24. dejansavicevic10

    Jun 12, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Nigeria
    What I am saying is I prefer going with an expert opinion over what someone says they now understand the point to be, based on their research. Fine, if you derived these opinions from research, quote your sources. This is not an opinion based on something selective, ie how you play fullback, or if you wear your socks up to your knees, or tucked into your shinguards.
    Who says your muscles dont get damaged from running, granted you will not get big muscles, but they actually get damaged. How did your muscles feel after playing your last game at fullback? Tell me? If that is not muscle damage, I dont know what it!
    Now, who are the experts who you are saying mentioned you shouldnt stretch after a weighttraining session?
    Like I have said, experts like Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle recommend you foam roll and stretch at the end of your sessions.
     
  25. JonIsAnOwl

    JonIsAnOwl Member

    Apr 20, 2011
    England
    Club:
    Sheffield Wednesday FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    lol

    Why do you get so aggressive?

    I didn't say anywhere that they didn't get damaged. But they don't actually tear like with weight training. If that was the case you'd get DOMS after running.

    But please, let's see what these experts actually say. Post links going to what they say, and if it proves you right then fair play!
     

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