Is it unusual to have excruciating pain after exercising?

[prncess992000]

I recently got a membership at a fitness center and found a trainer to help me lose some weight. I started last week and my first day I did only leg exercises. I didnt feel to bad that night but it has been 2days since and I am having severe pain in my upper leg muscles above my knees and my knees feel weaker. I cant barely walk and it is next to impossible for me to get up and down or go up/down stairs. Is this normal for not working out before or should I talk to my doctor?

[cjpietrz]

Hi there,

I am a certified personal trainer at a very well known gym.  I have a B.S. in Wellness, Health Promotion, and Injury Prevention with a minor in Exercise Science.  

This happens especially with legs.  It's called delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS for short.  The day following your leg workout, you will be sore.  Two days after you've done legs, you will be even more sore.  Three days out the pain will start to subside.  This is common especially if you are new to working out, or haven't worked out in a while.  This won't last forever.  As you o become more conditioned, you will still experience DOMS but to a (much) lesser extent.

You may be sore for more than 3 days depending on your fitness level and on the intensity of the workout.  If 4 to 5 days out after your leg workout your pain hasn't begun to decrease (it probably still won't be completely gone--but it should be less painful than it was the 2nd day out), then you could talk to your doctor.  But more than likely, there's nothing to worry about.  You can take some ibuprofen and do some stretching (no bouncing on stretches though)!  You could also take a hot bath or apply heat or ice (make sure there's a barrier between you and the heat/ice source, thoug).

The only thing that concerns me is this: as a degreed/certified trainer myself, I would definitely not start someone's program by having her do strictly leg exercises.  If your trainer had you doing heavy leg exercises for your first workout, I would make sure to find out what his/her qualifications were.  Make sure he/she is degreed in a related field or at least certified through a credible agency if not both.  

[Madsie1234]

I just took a barre workout class yesterday and all it was was legs, legs and more legs workout. Today I am in an excruatiating amount of pain. I got out of bed and could barely walk and throughout the day it only got worse. No ice/heat, Ibeprofen or stretching has helped me in any way... What else can I do to relieve the pain? And is the pain going to be worse within the following days or is today the worst of it and it will get better from here?

[Fungiso99]

This may happen for the first time. You should wait a bit more and let see what happen next.

[iamalearner]

i am having excruciating muscle pain across mine elbows and experiencing stiffness. happening since mine first day of workout.presently its the second day

[Dr Arora]

Hi, the symptoms you have experienced after the first day of your exercise indicates that you have a poor stamina and not used to doing exercises in the past. You have to continue your workouts slowly but continuously everyday to build up a good stamina. Don't do too much exercise or too much heavyweights. Have a good protein rich diet to increase your exercise performance and endurance. I hope this helps, good luck.

[Maiawa]

this is happening to me after i went to my first gymnastics lesson the other day. im 14 and right now im in soooo much pain. well, my calfs are. but thanks for the email cos now im just waiting for it to go away. are there any stretches you would recomend?