For the past 4 years, going on 5 now, I have had constant leg/muscle soreness. This is all in my quads, both legs, the entire muscle belly. No joint pain, no obvious inflammation, no swelling. When riding even at low intensity levels they are screaming at me, and worse when working at high levels. When I am done my workout they go right back to my baseline level of about 5/10. No numbness, no tingling, no point tenderness, but the entire muscle.
I am a Physical Therapist. I have done extensive stretching, massage, foam rollers, heat, tens/muscle stim unit, prolonged advil, protein drinks, high sugar drinks, and changing my diet. I have taken a week off, no change, a month off no change. Blood work shows nothing wrong.
The end result of a hard workout, or easy workout is the same. They always are sore. 4 advil will reduce the soreness, but does not eliminate it. My performance has not dropped, I am getting stronger/better. No body fatigue, no illness. I feel great on the bike except my legs. I have changed my bike position over the past couple of years, and have absolutely no pain or discomfort when riding other than my quads. Changing my position has had no effect on my legs.
I am at a loss of what to try next. A lot of very experienced people out there. Hoping someone has some suggestions on what I can try.
I have had something different, but also difficult to identify: persistent hamstring soreness running. I thought my hamstrings were too tight. Treated symptoms, went to see physios, etc, didn’t help.
For me the key was to consult an biomechanics expert who did in-depth of range of motion tests. It turned out that my rectus femoris was the culprit, causing an anterior pelvic tilt, hence pulling on the hamstrings and also leading to TFL issues.
I struggled to find a good biomechanics expert, but was very relieved once I had consulted him.
This article explains how chronic pain can persist and grow worse even if there’s no lasting physical damage. I’m no expert but think there’s something to it . . .
I had a friend who had constant muscle soreness - not for 4 years as you describe, but it turned out the person wasn’t getting enough fat in their diet.
Take a look at your diet and if you’re really low fat, try some healthy ones like olive oil, nuts, avocados… it cleared up my friend’s issue pretty well.
Are you on any medication that has muscle soreness as a side effect? I was for a while, and I stopped the med, after consulting with my dr, and the soreness went away.
I’d stop the Advil, over the medium and long term, it might make it worse and it reduces some natural adaptation to muscle damage and inflammation.
Interesting that even time off and easy days don’t make it go away. Sounds more neurological them, not muscular. Especially if it’s just pain and not actually performance limiting. My soreness usually correlates with some inability to generate power. The muscle fibers are simply unavailable to recruit.
Thanks for the replies. This has been on ongoing battle.
Some thoughts on replies so far - meditation? definitely a skeptic, but will research it,
I am constantly stretching, so don’t think it is that, but do have areas that seem to always be tight no matter what I do, including my quads.
I would spend 30 minutes on each leg, massaging - no changes in symptoms.
Not doing anything to lose weight, and overall eat quite healthy. I was a sugar junkie, and did cut WAY back around the same time as my legs, but now it has been so long, the time frame gets fuzzy.
Don’t take any medication regularly. Have tried steady dose of advil in the past, but it had no effect, and do not currently take any.
Fibromyalgia- hmm, will have to research this as well.
There was not a known initial issue- Just my legs never seeming to recover.
Looked up FIbromyalgia - I don’t have any of those other symptoms
The book is on it’s way to my library
use Glucosamine Chondroitin MSM…3 per day before bed…takes about 3 months to kick in. i had the same issue about 7 years ago. I couldn’t run 2 days in a row no matter what I did. no issues now. i’ve run 91 times out of the last 92 days as part of the 100 day challenge.
i also take 10mg of melatonin 1-hour before bed as well for cheap, deep sleep insurance.
Thanks for the replies. This has been on ongoing battle.
Some thoughts on replies so far - meditation? definitely a skeptic, but will research it,
I am constantly stretching, so don’t think it is that, but do have areas that seem to always be tight no matter what I do, including my quads.
I would spend 30 minutes on each leg, massaging - no changes in symptoms.
**Not doing anything to lose weight, and overall eat quite healthy. I was a sugar junkie, and did cut WAY back around the same time as my legs, but now it has been so long, the time frame gets fuzzy. **
Don’t take any medication regularly. Have tried steady dose of advil in the past, but it had no effect, and do not currently take any.
Fibromyalgia- hmm, will have to research this as well.
There was not a known initial issue- Just my legs never seeming to recover.
Looked up FIbromyalgia - I don’t have any of those other symptoms
The book is on it’s way to my library
Just a weird ass guess but, if your leg soreness started around the same time as you cut WAY back on sugar, perhaps you need more sugar and carbs in general??? If you are training a lot, you need a fair amount of carbs and simple sugars are a quick and easy way to get them:)
The sugar I cut out was bags of candy. Jelly beans, gummi worms, orange slices, the list goes on and on. Easily a bag a day. Probably not the best decision to go back to that
I have thought of dry needling, and have a clinic up the road with an experienced PT that does that.
Will look into the glucosamine. Any particular brands?
By chance do you supplement creatine? Have you ever got your creatine levels checked?
Question #2, have you ever tried warming up pretty hard - enough to get a good sweet and some lactic acid production - then active rest (still moving but with a zone 0-1 HR). Followed by some stretching - then your workout?
I’m asking because #1 can cause constant muscle soreness (almost like a pumped up ballon) and #2 can really help with this syndrome.
Legs help the heart move blood around the body. If your legs are sore constantly, it could mean they are either not getting the oxygen / nutrients they need or the waste your body is creating is not being removed fast enough (as it would make sense it would settle in your legs). I would think a simple blood test could show any issues. Four years in a long time - talk to your family doctor???
