Being a little aggressive on a leg day is easy to do without realizing it until the following day. Your legs, butt and lower back may continue to feel it for the second day after pushing it too hard. Usually, a new exercise, too many reps, too much weight or adding explosive jumps will create what is referred to as DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness. To help reduce the pain of post-leg day lasting 48 hours, try the following circuit:
This is designed to warm up the legs with light, full-range-of-motion movements combined with cardio, stretching and/or foam rolling. We call this one, “A little hair of the dog that bit you.” I added this to my morning routine for about 30 minutes after a bout with some jumping Bulgarian split squats that I had not done in a while.
Warm Up
This calisthenics and jog warm up is not just designed to get you ready to work out but also to assess how you feel during and after the 10-set warm up. It looks like this:
Squats / toe touch half pyramid 1-10:
- Do 1 squat and toe touch, jog 50-100m.
- Do 2 squats and toe touches, jog 50-100m.
- Continue up to 10 reps of each.
This should make the following 5-minute jog or bike much more tolerable. If you’re still not feeling like doing any leg exercises, you may be better off opting out of the one below and continuing with Mobility Day (5 min bike/5 min stretch/foam roll for 30-45 minutes).
The Workout Circuit
All exercises are performed with a full range of motion and at a slower-than-normal pace. Take 3 seconds to move in each up/down direction of the repetition. Rest as needed between exercises.
Repeat 3 times:
- Kettlebell Romanian dead lift (RDL), 5
- Deep kettlebell squats, 5
- Deep lunges, 5 per leg. Hold onto something is needed; go as deep as is comfortable.
- Cardio, 5 minutes (jog, bike, etc., mix it up each set)
- Stretch, 2 minutes: dynamic / 2 min static (thighs, hamstrings, calves, lower back)
The RDL is there to stretch/flex the lower back, glutes and hamstrings. The full range of motion of the squats and lunges will help stretch and flex the thighs, hips and calves. The hanging knee-ups are designed to decompress the spine and hips while flexing the hips and abs and stretching the lower back. The cardio is your choice of jogging, biking, elliptical, rowing or just walking. Follow each circuit with two minutes of stretching or foam rolling, focusing on areas where you feel aches from previous workouts. Try the circuit again, and you should start to feel back to normal.
Cool Down / Stretch
Take a few more minutes to walk or jog for 10 minutes, then top it off with one final massage, foam roll or stretch for 10 minutes.
Sometimes, you still need to do physical training on sore and tired legs. Training days in the military will have you working through this type of soreness on a regular basis. The important thing is to keep moving and training. Learn some warm-up and mobility skills to help ease the aches and pains of new training routines. See more ideas on training and working around pain and injuries at the Military.com Fitness Section.
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