Muscle Aches From Running

Whether you are an avid runner or a beginner, muscle aches and soreness can commonly accompany the days following a run. Running challenges your muscles, particularly the legs and abdominals, pushing them to move and strengthen with each step. You experience muscle soreness when the muscles have been overtaxed, which creates small tears in the muscle fibers. Providing that your muscles have proper time to heal, the body repairs these fibers and you emerge stronger. If you do not rest enough, however, muscle soreness can lead to strains and injuries.

Stretching

Stretching before and after your run is important to prevent muscle aches and tightness. While you may think to stretch the calves and quadriceps muscles at the front of your leg, you may not be stretching the iliotibial band ligament and the tensor fascia latae muscles that rest on the side of the hip. Partly for this reason, runners commonly injure these muscles and ligaments. To stretch this area, cross the leg over your body, pulling it as far to the opposite side as you comfortably can.

Prevention

Preventing muscle aches involves resting the muscles and knowing your limits. If you currently run as your sole cardiovascular activity, switching up your exercise routine to include a low impact activity like cycling or swimming can ease some of the strain on your muscles. Replace one to two of your weekly exercise sessions with this type of exercise. However, you always should incorporate one to two rest days into your weekly exercise routine so your muscles can heal. Also, muscle aches can mean you pushed your body too far. Only gradually increase your running duration or intensity to prevent muscle aches and injuries.

Treatment

If you do experience muscle aches following an injury, taking an anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen or acetaminophen can help. You also can ice sore areas for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Always place a towel or protective covering over the ice pack to ensure you do not damage your skin. If the pain is in your knee or ankle, wearing a brace to stabilize your muscles, ligaments and joints can help you to heal and provide added support until the aches subside.

Warning

If muscle aches become intense or you experience a string of running-related injuries, it's important to acknowledge when you should switch to a sport that places less strain on your body. Running is a high-impact activity that your muscles and joints must absorb with each step. Switching to a new exercise routine can help reduce the muscle aches.