Does anyone know why I always suffer from heavy quads?

bump..

Bump.... My doctors first told me it was an iron deficiency (which makes sense) but my iron is normal now and the problem is still going on like even walking around at school and such but if you haven't checked your iron levels I do reccomend having that done because it is the cause of "heavy legs" quite a bit of the time.

I used to have this problem a lot too. I think for me the problem was just that my quads were really weak. I started cycling a bit to strengthen them and now I don't really have any issues. (Now my calves are the "Weakest link" for me)

Do 10 hill sprints a week for three months

because your quads...are......heavy?

I also that this could be an issue, but like you my iron levels have been normal every time I get it checked

You would think that running itself would be sufficient quad strengthening exercise right? Did you ever do any squats or weights exercises like that?

Quadriceptic wrote:

You would think that running itself would be sufficient quad strengthening exercise right? Did you ever do any squats or weights exercises like that?

Running apparently develops the hamstrings more than the quads, so some added strength work for the quads is often needed.

Nothing fancy - you can try a program of squats or wall sits - do that consistently for a few months and see if that helps.

I do a lot of body weight squats - I think they help running - helps you sort of 'fly' on your legs rather than sit down into them.

You probably have no idea what I am trying to say, but try some body weight squats.

HILLS!

agip wrote:

Quadriceptic wrote:

You would think that running itself would be sufficient quad strengthening exercise right? Did you ever do any squats or weights exercises like that?

Running apparently develops the hamstrings more than the quads, so some added strength work for the quads is often needed.

Nothing fancy - you can try a program of squats or wall sits - do that consistently for a few months and see if that helps.

I do a lot of body weight squats - I think they help running - helps you sort of 'fly' on your legs rather than sit down into them.

You probably have no idea what I am trying to say, but try some body weight squats.

Thanks man! I'll definitely try this, I had been reluctant to start doing any type of weights just because I figured "why bother, I run all the time". But this sounds like it would at least help

The people suggesting you do a bit of strengthening are probably onto something. If your respiration and HR are lower than you expect - especially if your respiration is at 'easy pace' levels - then that suggests your blood CO2/oxygen demand/blood lactate are at non-stressful levels and the fatigue is local and muscular. Going with the central governor model, you do enough damage for your brain to think that structural integrity is at risk so it shuts your power output down.

The thing that throws the spanner in the works a little is you saying that it happens during easy runs. Are these runs after hard sessions or does it still happen when you are rested?

I trashed my quads in a single long tempo session and they wouldn't come back to life even after weeks of low intensity. They just felt like bricks whenever I ran. In the end jogging a marathon cured them (I read Arthur Lydiard saying "run long and easy till the legs come right" and thought what the hell). It's a different situation but the reason I mention it is I think people are correct when they say that lots of running in the absence of any strength work (non-specific or as hills/sprints/strides) can build a body capable of overloading the quads.

If you find something that seems to help then please do post up again and let us know even if it is a few weeks or months down the line. Good luck.

Quadriceptic wrote:

It's off and on at random so I feel like the cause would have to be something biological rather than over training (I can say with certainty, this is not the issue).

Umm what? How can you say with certainty that overtraining isn't the issue?

Because I run 55 miles a week at most? I use a HR monitor on all of my easy runs, and I listen to my body? I've also been running for 10 years and I know when my body is pooped out? Like I said, I have not always had this problem, that's a less than intelligent question to ask someone whether they know if they are over training or not

Quadriceptic wrote:

Because I run 55 miles a week at most? I use a HR monitor on all of my easy runs, and I listen to my body? I've also been running for 10 years and I know when my body is pooped out? Like I said, I have not always had this problem, that's a less than intelligent question to ask someone whether they know if they are over training or not

That makes no sense. It is completely possible to overtrain on 55 mpw. It is also possible to overtrain on 20 mpw.

I don't know what wearing a heartrate monitor has to do with this. What does 'listening to your body' even mean if you continue to run with heavy quads?

Really, what does listening to your body have to do with overtraining? Yeah you may know when you are pooped, but what are you actually doing to recover? Listening to your body is not the same thing as implementing recovery.

UK Limey runner wrote:

The thing that throws the spanner in the works a little is you saying that it happens during easy runs. Are these runs after hard sessions or does it still happen when you are rested?

Well of course they do feel worse after a hard session. However, even on rested days they will start to get heavy towards the last few miles (Like the last 3-4 of a 12 miler or the last 2 of 8, something like that).

Like I said though, the pain is much less intense than what it is in the race, so I can simply just push through that pain in an easy day pretty easily. Workouts can be a little bit tougher, but because I have rest in between intervals for a workout I can for the most part have successful workouts as well if I haven't been too trashed prior.

For example: On a Tuesday before a race on Saturday I did a 1600/1000/800/400 cut down with 800m of "recovery" (it was at 6:00 pace) in between each with just a couple seconds after the 800 to regroup before each interval. I ran 4:47, 2:59, 2:20, and a 60 all very comfortably hard. My race that week though? 16:44 for 5k, splits of

-5:08

-5:20

-5:34

Now I am usually the one who plays conservative in a race.. my PR is 16:05 so its not as if I went out too fast, but CURRENTLY this issue is pretty bad, and exponentially my legs just wear down like no other as you can see. (This was actually one of my better races too) I just recently had a 17:25 atrocity that consisted of a 5:00, 5:40, 6:14 splitted race.

Because I have very experienced coaches who know what they are doing.. If you are asking me "what does having a heart rate monitor have to do with not overtraining?" that tells me something about your knowledge of this sport. Maybe you should do some research before you ask stupid questions.

Quadriceptic wrote:

Because I have very experienced coaches who know what they are doing.. If you are asking me "what does having a heart rate monitor have to do with not overtraining?" that tells me something about your knowledge of this sport. Maybe you should do some research before you ask stupid questions.

If they knew what they were doing then you wouldn't have heavy quads. I'm not asking stupid questions. You are just making stupid assumptions and then insulting me. I know plenty of people that wear heart rate monitors and still overtrain.

Your coaches' level of experience is also a dumb statement. Plenty of pro runners like El G and the Oregon Project have overtrained.

My coaches have nothing to do with my quads being heavy.. and are these "people you know" using their heart monitors correctly? Do you even know what aerobic/anaerobic threshold is or what it means? It's silly to compare me to some of the most professional elite runners in the world as well..

Like I said, I have this issue off and on randomly. I have done some of my highest mileage weeks without it being a problem, and sometimes i'ts even at its worst when I have just taken a two week break from running between seasons, that alone tells me it is not me being stupid and running too inconsistently. I know how to train, i'm not your typical LRC idiot. I just don't know why the heck my quads don't like to cooperate. So if you want to start conflict please do it somewhere else that I don't have to waste my time.