Whoever coined the phrase, “no pain, no gain” can kiss my ass. Sore and stiff muscles are par for the course with high intensity workouts for me. I deal with it. I’ve taken a lot of advice in my attempt to avoid it. But really, it seems only rest works for me.
The only part of my body that I’m really bothered by is hamstrings. Every single time I work them, I am hobbling around for days. When I say days, I’m being literal. In fact, I have been in hamstring pain for as many as 5 days. WTF???
It’s not like I avoid putting them through their paces because of the pain either. I work them regularly like the rest of the bod. That’s why I am so vexed. No other muscle group gives me shit like the hammys. God damn they hurt! Getting on and off the toilet is agony. An untied shoelace is my mortal enemy. Having to carry a sleeping child to their bed makes me bitch and whine.
I’ve tried the creatine and glutamine in my protein shakes. I’ve tried a light run at the end of the workout to flush them out. I’ve tried stretching them like a son-of-a-bith (doesn’t work but I do it anyways). Nothing! Please insert your advice here and I’ll try it. If you tell me that blowing a goat will stop the pain, I’ll be at the farm in 10 minutes.
I’m not going to give up working them out. I just needed to rant a little. I just got off the can and nearly cried. Lol. Oh well…
/rant
Mountains to Mats 
Try soaking in a warm bath with Epsom salts to warm and loosen your muscles and after a few minutes start flexing them: do toe points and heel raises and anything else you can think of to GENTLY stretch your hamstrings.
Once out of the tub try massaging a cortisone cream into your relaxed hammie. If you can sweet-talk your lady into a leg massage that would be beneficial too (and cheaper than going to see a massage therapist).
Also: my heart skipped a beat when I saw that you used the word “vexed”. 🙂
Hey thanks! I’ll give it a try. 😀
Just checking in to see how your hamstrings are? Did you sucker, er, I mean sweet talk your wife into giving you a massage?
If you have resistance bands – actually, even a towel will work – try putting your foot in the middle of the towel/band and grabbing onto the ends, pull yourself closer down to your leg so that you can feel a really good stretch in your leg and hamstring. Also, YouTube has a plethora of videos on stretches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_C_SnaUc7M).
Oh, they are still hell. Lol.
I’m have ok flexibility. I’m always stretching. Doesn’t seem to help much.
I say try to get back to that yoga class. Or get a beginner yoga DVD and do a little at home. I have the same problem with my hammies and yoga is the only thing that works
Foam Roller? My hamstrings love a good 10minute plus foam roll. It hurts at first but is heaven after!
How many days do you go between working your hamstrings? If it is less than a week, I would advise cutting back on the intensity/weight just a bit. DOMS should make you sore for a couple of days – but 5 is too long (IMO).
I do full body workouts so I work them 3 days a week in some way. Plus I do a lot of high intensity cardio, Muay Thai, and/or BJJ on the other days… No rest for the wicked.