Have you ever had those runs where your have aching heavy legs? After a couple minutes, it feels like you can’t even lift the legs off the ground. There are many reasons for this common issue known as “heavy legs”. Here are reason why you’re legs feel heavy and what you can do about it on your next run:

photo credit: Zach Klein

1. Running high mileage: As you increase your mileage in the early stages in your training, it’s important to pay attention to how your body responds. If you are having troubles with the mileage in week 2, there is an issue present. Building a stronger foundation may be the solution. Take into account what kind of mileage you’re comfortable with running and what distance or weekly mileage causes heavy legs.
2. Stiff muscles and joints: When running long distances, you muscles and joints take a lot of stress. In order to reduce the stress, your body must become more flexible to absorb the stress instead of compounding it. There are a variety of methods of allowing your body to ease into flexibility and prevent heavy legs. My favourite method is to practice yoga because of its challenging yet zen-like feeling. After doing yoga, there is also a refreshing  feeling which is an added benefit. Other methods of becoming flexible are actively stretching and practicing other methods of yoga such as hot yoga.
3. Inability to Recover: the biggest reason why heavy legs are reoccurring during your runs is because of your body’s inability to recover from previous runs. When a runner’s legs feel heavy, suddenly, their mental discpline is challenged because we become weaker when we feel pain or discomfort. The same powerful runner becomes a weakened runner due to the fact that he/she can’t focus as much on their running which leads to difficulty maintaining the same pace compared to the other  runs. To help recover your body and legs, here are factors to take into consideration: the strength of your nutritional plan, the amount and quality of sleep the night before the run, your age. I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but the older we get, the slower we recover.

These are the three common reasons why runners experience heavy legs. To prevent the feeling of heavy legs, you must increase your mileage only at a pace your body is comfortable with, become more flexible to relieve stress from your muscles and joints and promote recovery of your body.