Leg Pain After Exercise: What Does It Mean? 

Given that the major muscle groups of your lower body — including your calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes — are central to most physical activity, it’s normal to experience mild, short-term leg fatigue and soreness as you recover from an intense workout.

But what if your legs feel unusually tender, achy, or even painful after exercise? 

Whether you have leg pain after running, cycling, circuit training, lifting, or just a simple walk, you know something feels off, and our team at Advanced Vascular Surgery can help you get to the bottom of the problem. Here’s what to know about activity-induced leg pain. 

Activity-related leg muscle soreness

It’s perfectly normal to have sore legs after a workout or some other strenuous physical activity. In fact, post-activity leg muscle soreness is common and usually stems from the musculoskeletal effects of the activity itself.

Activity-related leg soreness can emerge in two ways.

Normal, acute soreness 

You’re more likely to experience post-exercise leg soreness when your workout is harder than normal, or when you’re “leveling up” in intensity to build your fitness. 

Either can cause the rapid buildup of metabolites in your muscles, leading to acute muscle soreness or mild to moderate burning sensations in your legs that typically clear within a few hours of post-workout recovery. 

Delayed onset soreness 

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) emerges 12-24 hours after exercise. This type of leg pain can happen after any high-intensity activity. Still, eccentric exercise (like running downhill) is a frequent trigger because it causes a muscle to contract (tighten) and stretch (lengthen) at the same time. DOMS can cause:

• Leg muscles that feel sore or tender to the touch
• Mild leg pain and stiffness; reduced range of motion 
• Visible swelling in the affected leg muscles
• Leg muscle fatigue and temporary loss of strength

Essentially, DOMS-related leg pain is the product of microscopic tears in your muscles and the resulting inflammation. It tends to peak one to three days after an intense workout and then gradually eases as the muscle repair process progresses. 

Activity-induced leg pain and cramping

Leg soreness after exercise isn’t always normal; sometimes, it’s a cause for concern. In two cases, post-workout leg pain is atypical and signals a more serious underlying problem. 

Chronic venous insufficiency 

Tired, achy legs after exercise can be an early warning sign of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), or progressive leg vein damage and poor lower extremity circulation. CVI can also: 

• Make your legs feel full or heavy when resting
• Cause burning or tingling sensations in your legs 
• Trigger leg cramping that awakens you at night 

As time passes, CVI can also lead to fluid buildup (edema), lower leg swelling, skin changes, slow-healing sores, and varicose vein formation.

Intermittent claudication 

Exercise-induced leg soreness can also be a sign of intermittent claudication, characterized by cramping muscle pain (typically in the calves) that begins during exercise and resolves with rest. It’s a tell-tale early sign of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). You may also experience: 

• A “pins-and-needles” feeling in your legs or feet
• Burning pain sensations in your feet when resting
• Leg numbness or weakness; balance problems
• Cooler skin temperature on your lower legs or feet

Caused by atherosclerosis, or the buildup of sticky plaque inside blood vessel walls, PAD is a narrowing of the arteries that carry blood and oxygen to your upper and lower extremities (legs and arms). Intermittent claudication occurs when blood and oxygen flow to the lower extremities can’t meet the increased demands of exercise. 

Come in for a leg pain evaluation today

If you’ve been experiencing activity-related leg pain that feels out of the ordinary to you, it’s time to schedule an evaluation with our team. If we suspect that your symptoms stem from a circulatory disorder, we can take a closer look at your lower extremity blood vessels with a noninvasive vascular ultrasound imaging test. 

Getting to the bottom of your leg pain issue is the first step in resolving it — and protecting your health so you can stay active. To find out how we can help, schedule a visit at your nearest Advanced Vascular Surgery office in Kalamazoo, Allegan, Battle Creek, Coldwater, Sturgis, or Three Rivers, Michigan, today.