How to Manage Vert and Muscles

The mono rails are disappearing and I am starting to do bigger days in the mountains. Here is a scenario::

I did my first 4k foot hike last Wednesday of the year and I tried to move steady by rock hopping down. My legs burned a bit on the climb but my quads were talking to me much more on the descent. I had subtle knee pain towards the end that came and went. I knew my quads were cooked and it was pressing my knee cap into the knee joint causing some light symptoms. I jumped in the river at the lower bridge on the TRT and soaked my knees for about a minute and then jogged down to the parking lot. And back in the car I had a recovery shake and hydrated. This helps with muscle recovery.

My priority was to take care of my quads over the next few days because I had just put them under a new load by running downhill for an hour.

The next day my quads were sore - sore to the touch and felt tight when I walked down stairs. I did light rolling and light muscle activation.

I looked at my upcoming activity plans and kept in the back of my mind to not do too many similar quad overloading activities without taking care of my quads.

So the moral of the story is - if you do an activity that creates increased soreness and load on any muscle group - then you need to take care of those muscles as you continue to exercise. Or you are heading towards a tendon or muscle tissue overuse injury.

Your body will tell you everything you need to know!