Muscles going weak in a workout

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thechrisroberts
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Muscles going weak in a workout

Post by thechrisroberts »

Brief background on exercise: I'm 37, currently hovering just under 210lbs. I've lost some 60 pounds over the last several months and have nearly reached weight loss goal. I joined a gym around a year ago but really ramped up workouts a few months ago. I've also been working with a trainer once or twice a week for several weeks now. Otherwise I'm pretty inactive - in front of a computer a fairly large portion of the time, but I've come to thoroughly enjoy gym time and have been going 3-5 times a week, typically spending 1-1.5 hrs, focusing on core exercises with cardio and strength training thrown in, alternating focus area per session. I'm also slowly working in exercises at home as well as outdoor runs, but I generally prefer getting exercise at the gym.

But here's an issue I'm having: I've noticed during certain leg exercises that legs will decide it's time to stop. It's not like other muscle groups where I can usually keep pushing myself to do just a little more; with specific exercises or movements involving legs, it feels like they go weak and when it happens there's not much I can do to power through.

I'm still learning muscle groups, but I'm pretty sure hammies are the problem. I don't have any of this weakness when running or doing leg press; squats are usually fine unless I happen to get too low, then the weakness hits; I can feel the weakness while on the elliptical, but it usually doesn't get bad enough to stop me. But I hit it during certain core exercises as well as machines like leg curl (a frequent problem) and leg extension (not as bad, but noticeable). Leg curl was the worst for this last night - legs stopped and just wouldn't keep going. trainer was doing his usual torture routine of, "Come on, give me one more!" - and for most things I can do it, but when this weakness hits, there won't be any more of those for a bit.

I assume this is just regular weakness. I'm still fairly new to rigorous exercise - particularly new to having a trainer push me. I'm loving every bit of it (well, mostly) and have stayed regular with it enough that I feel off if I miss the gym for more than a day or two. I am literally the commercial fellow who is in the best shape of his life (or at least the best in decades), but I'm not sure what to make of legs. Is this something that just happens when starting from a heavily sedate lifestyle with minimal exercise? assumption is that as I keep pushing, I'll eventually get past this weakness and get to the normal muscle exertion/tiredness I feel with pretty much any other muscle group.
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Boss Man
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Re: Muscles going weak in a workout

Post by Boss Man »

Hi Chris good to talk to you.

Do you do a lot of cardio before you do the leg workout?
GingerBread
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Re: Muscles going weak in a workout

Post by GingerBread »

Creatine works well and is almost THE thing for this type of situation. It's not a miracle worker but I always feel that workouts are more "solid" when I take it.
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