To think everyone's leg muscles hurt if they walk up a steep hill?

[Fazackerley]

As dh says it's not normal and now I'm convinced I have vascular disease

I walk a lot but if I walk up a hill near me, which has steps built into the side, my leg muscles really hurt. As soon as I stop ,they are fine. I can walk up a long gentle incline with no bother.

Has your DH walked up this hill ?

I used to walk a lot but yes some hills my legs will ache

My arm aches brushing my teeth sometimes 😂 I'm a weak & pathetic hahaha.

I think it's normal for legs to ache walking a steep hill!

My legs hurt when walking up hills......infact my butt muscles are sore because I did a lot of walking last week

Depends on the hill, also suppleness. Suppleness less of an issue with steps but there's a couple of hills near me that were evil even when half marathon fit. Am very unsupple through my calf muscles.

Am fine with very steep though - there's just a small range of incline that is a killer!

I'm very unsupple, old and had a knee op years ago which used part of my hamstring.

I've googled it and all it says is VASCULAR DISEASE

Mine hurting walking up hills or lots of steps. It's normal don't worry.

It's a sharp cramping pain. Honestly I've worked myself into a state over it.

I get horrendous leg pain due to sciatica if I run or go up hills. It’s annoying because i’d Like to go up some nice hills in the area but the awful calf pain stops Me.

I'd say it's just lactic acid build up like you get doing exercises, especially as it goes away quickly. Maybe your husband is just fitter than you.

Walking uphill will put extra pressure on the calf muscles because of the different angle of the ankle, and the stride is shorter than usual.

Runners use hill repeats running up and down the hill to improve their strength, power and fitness because it requires more effort than being on the flat.

It's more likely lactic acid build up in your legs after the steep incline than vascular disease. Even a short amount of extra effort involved can cause it. Makes my legs feel tight, sore and weak. Then you walk a bit more and it goes away on its own. A gentle incline doesn't do it either to me. I walked up a ton of bloody steps in Edinburgh recently. By the time I got to the top my legs felt so sore and weak, but kept walking and they stopped after a while.

The muscles you use for steps are different to those you use for walking on the flat or even uphill - if it’s the equivalent of several flights of stairs then it’s totally normal for the muscles you’re less accustomed to using to ache. If you were struggling with brisk walking or gentle inclines he might have s point, otherwise not.

No not everyone's muscles hurt walking up a hill. It is simply about how fit the person is. If you are fit with strong leg muscles, then depending on the hill you could do it with ease. If you are not, then it would cause sore muscles.

So you are both wrong, it's not abnormal as your husband is suggesting, but nor is it everyone gets sore like you are suggesting.

If you do a type or intensity of exercise you don't normally do then your muscles will ache. I'm pretty fit (go running swimming do HIIT) but sometimes will get achey muscles if I do something new. No big deal unless it's excessive.

For background I've trained for 3 months in vascular physiology (so not an expert at all but I know some basics) Most people get a bit of ache or tiredness in their legs doing vigorous exercise, especially if you're not used to it,
However it sounds like you're feeling significant pain, which isn't normal. It does sound a bit like it could be claudication pain. If you're worried and you want to put you're mind at rest it's not unreasonable to go to the GP for a check up, they can feel the pulses in your legs and ask about risk factors (like blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol etc). If they're concerned they can send you to see a vascular consultant and get an ultrasound of the arteries in your legs. It's quick and painless and would give a concrete answer rather than you worrying about it. How quickly does the pain settle once you stop, and where exactly is the pain? Does it get increasingly bad until you have to stop, or could you continue walking through it? Those are the tour of questions your GP should ask you. Hopefully all is totally fine but these no harm in getting checked by a professional.

I don't smoke, bp is on the high side of normal. No idea on cholesterol. Its a cramp like pain that stops as soon as I get to the top of the steps. I walk on average 5 miles a day and the steps are the only place it hurts

@Fazackerley was that operation to repair a torn cruciate ligament? DH had a bad fall skiing during the week, just had MRI and waiting to get referred to an orthopedic surgeon.

Yup

Sorry that's not very helpful of me, I didn't notice you were the OP, I was just going to ask you how long it took to recover?

Recovery was really quick and I've had no problems since apart from the hamstring cramping

My legs hurt like hell when I try to jog, walk too fast or climb stairs. Shin splints I think it's called. My solution, avoid the things that hurt... Sitting on the sofa eating cake doesn't hurt.. just saying.

In my experience steps - particularly steps with narrow treads and high, irregular risers - are much harder work than even a steep slope, and are more likely to cause fatigue and aches.

I walked both kids up lombard Street in San Francisco over the summer. My leg muscles took a week to get over the shock. Even worse was coming down the other side where my legs shook like jelly with every step.
DCs haven't yet forgiven me 😳

You know you've got some weakness in your legs, and that a steep incline will put greater than usual exertion on the area. The discomfort stops as soon as the exertion is over. It's a big jump from that to vascular disease.

Not mine, but I’m a runner and I walk up a hill twice a day lol