How to you recover from a 20k steps + walk

[Cloud44]

Over the weekend I went for a really long walk, I regularly do 12k+ steps a day but this was over 20k+ and I still feel knackered!
AIBU to think I should feel ok now or is it normal for it to take a couple of days for feet / legs to stop aching and to have energy back?! Any tips of what I should be doing?

On a busy weekend cleaning I can do 20k without leaving the house .

I average 20,000 steps a day and have done for several years. You get used to it!

What you feel is whatever is unusual for you, so for me over 30,000 steps I will feel it and on the days I have done 40,000 I have tired legs.

Make sure you’re stretching daily. It’s really important to stretch out

I read that so wrong 😳

Christ, don't put a banana up there 😳

Epsom salt bath

No one gives a shit if you do 30k steps a day, it doesn't really answer the OP's question does it?

OP I'm like this at 20k steps. It takes me about 3 days to recover. I have endo so leg pain for me is severe. I find changing shoes for the next day and showers on the highest pressure jet help the most.

you shouldn’t need to ‘recover’.
I regularly do this, plus a Pilates class, then 2 hours of racket sport in the evening. Plus a swim occasionally………

I don't really have to do any recovery 'stuff' until I break the 15 mile or 5 hours walking mark.

Then it's mostly my feet and ankles. Soaked in warm soapy water up to my calf sorts that.
A bit of a sit down whilst I do.
Pint of water.

I trekked 20+ Miles a few times in the past and that got my knees and back aching. Ibuprofen, warm bath, a lot of water and a little Tiger Balm helps.

If I do a lot more walking or exercise than usual, I do my usual amount of exercise the following day, but focus on some gentle, mostly stretching type stuff, or swim, then have a warm shower in the evening and go to bed early. By day 2 I’m fine. I average around 20k steps a day, so I’d need to do around 30k to feel stiffer, but I’m guessing it’s the percentage change rather than raw steps extra.

Were you doing lots of downhill walking? I find downhill walking can be quite hard on your legs.

Do most people really do that much walking and feel fine?

Makes me feel like my health is worse than I thought.. and I'm only 36 😬

Any minute now the 100 million steps a day + gym + swim + Pilates before bed, all in the one day superheroes will tell you convincingly that YES they do feel fine, and cannot understand how anyone else could possibly not feel the same or do the same.

And no I don't think that MOST people do that amount of walking deliberately as a setting out on a mission type of activity, so you'll be fine.

She's posted above. She must not work or have any caring responsibilities if she's got time for all that every day!

Protein.

Haha OP you created the perfect thread for the MN competitive fitness contingent to come out 😂.
It’s irrelevant if some of you can walk 300 miles then bench press an elephant straight afterwards, the OP feels a bit tired and achey after a longer walk than normal 🤷🏻‍♀️.
OP, I did a much longer walk than usual a couple of months ago and I felt a bit tired and achey for the next couple of days. Try a bath with some magnesium flakes, that always helps for me. And plenty of water and protein.

Do you have a job? Kids? Caring responsibilities? Many of us simply don’t have time for that level of exercise.

Epsom salt bath and stretching. I’m struggling with getting exercise at the minute due to ill health, I did 10k steps at the weekend and I was feeling it for a couple of days after, the Epsom salt baths really helped the acheyness and I have one of those electric foot massage machines that helped too.

Lots of folk on this thread are doing that thing whereby the folk that have a perceived superior experience to their own are not allowed to answer. See also babies that sleep through/rich people. The op didn't ask fit people not to answer. She asked 'what would you do' inviting a response from everyone. She can then take everyone's experience and decide what best works for her/is most similar to her own.. For many people their advice is if you feel sore after a walk, what they would do is get fitter.

I average around 10k steps a day - just up and down a lot at work, dog walking, etc, but went away for a weekend a couple of weeks ago and did 25k steps on one of the days and I felt stiff and uncomfortable for a few days.

I second the magnesium flakes recommendation above, and just kept moving.

I wore Converse, which was stupid.

I live in London, and many Londoners walk a lot because it’s often quicker than public transport and almost always faster than using a car. 20k is one round trip to the nearest main shopping area, one round trip to the gym and general stuff around the house. You don’t really think of it as ‘exercise’, it’s just the way you get around, without really noticing the distance. Even using public transport often has hidden walking distances. For example, to change from the Elizabeth line to the Jubilee or Central lines involves a walk which TfL say takes seven minutes. I know my average step count because my Fitbit tells me.

But ‘get fitter’ isn’t what lots of people are saying. They’re just saying ‘I could do 20,000 steps easily, I do far more’, with no advice, which isn’t actually answering the OPs question at all.
I also walk far more than 20,000 steps regularly as I have a very active dog, and a hobby of mine is hiking marathons. However just relaying that to the OP wouldn’t be helpful to her at all, which is why I gave advice for what I do if I feel more tired than normal after more exercise than normal (magnesium bath flakes, extra protein etc).

I am iron deficient, and regularly walk 10k a day. After 20k I would need some recovery time.

It depends on the terrain as well. 20k steps up Ben Nevis will take more of a toll.

20k steps should be about 10 miles although you'll get the people telling you they do it round their houses.

Is is your lower legs? A support sock can help. Are you bothered with varicose veins or the start of them?

Did you carry a rucksack? Extra weight can make a big difference.

Try and elevate your legs after the walk but don't remain too stationary. A bit of a wander afterwards stops everything locking up.

I have found a massive difference in the way these watches calculate things.

A girl at work with a fit but goes out at lunchtime for half an hour and says that's her 10k done. And she's not running as she's not in gear or sweating.

I do a 3 mile loop every day and that is 6000 steps so it requires another decent walk to get to 10k unless your watch adds arm movements.