Question
Hello and thank you!  To your knowledge, are there any dangers in suddenly stopping a vigorous workout routine?  For many months, I was exercising very vigorously on an exercise bicycle at the maximum resistance for forty minutes daily, and during this time all of my leg and calf muscles got very big.  Then, for scheduling reasons, I suddenly had to stop, and a few weeks later, I began to feel extreme tension simultaneously up and down both legs, but mainly centered behind my knees.  The sensation is like there are rubber bands that run inside my legs and they抮e being pulled very taut, making bending my knees more difficult and causing nonstop stiffness and soreness.  I have an intuitive sense that it is somehow my body reacting to my suddenly stopping all exercise.  From your experience, does this sound like something that could happen for this reason?  I抦 not asking for advice, but would like to know about your experience in this area.  Again, thank you.

Answer
Hello, Stephen,

It's rather the reverse of what you think.  It's not stopping that caused the problem, but rather the way you trained.  You conditioned yourself into a state of being musclebound, probably by ignoring the pain of muscle fatigue and exercising through it.  You conditioned yourself into a high state of muscular tension that you are now experiencing.

The pain behind your knees is a sign of tight hamstrings.  Stretching will be of limited benefit to you, for reasons explained in the article on stretching at somatics.com/page4.htm.  You need to train yourself into muscular relaxation through methods that are probably outside your knowledge, at the moment. See the article, follow the recommendations.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold