Question
Hello! I have a job delivering newspapers at night. I get out of my Honda civic which is low to the ground and used to run to each house after getting out of my vehicle. I've had this job a year and a half. About two months ago I started getting tense in the muscles in my rear end. I was very sore every day. Then my hips started to hurt and I couldn't tell what the problem was. Stretching helped but didn't stop the pain. So I started going to my job earlier so that I can walk on the job instead of run. Walking healed the pain over a week and then my muscles felt very tired, which my boyfriend said is what happens after healing takes place. I am no longer tired but I have to watch how I move. The problem is that I stopped going to the gym, hiking and anything that hurt. All I have been able to do is swim and yoga exercises. My question is, how much longer should I wait until I start running again? If you have any other advice I'd really appreciate it. Thank you for your time and the best to you and your's!

Answer
Hello, Jenny,

Time isn't the deciding factor.  It's how quickly you recover control over the tight muscles, which are sore from muscle fatigue.  You're muscle-bound in those muscles and they never relax.

It's a conditioning problem.

Soreness and muscle fatigue aren't what happens after healing takes place.  It's what happens when muscles are so tight that they are sore.  My guess is that your gym training regimen plus your repetitive motions delivering newspapers have conditioned you to be tight.  There's a price for "buns of steel," and this is it.

My answer is to retrain your muscular control.

May I direct you to concise articles of mine that speak in more detail of the condition and its resolution.

http://www.somatics.com/stretch.htm  (new information on stretching)
http://www.somatics.com/recovery_from_injury.htm
http://www.somatics.com/movement.htm

They explain your condition more and provide a way to resolve it.