Why do some people complain more other people of leg stiffness in case of long road trip or long air flight and it only goes away when you get up and walk around back and forth.

What is helping to the body that long road trip or long air flight causes stiffness? Is the cause too much blood pooling in legs? And getting up and walking back forth makes it go away.

Also do people that are confined to wheelchair or hospital bed how do they deal with leg stiffness?

5 hours ago, Moon99 said:

Why do some people complain more other people of leg stiffness in case of long road trip or long air flight and it only goes away when you get up and walk around back and forth.

What is helping to the body that long road trip or long air flight causes stiffness? Is the cause too much blood pooling in legs? And getting up and walking back forth makes it go away.

Also do people that are confined to wheelchair or hospital bed how do they deal with leg stiffness?

Yes I'm guessing circulation mainly. This can even happen in bed, definitely as you get older.

Get the flu and you are immobile for 72 hours or longer, you are stiff as hell when you finally crawl out of bed.

It does not help if you are over weight. More pressure on your muscles, more difficult for the blood and therefore O2 and nutrients to reach the cells and more difficult for CO2 to be taken away.

2 hours ago, pinball1970 said:

Yes I'm guessing circulation mainly. This can even happen in bed, definitely as you get older.

Get the flu and you are immobile for 72 hours or longer, you are stiff as hell when you finally crawl out of bed.

It does not help if you are over weight. More pressure on your muscles, more difficult for the blood and therefore O2 and nutrients to reach the cells and more difficult for CO2 to be taken away.

I remember muscular stiffness after physical exercise (e.g. when I was rowing) was said to be due to accumulation of lactate in muscles (as a result of the back-reduction of pyruvate you get with anaerobic respiration). But that is stiffness that takes 24hrs to dissipate, whereas feeling stiff when you have just been immobile seems to be something that passes off with just a minute or two of movement. Are both due to the same thing, do you think, or are different mechanisms responsible?

54 minutes ago, exchemist said:

I remember muscular stiffness after physical exercise (e.g. when I was rowing) was said to be due to accumulation of lactate in muscles (as a result of the back-reduction of pyruvate you get with anaerobic respiration). But that is stiffness that takes 24hrs to dissipate, whereas feeling stiff when you have just been immobile seems to be something that passes off with just a minute or two of movement. Are both due to the same thing, do you think, or are different mechanisms responsible?

I suppose ischemia brought about by compression, would have some similar results as lactic acid build up during exercise when your O2 deficit becomes significant.

Both addressed by reducing O2 demand, release compression/stop exercise, then O2 and stretching does the rest.

I am guessing here so I will consult a physiology book and feedback.

Had some training in physiology - as I recall, joint stiffness when immobile is about the synovial fluid that lubricates the joints not circulating as well. It tends to thicken in place and not lubricate well, so those first minutes of resumed motion are stiff. IIRC, joints are not usually vascularized so they depend on passive flow and oxygenation of the fluid. (Spinal disc is also not vascularized, so it's quite vulnerable to long immobility - people with spinal issues are often encouraged to periodically stretch and rotate, to help oxygenate discs)

9 hours ago, pinball1970 said:

suppose ischemia brought about by compression, would have some similar results as lactic acid build up during exercise when your O2 deficit becomes significant.

Ischemia could affect collateral muscle groups, in the car trip scenario, but it's mainly non-vascularized tissue in joints, as I mentioned, so ischemia wouldn't be the main culprit. Tissues like discs and joints can handle long periods without oxygen, and so aren't prone to ischemia. They are tissues which, by definition, lack a blood supply. This is part of why physical therapy is so important to coma patients - passive non vascular oxygenation and refresh only happens with manipulation of those joints and spinal discs.

What strange is when I was kid I could have a very long car trip and I did not get stiff well now when I’m older I get stiff being car for two or three hours.

What so special about being kid and not getting stiff but when you get older you get stiff.

Obliviousness

Constant wiggling.

4 hours ago, Moon99 said:

What so special about being kid and not getting stiff

They have more flexibility in their tendons and ligaments, weaker muscles, and for young ones, their bones haven’t all fused yet. Much more flexible. Puberty (with its rapid growth) reduces that, and it just gets worse as you age.

On 6/2/2025 at 5:37 PM, swansont said:

They have more flexibility in their tendons and ligaments, weaker muscles, and for young ones, their bones haven’t all fused yet. Much more flexible. Puberty (with its rapid growth) reduces that, and it just gets worse as you age.

When you are young you have strong muscles but when you are older you have weak muscles. What causes weak muscles and being bodybuilder would that help or make no difference.

Can bodybuilder take long car trips.

3 hours ago, Moon99 said:

When you are young you have strong muscles but when you are older you have weak muscles. What causes weak muscles and being bodybuilder would that help or make no difference.

Can bodybuilder take long car trips.

Pre-teens and teens win a lot of (open) weightlifting competitions, do they?

Stiffness after a long road trip or flight happens because you stay in one position for too long. This reduces blood flow to your muscles and joints, causing them to become tight. Your muscles also build up mild tension from lack of movement, and your joints don’t get the normal lubrication they need. Dehydration and poor posture can make the stiffness feel even worse. Moving or stretching briefly during travel helps prevent it.

2 hours ago, Jackleo said:

Stiffness after a long road trip or flight happens because you stay in one position for too long.

Your deep and incisive analysis has provided a fresh and illuminating perspective on this longstanding mystery!

4 hours ago, TheVat said:

Your deep and incisive analysis has provided a fresh and illuminating perspective on this longstanding mystery!

You could get a job at the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. 😁

13 minutes ago, exchemist said:

You could get a job at the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. 😁

Haha!

I'm proud of my work on the sulking in the Happy Vertical People Transporter.

10 hours ago, TheVat said:

Your deep and incisive analysis has provided a fresh and illuminating perspective on this longstanding mystery!

For me, these symptoms remind me that the great enjoyment I gained out of rugby and motorcycling in my teens and early adulthood do have their costs.

12 minutes ago, sethoflagos said:

the great enjoyment I gained out of rugby

My 1st year Uni, in '77, when you had to go physically sign up for courses, I saw the team slogan and signed up for rugby.
The slogan was "you gotta have leather balls to play Rugby".

Yes, it was fun while it lasted; then it turned to a broken collar bone.