Training armor skills

So, I've been playing for a long time. Naturally the game has gotten easier and easier as I get more experienced, so of course, I bump up the difficulty to compensate.
Now, I've reached Master and enemies do insane damage. Since Expert I had started avoiding being hit much better, to the point where my tactics are basically, land one/two blows, step back to not get hit, then strike again. Rinse and repeat. So I basically NEVER get hit, the result obviously, is all of my characters lately (The past 7-8 characters) have REALLY low armor skills for their levels. So when I HAVE to take a hit I find myself half dead from it even around level 20-30. I've started a new character trying to force myself to block and take damage when fighting, but it just feels slow and inefficient. I mean, if I can dodge the blow altogether, why do I bother blocking? Especially when I can lose a fair amount of health easy at early levels.
Anyone else find this happen to them?

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I'm familiar with your situation.

The thing is, when you take a hit at master difficulty, it also gives you a lot of xp to your chosen armor skill. Just be patient, and eventually your armor will level up and you'll get more perks. You could also pay trainers to level up your skill faster. Just hang in there!

Also, I completely agree with you about blocking feeling very inefficient.

I think that XP for armor is always awarded for the Base Damage inflicted regardless of Difficulty setting.
In other words , when playing on Master you will receive less xp than damage incurred making skill progression a somewhat slower process than at Adept.

Aside from paying for training , I like to find a lone enemy as a sparring partner for armor training.
The ideal pick is one that does some degree of damage but is not overpowering (like a Bandit or other level 10-20 type).
Wearing armor and shield with healing in right hand, i engage in defensive combat by allowing foe to strike me for xp and side-stepping to heal when needed.
If blocking(not bashing because u dont want to kill them too quickly) , You can gain xp in armor , restoration, and blocking at same time.
As your armor skills increase , you can acquire a more powerful foe for faster progression

There's two small groups of mudcrabs near Whiterun: one a little south from Silent Moon's Camp and the other...I wanna say northeast from Secunda's Kiss. Run up to them and let them attack you. Then just heal accordingly.

Use the Dead Thrall spell on a bandit, then pick a fight with your thrall. Play with it as long as you like, then dismiss the spell by raising another Thrall or simply kill your Thrall.

Gregor Moon Fang said:

There's two small groups of mudcrabs near Whiterun: one a little south from Silent Moon's Camp and the other...I wanna say northeast from Secunda's Kiss. Run up to them and let them attack you. Then just heal accordingly.

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I really dislike grinding skills. It really ruins the immersion for me.

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On legendary I couldn't take a single hit from most things in light armor so I spent most of my money on light armor training. Fighting with a shield will help too, but if you block, most of the experience will go into the block skill. It will also go up faster once your smithing is up because you will get the same experience and take less damage. The same goes for perking. Anything that makes your armor rating go up is going to help.

Cant say so much here actualy... god mode wont help cuz you need to lose hp to get xp for armour skills. but u can go to a bandit chief, and let him hit you till u drop to low hp, then fus-ro-dah on him and heal while he's getting up and prepering for new attack (u should put amulet of talos and running away from him while healing). I havent tried this but thats only thing i can think of.
omg why am i so complicated... its simple actualy. do mision -dark brotherhood forever- over and over, and train your armour skill with gold. when u get all perks that increse armour raiting u shouldnt worry about being hit cuz ur armour will definetly cross 350 (no mater if you have heavy or light [heavy orcish full set about 500 and light idk what kind definetly about 350 or even 400- supperior upgrade ])

pokemaster787 said:

I really dislike grinding skills. It really ruins the immersion for me.

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Almost all things in life take practice. View grinding as practice.

You want to learn how to make the unavoidable blow a glancing shot rather than taking it's full force? Get out there and find a sparring partner. Mudcrabs might be hard to RP against, but a single bandit would work.

I find you are at grasshopper status. Time to start a new character, and learn the benefits of armor perks. Begin at Master. It'll teach you good.