Very new to exercise, pain and recovery questions

gettingsmall

I am 39 years old and have just started to exercise. Most of my life I've been into things that don't require much effort, reading, movies, etc but lately I've been really getting the whole point of exercise - the point is to push myself to see what I am capable of. So I have been. Which brings up a few questions I have about recovery times, what pain is OK to push through, when I should not push on. Thanks.

1. The pain and stiffness the next day after a work out, whats the best way to work with this? Should I do some light exercise, heavy excersise or should I do nothing and let it heal?
2. Does massage help with that?
3. Is there any sort of pain that means "you've really hurt yourself and should probably stop and get it checked out"?

Any advice you can offer this noob is always appreciated.

AglaeaC

Normal DOMS, delayed-onset muscle soreness is just that, in the muscles. Be very careful about overworking joints, roughly put. While working muscles gently through DOMS is fine, it may not be fine out of the perspective of tendons etc. Depends entirely on what your activity is and how you're doing it.

If you try running, for instance couch-to-5K should give only a bit of soreness, but nothing that seriously "sticks out". If pain is one-sided, your running form is poor and you need to investigate how to correct it. If you try to run more than three times a week, you're heading towards injury.

How can you tell pain from pain? Many swear by foam rollers, icing, etc. but I still haven't used any of that, because I don't feel I'm "advanced" enough yet and haven't had enough muscle soreness of the type that requires lots of measures for me to deal with it.

Any sort of pain that means you've really hurt yourself? Use your head. I don't mean this in a rude way, but seriously, read up and use your judgement.

You're supposed to be able to keep training for a long time, so why make such haste? Take it slowly and let your body get used to using other muscles than your eyes for reading. Your body will thank you and your experience will be pleasant due to avoiding injuries. There's no glory in having to stay away for months from running because you did too much at once.

icrushit

I think the answers to all your questions will be things you need to learn yourself, as you tune into your body and understand it more as you exercise and get more active. I would start gently, and step it up over time, something I do myself when trying anything new so if something feels untoward after I changed/ added something new, then I can identify what may have caused the issue I'm feeling.

I won't sell you the tortoise-wins-the-race stuff, as I'm quite full-blooded and aggressive enough with myself when I'm in pursuit of something like a fitness goal, but I do try to step it up as above. Over time I've learned this is the optimum approach for me, as every day you're doing something you're making progress, no matter how gentle or small. Compare that to the inability to do anything or even regress, if you do too much and injure yourself. It's a fine line really, knowing when to push yourself and when to play the longer game a little, and I think we all just learn that over time as we grow to understand our own bodies.

Aglaea makes some good points, and I would say the say also and take those on board too DOMS is definitely a real thing, and as a beginner to a new exercise programme it can be difficult to know what is normal and what is not, and would add that I would think of DOMS like fatigue. If your muscles are simply tired/ achy/ fatigued, its most likely from DOMS, but if you're in pain territory you may have well injured yourself, even if only lightly.

Good luck with the new programme

Liftng4Lis

Drink lots of water, stretch and work it out. We LOVE DOMS!

gettingsmall

Thanks for the reply : ). Its hard to say what exercise I'm doing as I just tend to move now if I can see an opportunity to, and it can be a bit random. I'm in no big hurry to sort of get fit as fast as I can because I'm trying to stop viewing it as a destination as such and see it as just part of my day. I'm just enjoying seeing what Im capable of. I'm thinking this stiffness will probably lessen as I get fitter, if not, a bit of stiffness never killed anyone. But probably any sharp, sudden pain is probably something to watch.

icrushit

By the way OP, if you're very very new to exercise of any sort, and want to set yourself up well for anything you would like to do in the future, you could do a lot worse than look into a bodyweight resistance programme that you can do at home or anywhere else a couple of times a week.

All decent ones start gently, and will help you develop a base of strength and endurance, as well as helping correct and improve any joint issues you may have from inactivity. Also as it's resistance training (just using your bodyweight instead of physical weights), you will get other supplementary benefits like improved bone density, etc. There's no weight involved, just your own bodyweight, so the risks of pushing yourself too far too fast are lessened, and such a programme will give you a good base for other activities also. For example, I'm finding I can walk faster and for longer, from the workout I give my legs. Likewise, progressing through different bodyweight squats has helped eliminate some niggly issues I had with one of my knees.

Anyway, perhaps food for thought

AglaeaC

gettingsmall wrote: »

Thanks for the reply : ). Its hard to say what exercise I'm doing as I just tend to move now if I can see an opportunity to, and it can be a bit random. I'm in no big hurry to sort of get fit as fast as I can because I'm trying to stop viewing it as a destination as such and see it as just part of my day. I'm just enjoying seeing what Im capable of. I'm thinking this stiffness will probably lessen as I get fitter, if not, a bit of stiffness never killed anyone. But probably any sharp, sudden pain is probably something to watch.

While it's nice that you move, at some point when you make it more regular, you might do too much too soon without noticing. That's why it is good to have some kind of plan to at least be aware of the amount and type you're putting in.

gettingsmall

iloseityes wrote: »

By the way OP, if you're very very new to exercise of any sort, and want to set yourself up well for anything you would like to do in the future, you could do a lot worse than look into a bodyweight resistance programme that you can do at home or anywhere else a couple of times a week.

All decent ones start gently, and will help you develop a base of strength and endurance, as well as helping correct and improve any joint issues you may have from inactivity. Also as it's resistance training (just using your bodyweight instead of physical weights), you will get other supplementary benefits like improved bone density, etc. There's no weight involved, just your own bodyweight, so the risks of pushing yourself too far too fast are lessened, and such a programme will give you a good base for other activities also. For example, I'm finding I can walk faster and for longer, from the workout I give my legs. Likewise, progressing through different bodyweight squats has helped eliminate some niggly issues I had with one of my knees.

Anyway, perhaps food for thought

Will do! Thanks : ).

999tigger

Your priority is safety and looking after yourself. Doms is good and to be expected.
Its a cliche, but listen to your body.

You are looking for anything unusual such as sharp pains or parts of your body that are in pain, not just a bit unccomfy or sore. You need to eb careful that you dont injure yourself. If you are worried, then stop and rest for 24hrs, see if its still there. Never carry on training with an injury imo that is over and above. Thats becayse you cna make things worse and put yourself out of action or worse. Be on the look out.

Otherwise if you are only doing cardio, then just monitor your performance being out of breath is fine and finding your limits is fine, but take it steady. you will fine you will get used to how your bidy feels and performs, so you know instinctively between pushing a limit and actually being injured. Always stop if unsure imo.

tomatoey

1. They say active recovery is best. Gentle walking or very easy swimming will get blood moving and clearing things up. But really the aim is to be very light about it. I've found sometimes though that I just can't move, so in that case I don't.

I had soreness from a workout 2 days ago. Couldn't do much the next day and kind of worried. Day after that, went for a long walk (probably longer than I needed - it's hard to let go of the idea that all activity is about burning calories... But it did help.

I think if it hurts, pay attention. Don't push it.

2. Yes Ime. I don't have a foam roller but self massage after a hot shower does help. I pound and knead and rub the crap out of my thighs and calves, and let my leg passively fall over my hands (made into fists) or a broomstick handle, and roll kind of like you would a foam roller. I use coconut oil to reduce friction (it's a good moisturizer too).
3. Asymmetrical pain, sharp vs sore pain, twinges that happen during or immediately after exercising.

Also, now this is just my opinion, I think if your body's had almost 40 years of inactivity, a) it's probably not going to take kindly to a huge and sudden increase in activity, especially impact activity - your connective tissue is already kind of degrading as well and b) it might be that you've intuitively stayed away from exercise because it's hurt you, because of bad biomechanics. I can say that this was the case for me. I jumped into running and plyometrics in my early thirties after 15 years of nothing doing and now have multiple chronic injuries to show for it. If I were to do it again, I'd stay away from impact altogether. And I'd work on strengthening my stabilizers first, through Pilates or similar, to sort out my biomechanics. You just get the one set of knees, and you want to be able to be active into your later years. Because the benefits of fitness extend to protection from not only CV and metabolic problems, but dementia and related neurodegenerative diseases, so you want to be able to be fit all through life. Off my soapbox

middlehaitch

Hi, I am way older than you, but the same as you never exercised until I was way past my teens, 54 and mid menopause to be precise.

The first class I took was aqua fit and I was sore, panting, and sweating like crazy after each class, and could barely move the following day for the first 2 weeks. After that it got easier, and my body adjusted to the strange changes it was having to make, and got way more flexible.
I am so glad I chose that as my first steps into getting fitter - it was gentle on my body.

You have got good advice from the above posters, I just wanted to let you know one doesn't have to do high impact to get healthy. Especially if you are a late starter.

Be the tortoise.
Cheers, h.

47Jacqueline

gettingsmall wrote: »

I am 39 years old and have just started to exercise. Most of my life I've been into things that don't require much effort, reading, movies, etc but lately I've been really getting the whole point of exercise - the point is to push myself to see what I am capable of. So I have been. Which brings up a few questions I have about recovery times, what pain is OK to push through, when I should not push on. Thanks.

1. The pain and stiffness the next day after a work out, whats the best way to work with this? Should I do some light exercise, heavy excersise or should I do nothing and let it heal?
2. Does massage help with that?
3. Is there any sort of pain that means "you've really hurt yourself and should probably stop and get it checked out"?

Any advice you can offer this noob is always appreciated.

First of all, congratulations on taking action on becoming active.

Some soreness is normal after working out. You're moving, stretching and contracting things that haven't been stressed before. If you're in severe pain (you can't get out of bed, you can't put weight on your leg or open a jar) the next day, you're working too hard. It's called DOM Delayed Onset Muscular soreness. If you're just a little uncomfortable it's still normal.

Massage will help if you haven't injured yourself.

Yes, pain that persists and you can't move or walk you should get checked out.