Go-to treatment for soreness

SuzieZimm

So everyone on here is shouting "Lift heavy! Lift heavy!" I've therefore been lifting heavy, but it definitely makes me sore. Unless I'm taking days off of exercise to recuperate (even taking a day to just do cardio, still hurts!), I'm not sure I could do it every day.
That seems to defeat the purpose.
What do you do for soreness? Ice? Aleve? Pounding protein? I want your personal advice!

I really want to lift heavy... but not if it interrupts my workouts for the two or three following days.

jmadams111

Soreness is from lactic acid, a byproduct of intensly converting sugar to energy, so you need to flush it out. This is one of the reasons you do a cool down. Also, I found alternating hot (to expand) and cold (to contract) showers helped.

action_figure

What is the soreness? Are you injuring yourself, or is it DOMS? You can work through DOMS, but not injuries. And "lift heavy" should be approached sensibly like any training. I mean, if you're completely sedentary, you aren't going to jump up and run a marathon. You'll start out slowly and build up to it. What plan are you following? Edit to add: You definitely shouldn't work the same body part two days in a row. Your muscles need a minimum of 48 hours in between to repair themselves and get bigger.

Mokey41

If it's just muscle soreness it will go away after a few weeks of lifting. You should be taking rest days off to give your muscles time to repair between sessions.

BigGuy47

I'm not sure I could do it every day.

You're not supposed to do it everyday. Take a rest day between lift days, do some light cardio on the rest days. Once you settle into a regular routine the soreness will subside.

JerseyGirl081

I use a foam roller after my intense lifting routines. You should look into it. The next day my soreness is reduced or almost non-existent. It's like giving yourself a deep tissue massage.

yuliyax

Epsom Salts.

SuzieZimm

Jmadams111: Thanks for the tip about the showers. I always do a cool down with stretching!
Action_figure: I don't think I'm injuring myself. It doesn't hurt at the time, just tiresome. Following some of the advice I see on here suggesting that you lift a weight that's heavy enough to have you struggling by the tenth rep. And some of the soreness isn't just from weights. I lunged across the room the other day and was waddling the next morning. I usually don't do weights two days in a row. I try to alternate Cardio and Strength, with the exception of doing a few ab exercises after a Cardio day. I'm following a plan that I set up with a trainer, I've just increased the weight after a few weeks of getting too used to the same moves.

What are your suggestions for helping along the muscle repair process?

SuzieZimm

Epson salts:
I used to use these all the time to soak my feet during my dancing days! Totally forgot about them. Thanks!

1ConcreteGirl

First, you shouldn't be lifting every day. 3-4 times per week is plenty.

If you're sore every time, you might not be warming up or cooling down properly.

You also might be lifting too heavy for your ability to use proper form.

Get plenty of protein for muscle repair (at least one gram per pound of lean body mass)

Stretching and foam rolling help soreness. I don't know if you lift at a gym, but my gym has a sauna and I like to stretch in there sometimes after a particularly rough workout.

Epsom salts also help, as does making sure you are thoroughly hydrated. I like tiger balm, as well. Put it on before bed and wake up feeling way better.

ETA: the point of all this is that there are things you can do for soreness, but you shouldn't be getting sore every time. After a few weeks, you should get sore after lifting very very rarely.

wswilliams67

Soreness is from lactic acid, a byproduct of intensly converting sugar to energy, so you need to flush it out. This is one of the reasons you do a cool down.

Mmmm close but not quite accurate. The burning you feel while working out is lactic acid, which is as the above poster stated, is the byproduct of glycogen conversion. Lactic acid is the body's warning system to tell you when you are reaching the point of failure and muscle exhaustion. Lactic acid is flushed from your system by your liver within an hour or two of completing exercise session. This is another reason to drink plenty of water while lifting.

Soreness comes from tiny little micro-tears in the muscle tissue as you break the muscle down during heavy lifting. You literally tear the muscle fibers. When it repairs it creates new fibers to fill in the micro-tears. This is how you build lean muscle tissue. You tear it, then repair it. So soreness is a good thing. Honestly the best thing for muscle repair/soreness is protein, amino acids, water and stretching/foam-rolling. Another way to beat soreness is to just workout through it. Yes it sucks, but it keeps the muscles flexible and loose.