Sore muscles... every day!

SqueakyBeans88

Hi all

After 1 year of doing not much other than 60 mins of cardio per gym session, I've decided to start using that hour in the gym strength training alongside only 20 mins of cardio just to get my heart and lungs pumping. I'm lifting weights as heavy as I am able to up to about 12 reps before failure (I do 3 sets) and try to do upper body, core, and lower body on alternate days so every area gets 2-3 days to recover.

My goal is to lose some body fat and gain a little more muscle - I'm not fat by any means but I have a layer of soft sponge all over I'd like to see disappear so I can actually see some muscle! I'm female, weigh 144lbs and I'm 5'4".

Only problem is I ache for about 3 days after each so I find every day of life, something always HURTS! So that even tasks like gardening and vacuumming are tiresome because I'm always sore in some area. This is normal, right?

I eat approx 1700-1800 calories per day, always 100g+ protein

Is what I'm doing likely to help achieve my goal or am I eating too many calories?

AsISmile

When did you start doing weights?
If I understood correctly the muscle aches should diminish over time even though you are still increasing weights.

Anyway, have you already read the recomposition thread in the maintenance sub forum?
Are you following a program? From what I've read a full body program works better for new lifters.
Something like stronglifts 5x5, NROL or strong curves.
I would recommend picking up one of those books or atleast read the 5x5 website since they offer great information for new lifters.

NCGOALIEMOM

How many rest days are you giving yourself inbetween muscle failure reps? My trainer told me if I'm working that muscle again before the pain is gone, then I'm not giving it proper regeneration time. He also told me not to push to failure every time.