Low reps, heavy weight. Tight body. Stretch?

halimaiqbal00

I workout with kettlebells lifting 20kg (4 sets of 5) while on crosstrainer max resistance 3-4x a week. This makes for an incredibly challenging workout and I am shattered by the end of it. I've been doing this for almost a month now.

I'm finding that my body is sore and stiffer as a result of lifting heavier and heavier. I don't stretch before or after as I've read that it's not advised to. When should I do it? My flexibility is pretty poor. I've just attempted a 10 min total body stretch routine before bed and my lack of flexibility is very poor

flipflopfridays6071

Whoever said stretching is a no-no, is not to be believed. Stretching should be done when your muscles are warm. That can be after a workout, after getting out of a hot shower, after getting out of a hot tub....Stretching helps prevent injuries plus it feels good

VintageFeline

Yeah, just stretch when nice and warm. Being supple is your biggest weapon against injury.

RoxieDawn

Static stretching on cold muscles before your workout is not recommended, but you can in incorporate dynamic stretching before your workout or you can also do a few reps of your workout without any weights to warm up.

Unfortunately for me, I am one of those that gets DOMS when I increase weights.

Are you interested in other strength training methods at all?

Hopefully some others will chime in and give you ideas.

halimaiqbal00

RoxieDawn wrote: »

Static stretching on cold muscles before your workout is not recommended, but you can in incorporate dynamic stretching before your workout or you can also do a few reps of your workout without any weights to warm up.

Unfortunately for me, I am one of those that gets DOMS when I increase weights.

Are you interested in other strength training methods at all?

Hopefully some others will chime in and give you ideas.

I did the upper/lower body split 4 days a week with 2 day liss and really enjoyed that. I don't own a gun membership so have to workout at home. I absolutely love the workout I am doing currently as I seem to be getting a lot of bang for my buck incorporating heavy weight and cardio together in under 50 mins.

It isn't half giving me a huge appetite though! Why do you ask? Do you think the upper and lower body split workouts would be better? I want to lose fat while preserving muscle

halimaiqbal00

Gym membership, GYM! Lol

PhilHarrison1

If it is overall lack of flexibility [not just related to your weights], I would suggest something like yoga to help. For example right now seated with no warm up, I can lift my leg [bended and close to the body] high enough if I wanted I could lick my ankle and that means I am a little bit stiff from the surgery I had in March. Usually I could put my foot up to my ear [seated upright].

If it is just weight related, first off, you are going to be stiff and sore with heavy weights because you are tearing up your muscle to build new muscle. New muscle is what the body does to prevent you damaging the muscle again. The next workout, you do the same thing. It's constant. It should not be severe but you should feel your workout. Yes you will be stiffer. You damaged the muscle which if your intent is to build muscle, you want to do to make the body form new muscle. IF it is an extreme amount, I would suggest getting someone trained to evaluate your workout. You really didn't give enough information to evaluate on here. It may be any number of things causing it. I can guess but it would be a guess. It would save time for you to find either someone who is an old pro at kettlebells and ask them or to get a trainer to work with you on the workout. They will see things that the net won't let us see. Doing a light weight version of your exercise is always recommended as a warm up. If you incorporate that and see no changes, I would chase down one of those two and ask [oh and yoga never hurts]

VintageFeline

I'm not sure there's any foolproof method to reduce DOMS, some people get it badly and then it's just a sliding scale. I happen to be incredibly supple (gymnast and dancer though not nearly as flexible as I once was!) and only suffer DOMS if I've had time off any strength training. Even when I up weight (I'm more moderate rep moderate weight and don't increase that often now because 18 month deficit) I don't get very sore. I have no idea whether this is just lucky genetics or my flexibility, none or both!

rainbowbow

RoxieDawn wrote: »

Static stretching on cold muscles before your workout is not recommended, but you can in incorporate dynamic stretching before your workout or you can also do a few reps of your workout without any weights to warm up.

Unfortunately for me, I am one of those that gets DOMS when I increase weights.

Are you interested in other strength training methods at all?

Hopefully some others will chime in and give you ideas.

why? what reasoning?

One uses autogenic inhibition and the other uses reciprocal inhibition. Both can be safely used as part of a general or specific warm-up. Combined with 5-10 minutes of low-intensity cardiorespiratory activity (either a generic type or one mimicking that of the future exercise) both types of stretching are suitable. As a matter of fact, if one has poor mobility or postural distortions, static stretching may be more beneficial.

You don't need to "warm the muscles" before stretching or by stretching (in the case of dynamic stretches); although heat in general can help with flexion of ligaments and tendons. Our bodies do produce heat on their own and we don't need to do anything beyond this. It's important to note, however, that heating the body (externally) while performing deep stretches may lead to over-stretching and injury (for example, bikram or hot yoga).

To the OP, either way you should be able to stretch as part of your overall warm up. You should perform the stretches that best suit your current level of flexibility.


I also want to mention just in-case someone else reads this as well. You *may* also perform SMR prior to activity and as part of your overall warm-up routine even though it may temporarily decrease muscular performance. If you are performing cardiorespiratory activity or endurance weight-training you should be just fine as it doesn't make a difference that is too noticeable. If you are performing maximal strength training you should probably wait until the end of your workout to perform SMR.

RoxieDawn

rainbowbow wrote: »

RoxieDawn wrote: »

Static stretching on cold muscles before your workout is not recommended, but you can in incorporate dynamic stretching before your workout or you can also do a few reps of your workout without any weights to warm up.

Unfortunately for me, I am one of those that gets DOMS when I increase weights.

Are you interested in other strength training methods at all?

Hopefully some others will chime in and give you ideas.

why? what reasoning?

One uses autogenic inhibition and the other uses reciprocal inhibition. Both can be safely used as part of a general or specific warm-up. Combined with 5-10 minutes of low-intensity cardiorespiratory activity (either a generic type or one mimicking that of the future exercise) both types of stretching are suitable. As a matter of fact, if one has poor mobility or postural distortions, static stretching may be more beneficial.

You don't need to "warm the muscles" before stretching or by stretching (in the case of dynamic stretches); although heat in general can help with flexion of ligaments and tendons. Our bodies do produce heat on their own and we don't need to do anything beyond this. It's important to note, however, that heating the body (externally) while performing deep stretches may lead to over-stretching and injury (for example, bikram or hot yoga).

To the OP, either way you should be able to stretch as part of your overall warm up. You should perform the stretches that best suit your current level of flexibility.


I also want to mention just in-case someone else reads this as well. You *may* also perform SMR prior to activity and as part of your overall warm-up routine even though it may temporarily decrease muscular performance. If you are performing cardiorespiratory activity or endurance weight-training you should be just fine as it doesn't make a difference that is too noticeable. If you are performing maximal strength training you should probably wait until the end of your workout to perform SMR.

I will take back everything.. sorry OP.. (dont have a degree in this stuff..LOL)..

rainbowbow

RoxieDawn wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

RoxieDawn wrote: »

Static stretching on cold muscles before your workout is not recommended, but you can in incorporate dynamic stretching before your workout or you can also do a few reps of your workout without any weights to warm up.

Unfortunately for me, I am one of those that gets DOMS when I increase weights.

Are you interested in other strength training methods at all?

Hopefully some others will chime in and give you ideas.

why? what reasoning?

One uses autogenic inhibition and the other uses reciprocal inhibition. Both can be safely used as part of a general or specific warm-up. Combined with 5-10 minutes of low-intensity cardiorespiratory activity (either a generic type or one mimicking that of the future exercise) both types of stretching are suitable. As a matter of fact, if one has poor mobility or postural distortions, static stretching may be more beneficial.

You don't need to "warm the muscles" before stretching or by stretching (in the case of dynamic stretches); although heat in general can help with flexion of ligaments and tendons. Our bodies do produce heat on their own and we don't need to do anything beyond this. It's important to note, however, that heating the body (externally) while performing deep stretches may lead to over-stretching and injury (for example, bikram or hot yoga).

To the OP, either way you should be able to stretch as part of your overall warm up. You should perform the stretches that best suit your current level of flexibility.


I also want to mention just in-case someone else reads this as well. You *may* also perform SMR prior to activity and as part of your overall warm-up routine even though it may temporarily decrease muscular performance. If you are performing cardiorespiratory activity or endurance weight-training you should be just fine as it doesn't make a difference that is too noticeable. If you are performing maximal strength training you should probably wait until the end of your workout to perform SMR.

I will take back everything.. sorry OP..

Sorry... I just wanted to make sure the record was set straight. There are times when dynamic stretching simply isn't suitable, especially if someone (like OP has said) seriously lacks mobility.

To the OP, I know @RoxieDawn also mentioned DOMS. She said "I am one of those that gets DOMS when I increase weights. " Just like her, this is very common for most people and could certainly be what you're dealing with. I can go into more reason as to why DOMS happens, but the takeaway here is that it ultimately comes down to time and your bodies ability to adapt to the stressors placed on it. Stretching and flexibility has very little to do with muscle soreness as a result of DOMS, so don't go into increasing your flexibility with the assumption that you will never be sore again.



p.s. no worries roxie! No one expects people on MFP to have a degree in kinesiology/exercise science or know absolutely everything! What I happen to have studied personally, however, I like to share with others and help when I can.

halimaiqbal00

Thanks for all your replies. This helped massively.