Muscle soreness

kimmeastar

After some workouts, I am sore for a few days, sometimes more than others. It mostly happens when I lift more weight. For instance, 2 days ago was leg day, and I did 450 lbs. X 10 on the sled for the first time. The next day I was okay, but the day after that it was really hard to walk due to so much soreness. Would more stretching and water help this, or do I have to just "tough it out"? Thanks in advance.

cerise_noir

Good old DOMs. Protein, carbs rest and stretching help with mine.

sammyliftsandeats

This might sound weird but keep exercising. Lower the intensity a bit and move those muscles to get the blood flowing. It will help with recovery better than just sitting around.

Stretching helps as well.

canadianlbs

keep the stretching gentle, as you don't want to add actual strain to tissue that's already dealing with Stuff. the info i have on stretching is that it takes at least 30 seconds and maybe up to 60 for the golgi organs in your tendons to realise you can be 'trusted' and instruct the tissues to relax. chiropractor i usually trust also told me that it's good to stretch gently after exercise, because your body's busy building new fibres while you recover, and stretching sort of 'combs' them so they build up in a nice smooth format instead of just clumping down just any old how. i like the image anyway, and i sort of try to follow his recommendation to stretch in the morning since sleep is when your body does the most regeneration and repair work.

personally, i think soreness and tightness are different things. they can happen together, but i've had sore muscles that weren't especially tight . . . and tight muscles that i could not 'feel' at all until they loosened up.

but, yeah. the stretching feels good and the water and protein both help. i get serious about taking my fish oil as well when i'm feeling the doms, but you basically have to just manage it until it goes away in its own time.

kimmeastar

Thanks everyone. Definitely better today. I can walk without any pain, but man, it was a rough couple of days.