Upper back soreness

cafisher0404

Just started stronglifts 5x5 and doing kettlebells. My upper back (not lower) is very sore. This is about 48 hours after doing it. Normal? Injury?

Primarkus

Normal. It should go away after your next couple workouts.

bbell1985

Normal. Soreness is one thing and it is completely normal especially with SL 5x5/lifting programs and kettlebell work. If something feels TWEAKED, that's a different sensation and could use a little attention or maybe an extra rest day. Otherwise, carry on.

cafisher0404

bbell1985 wrote: »

Normal. Soreness is one thing and it is completely normal especially with SL 5x5/lifting programs and kettlebell work. If something feels TWEAKED, that's a different sensation and could use a little attention or maybe an extra rest day. Otherwise, carry on.

Thanks! How would I tell the difference between tweaked and just normal soreness?

AnnPT77

This is the best I can do with a verbal description, and it's very imperfect: If it's a broader-area sort of general ache-y discomfort, and moving past a certain range of motion makes it feel like you're progressively pulling at something that doesn't want to extend without increasing discomfort, that's probably sore muscles. If it's a more localized, more sharp sort of discomfort, and moving past a certain point causes sudden sharp or shooting kinds of sensations, that's more worrisome. If you have any doubts, consult a professional.

Sore muscles should be eased by gentle stretching, mild movement, heat (ice soon after the exercise, but usually heat later), gentle foam-rolling or other self-massage, warm Epsom salt bath, that sort of thing. Drinking enough water may also be helpful. OTC ointments may relieve or mask muscle soreness. Some people use OTC pain reliever pills; I don't, so I don't have an opinion about whether they help. For self-massage of upper back, a tennis ball or kids' small rubber ball between your back and a wall, moved around by moving your body, can be useful.

canadianlbs

delayed-onset soreness from unaccustomed exercise feels like a bruise. it feels like tenderness, and it has that weird thing where you keep wanting to press it to make it hurt more. like a bruise. it also feels better if you stretch and use the muscles involved . . . gently, of course.

tweak is sharper and more specific to just one muscle. it might get you when you do specific things. the muscle itself might be markedly tighter than the ones around it. personally, when i started stronglifts i wasn't really aware of how to anchor my shoulderblades and that meant everything north of about the braline had to work really hard. i gave myself some soreness doing overhead press in particular that scared the hell out of me.