How do you know if you need a second rest day in a row?
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kiela64
Posts: 1,447 Member
I’ve been instructed by my physiotherapist to take 2 rest days a week, not together. I was just cleared to do some group fitness classes. I can
Walk 20min 2x a week, bike 25min 1x a week, swim as often as I can 25min but given the prep it’s usually once, and now certain non-HIIT group classes are ok.
I did a core focused class Wednesday and I am very sore today. I wanted to try out the Zumba class tomorrow, as it was one my physiotherapist said would definitely be good for me (re:safe). But I’m SO sore I’m concerned I’m overdoing it.
I’m not really sure how to tell. Today was a rest day. But I think I will still wake up sore tomorrow. Trying to figure out if it’s okay/safe to do the class tomorrow after work....would appreciate any input on how to decide.
Walk 20min 2x a week, bike 25min 1x a week, swim as often as I can 25min but given the prep it’s usually once, and now certain non-HIIT group classes are ok.
I did a core focused class Wednesday and I am very sore today. I wanted to try out the Zumba class tomorrow, as it was one my physiotherapist said would definitely be good for me (re:safe). But I’m SO sore I’m concerned I’m overdoing it.
I’m not really sure how to tell. Today was a rest day. But I think I will still wake up sore tomorrow. Trying to figure out if it’s okay/safe to do the class tomorrow after work....would appreciate any input on how to decide.
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Replies
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If you are still sore, a bit of exercise will probably help1
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Not really enough info given to understand your situation.
It depends on what is sore and what your injury/condition was.
e.g: if you had a calf injury and your calf is sore then rest, but if your abs are sore, then its probably OK.
I disagree with 'if you're still sore, a bit of exercise will probably help', there's a difference between stiffness and soreness.2 -
Not really enough info given to understand your situation.
It depends on what is sore and what your injury/condition was.
e.g: if you had a calf injury and your calf is sore then rest, but if your abs are sore, then its probably OK.
I disagree with 'if you're still sore, a bit of exercise will probably help', there's a difference between stiffness and soreness.
i was working on the basis that 'sore' was DOMS, not an injury.4 -
If I were you, I would work up to adding in the Zumba class.
It sounds like you are just cleared to add classes so add them one at a time.
Maybe this month just the core class on Wednesday, next month, or the month after, add the Zumba as well. Adding too many new classes all at once could cause injury. Stick to your walking, biking, and swimming, on your other non rest days, and if your sore make any of them a little gentler.
When you start the zumba class do the low impact alternatives. Also don't worry about the coordination- if you have to, concentrate on the footwork, low impact, and add in the arms as you go.
Cheers, h.2 -
i don;t know your conditioning, or your history... but if soreness is that bad, just take it easy and stretch, as much as you can so that your body doesn't restrict movement.
I workout every day until my muscles start to feel like locking up, then i take a rest day and do nothing.0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Not really enough info given to understand your situation.
It depends on what is sore and what your injury/condition was.
e.g: if you had a calf injury and your calf is sore then rest, but if your abs are sore, then its probably OK.
I disagree with 'if you're still sore, a bit of exercise will probably help', there's a difference between stiffness and soreness.
i was working on the basis that 'sore' was DOMS, not an injury.
Yes, sorry about the confusion - it’s my abs/back/shoulders/glutes/hips/thighs that are sore atm. That class was spent 2/3rds on the mat at least. Also my ankles are a little tight.
My calf is pretty consistently sore too but that’s not exercise related it’s doing that whether I work out or not, and I’m applying heat and stretching. It gets worse when I don’t move sometimes, but I don’t overdo it. I know walking on hills will do that (how I injured it in the first place). The only difference right now is my shins are a little bit tighter than usual, probably from table position.
I was definitely asking about muscle soreness - not my injury, don’t worry!
And also “there is a difference between stiffness and soreness” hm, I’m not sure I actually know what that difference is exactly.0 -
i don;t know your conditioning, or your history... but if soreness is that bad, just take it easy and stretch, as much as you can so that your body doesn't restrict movement.
I workout every day until my muscles start to feel like locking up, then i take a rest day and do nothing.
I’m pretty weak. But I’ve improved a lot since I started with physio. I do those exercises daily. My glute strength is improved and I’ve gone from being unable to hold a bridge pose to now starting to do single leg bridges every day- but only 5 reps per leg.
In the core class I think I was among the 3 people least able to keep up but I wasn’t the least able. Which I know is pretty vague. The now 2x I’ve used weight machines at my gym I can comfortably do 10 slow reps of: Vertical Bench 30lbs. Pad Pec Dec 25lbs. Lat Pulldown 50lbs. Shoulder Press 30lbs. Vertical Row 30lbs. Bicep Machine 15lbs. I am avoiding any weight on my legs because of my injury. I’ve been told to avoid jumping and lunges.
I’m 24 F 5’2” SW: 205 CW: 186
Does that help?0 -
There is also a difference between pain and soreness. My PT (physio) and I are ok with me training while I'm sore. I am not, however, allowed to train through pain.TavistockToad wrote: »Not really enough info given to understand your situation.
It depends on what is sore and what your injury/condition was.
e.g: if you had a calf injury and your calf is sore then rest, but if your abs are sore, then its probably OK.
I disagree with 'if you're still sore, a bit of exercise will probably help', there's a difference between stiffness and soreness.
i was working on the basis that 'sore' was DOMS, not an injury.
Yes, sorry about the confusion - it’s my abs/back/shoulders/glutes/hips/thighs that are sore atm. That class was spent 2/3rds on the mat at least. Also my ankles are a little tight.
My calf is pretty consistently sore too but that’s not exercise related it’s doing that whether I work out or not, and I’m applying heat and stretching. It gets worse when I don’t move sometimes, but I don’t overdo it. I know walking on hills will do that (how I injured it in the first place). The only difference right now is my shins are a little bit tighter than usual, probably from table position.
I was definitely asking about muscle soreness - not my injury, don’t worry!
And also “there is a difference between stiffness and soreness” hm, I’m not sure I actually know what that difference is exactly.
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There is also a difference between pain and soreness. My PT (physio) and I are ok with me training while I'm sore. I am not, however, allowed to train through pain.TavistockToad wrote: »Not really enough info given to understand your situation.
It depends on what is sore and what your injury/condition was.
e.g: if you had a calf injury and your calf is sore then rest, but if your abs are sore, then its probably OK.
I disagree with 'if you're still sore, a bit of exercise will probably help', there's a difference between stiffness and soreness.
i was working on the basis that 'sore' was DOMS, not an injury.
Yes, sorry about the confusion - it’s my abs/back/shoulders/glutes/hips/thighs that are sore atm. That class was spent 2/3rds on the mat at least. Also my ankles are a little tight.
My calf is pretty consistently sore too but that’s not exercise related it’s doing that whether I work out or not, and I’m applying heat and stretching. It gets worse when I don’t move sometimes, but I don’t overdo it. I know walking on hills will do that (how I injured it in the first place). The only difference right now is my shins are a little bit tighter than usual, probably from table position.
I was definitely asking about muscle soreness - not my injury, don’t worry!
And also “there is a difference between stiffness and soreness” hm, I’m not sure I actually know what that difference is exactly.
Yes, I’m genuinely still figuring that out. I think by now I’ve got it - I usually know to stop when pain happens. But there is a grey area in between when sometimes I’m not so sure. But I’m better at it now.
If this contextualzes my past idiocy - I had a DVT last year in my calf and I thought it was a muscle cramp. Pretty sure I leaned that lesson.0 -
If you know it's normal soreness, you can push through. If you're not sure if it's muscle soreness or a more real type of pain, I'd start light but stop immediately if the pain doesn't go away. When in doubt, don't work out.
Stretching can help both types of pain. Sometimes what feels like joint/tendon pain will go away after a good bout of stretching or foam rolling. This holds especially true for runners and the various twinges we sometimes get in our legs and feet.
1 -
If you know it's normal soreness, you can push through. If you're not sure if it's muscle soreness or a more real type of pain, I'd start light but stop immediately if the pain doesn't go away. When in doubt, don't work out.
Stretching can help both types of pain. Sometimes what feels like joint/tendon pain will go away after a good bout of stretching or foam rolling. This holds especially true for runners and the various twinges we sometimes get in our legs and feet.
Thank you! Yes, I did my physio stretches this morning and my legs feel a ton better. My back and arms are also feeling better after stretching them. My core is still sore (lol) but I’m thinking today it’s worth a try. I can’t return to that core class because my schedule is changing, but the Zumba is at a really good time for me.
& thanks for all the information! I’ll come back to this next time.
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I’m pretty weak. But I’ve improved a lot since I started with physio. I do those exercises daily. My glute strength is improved and I’ve gone from being unable to hold a bridge pose to now starting to do single leg bridges every day- but only 5 reps per leg.
In the core class I think I was among the 3 people least able to keep up but I wasn’t the least able. Which I know is pretty vague. The now 2x I’ve used weight machines at my gym I can comfortably do 10 slow reps of: Vertical Bench 30lbs. Pad Pec Dec 25lbs. Lat Pulldown 50lbs. Shoulder Press 30lbs. Vertical Row 30lbs. Bicep Machine 15lbs. I am avoiding any weight on my legs because of my injury. I’ve been told to avoid jumping and lunges.
I’m 24 F 5’2” SW: 205 CW: 186
Does that help?
It does.
OK. So I see some Yoga and weight lifting, which is good. Bend so you don't break is a valuable motto.
For weightlifting, machines are are not optimal. Especially for someone trying to rebuild muscle and coordination.
They limit the motion to one direction which, for beginners, have 2 detrimental effects.
1 - You're not exercising the stabilization parts of your muscle. All of those fibers that contract and break are being missed.
2 - Your motion is restricted to one direction, which may not be the proper direction for your body. Sizes and Ranges vary and the machines are more prone to cause injury than free weights. (With the exception of cable based machines which do not restrict movement)
Free weights are a better way to go.
Compound is better for both weight loss and body recuperation. They help you strengthen the whole body rather than a single muscle group.
For upper body, I would start with Push and Pull - 1 push exercise to 1 pull exercise will keep you balanced.
2 sets for each exercise.
- Bench Press
- Seated Low Row (Cable)
- Incline Bench Press
- Inverted Lat Pull down
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- Triangle Bard Lat Pull down.
For core, High Plank, Low Plank, Superman (On the Ground) and crunches (Front, side, inverted etc)
Start with 3 sets of 30 seconds and increase later for the planks and 3 sets of 50 for crunches and increase as you go.
You don't have to do everything every day, but try to work up to it.
For legs, when you're up to it/allowed to do it.
3 x 10 leg press
3 x 10 squats
3 x 10 lying leg curls
3 x 15 calf extensions on the leg press.
Use weights that challenge you, but don't overload.
For all, try to control 3 secs up and 3 secs down.
Work for muscle failure, not to complete the reps. it must be difficult in every set.
Give your max with weights that are not too heavy for your body as you need to build some stability first.
Don't worry about your arms. They will grow plenty with those exercises. There's no need for an isolated workout.
Do upper body on Mon, Thu
Lower Body on Tue and Fri
Core and cardio every day.
Best cardio to start is a 30x30 on a bike if you can. 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds at max capacity for 10 minutes will kick your body into the HIIT rhythm and at the same time, help you build leg endurance and power.
Hope this helps.0 -
I’m pretty weak. But I’ve improved a lot since I started with physio. I do those exercises daily. My glute strength is improved and I’ve gone from being unable to hold a bridge pose to now starting to do single leg bridges every day- but only 5 reps per leg.
In the core class I think I was among the 3 people least able to keep up but I wasn’t the least able. Which I know is pretty vague. The now 2x I’ve used weight machines at my gym I can comfortably do 10 slow reps of: Vertical Bench 30lbs. Pad Pec Dec 25lbs. Lat Pulldown 50lbs. Shoulder Press 30lbs. Vertical Row 30lbs. Bicep Machine 15lbs. I am avoiding any weight on my legs because of my injury. I’ve been told to avoid jumping and lunges.
I’m 24 F 5’2” SW: 205 CW: 186
Does that help?
It does.
OK. So I see some Yoga and weight lifting, which is good. Bend so you don't break is a valuable motto.
For weightlifting, machines are are not optimal. Especially for someone trying to rebuild muscle and coordination.
They limit the motion to one direction which, for beginners, have 2 detrimental effects.
1 - You're not exercising the stabilization parts of your muscle. All of those fibers that contract and break are being missed.
2 - Your motion is restricted to one direction, which may not be the proper direction for your body. Sizes and Ranges vary and the machines are more prone to cause injury than free weights. (With the exception of cable based machines which do not restrict movement)
Free weights are a better way to go.
Compound is better for both weight loss and body recuperation. They help you strengthen the whole body rather than a single muscle group.
For upper body, I would start with Push and Pull - 1 push exercise to 1 pull exercise will keep you balanced.
2 sets for each exercise.
- Bench Press
- Seated Low Row (Cable)
- Incline Bench Press
- Inverted Lat Pull down
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- Triangle Bard Lat Pull down.
For core, High Plank, Low Plank, Superman (On the Ground) and crunches (Front, side, inverted etc)
Start with 3 sets of 30 seconds and increase later for the planks and 3 sets of 50 for crunches and increase as you go.
You don't have to do everything every day, but try to work up to it.
For legs, when you're up to it/allowed to do it.
3 x 10 leg press
3 x 10 squats
3 x 10 lying leg curls
3 x 15 calf extensions on the leg press.
Use weights that challenge you, but don't overload.
For all, try to control 3 secs up and 3 secs down.
Work for muscle failure, not to complete the reps. it must be difficult in every set.
Give your max with weights that are not too heavy for your body as you need to build some stability first.
Don't worry about your arms. They will grow plenty with those exercises. There's no need for an isolated workout.
Do upper body on Mon, Thu
Lower Body on Tue and Fri
Core and cardio every day.
Best cardio to start is a 30x30 on a bike if you can. 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds at max capacity for 10 minutes will kick your body into the HIIT rhythm and at the same time, help you build leg endurance and power.
Hope this helps.
Wow thank you! This is a lot of information and I’m going to save it.
I am still working up to being able to do 30min on the bike consistently. I usually do about 20-25min excluding 2-3min warm up/cool down before and after. Sometimes the total is 25 or 30 but I’m not sure a minute at zero resistance “counts”.
And currently I’ve been encouraged to do cardio 5x a week with 2 rest days. My knees/calf/IT band seem to need that. I’m not even quite sure I’m hitting 5 per week. But I am working on swimming 2x rather than once a week.
I will keep this as something to work up to. I need to look into those movements so I can do them safely. And possibly have someone help me find the right equipment at the gym.0
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