Should you exercise sore muscles?

shelbyforsquares

I've put off strength training - mostly because it's boring, but also because all the contradictory information when I google makes me dizzy.

But, it's time to get in gear, because major weight loss aside, my muscles are in absolutely atrocious condition, and there's a big difference between getting slim and getting fit, so I found a beginner's bodyweight routine on Sunday and got cracking. I won't lie; it wasn't pretty. It was downright humiliating, really, lol - but it was a good 30 minute full body routine that gave me a very clear view of just how bad of shape I'm in, and which muscle groups are the worst of the bunch.

My thighs are still a bit sore from the squats! And to a much lesser extent, some barely there soreness in the upper arms and chest area (Push ups being the likely culprit). That's not a bad thing. It's regular, ordinary muscle sore. Nothing to get excited about. I can feel the tops of my thighs when I walk, but it's not exactly a sensation I would describe as outright pain. More like minor discomfort.

It's been two days (I did a lighter, less leg-centric exercise routine yesterday - mostly a bit of abs and stretching and a bit of light cardio), so I'm wondering if it's safe to exercise those muscles again, even though they're still sore, or if I should continue to focus on muscle groups that aren't sore for now, and revisit the squats and pushups when those muscles feel a bit more normal.

Googling the subject just gives me way more information than I'm looking for, and I feel like I need the 'for dummies' version, because my head is spinning with too much information, too quickly.

Does anyone know what the rule of thumb is for how long you should wait with muscle soreness before exercising that same group of muscles again?

AliceDark

The for-dummies version: yes, exercising sore muscles is fine. It's best to plan 1-2 days of rest in between muscle groups. If you're doing a full-body routine, wait a day in between doing the same exact routine. It's fine to do a routine that hits different muscle groups on your in-between day.

shelbyforsquares

Thank you for the simple, straight forward answer. This sort of workout is new and shiny for me, and very important, of course. It seems like a simple question, but I couldn't get an answer out of google that wasn't at least 3 pages long.

I'm currently in the trial stages - trying out a lot of different routines to find the ones that are at my current fitness level/that I like. I'll pick a few that are good for me right now, and restructure my routine around that, decide how many days to work on muscles, and how many cardio days, once I kind of get a feel for how my body's responding. Then I can change routines around as I improve.

Cardio is easier because it's just more obvious. You don't need a degree in biology to understand, 'Go until you're tired.' But when I start looking up strength training, there's so much talk about muscle groups and so many people bickering about 'this exercise is better than that exercise', everyone with a different opinion. It's just a TON of information. Theory I can pick up a little at a time, but the basic questions - they're hard to get straight answers on.

shabaity

Doms are the worst I got it for the first time in my legs over the weekend lol. Was curious about my upper limit on body weight squats (its 80 for the record.) This being said try a beginners weight lifting program I'm going for 5x5 soon as I can afford a gym membership, I don't own a squat rack.And If you find it that boring why do it? Give body weight a shot and make it a game or something Nerd Fitness has a blog about that at some point in its history.

shelbyforsquares

I am utterly pathetic at squats. lol. I can't do a proper, full one yet. They're these retarded looking half squats. But I'm working on it! Most every other exercise looks just as bad. Just have to do it as best I can for now and look forward to a future where even my reflection isn't laughing at me.

I've got some pretty limited space requirements and a gym membership is out of the question for the time being, so weight training is pretty iffy. I just don't have the room required to do a lot of it. The dumbbell stuff I can do, but there's no way that a barbell is ever going to be feasible without breaking something in my tiny, tiny exercise space. (I'm sorely tempted to get rid of half of my furniture to make more room to move, but then where would I sleep? where would I put my clothes? lol) I do have dumbells though, and resistance bands. I kind of want a kettlebell because they look fun, but I'll have to look up a few routines on youtube to get a feel for whether or not it's something I'll be able to do without breaking my house. That's sort of why I decided to go with bodyweight for now - it doesn't take up a lot of space and all of the stuff I need to do it, well, I'm kind of attached to anyway.

So, I bought a used book on ebay to try and help me get my head around it, and I also downloaded skimble onto my phone, which has a lot of different workouts, and can kind of talk me through them. Better than me flying blind on stuff I know next to nothing about. And, having it on my phone beats my workout DVDs because then I can exercise with the TV on as a distraction from my (good kind of) pain.

debubbie

I recommend a kettlebell because you can get a good full body workout from the exercises you can do with it. If you can do a pushup in the space you have then you have enough room for a kettlebell. A lot of the moves are squats with arm swings where you swing the kettlebell in front of you, and lunges where you pass the kettlebell between your legs while in a lunge position. I did the Bob Harper kettlebell DVD a few days ago and it whooped me in a good way. I plan on doing it tomorrow if I don't wear myself out helping my brother move. I have dumbbells but get bored with the exercises, I feel that the kettlebell workout does a better job of getting my heart rate up while creating muscle. Hope this helps.

As for your question, I sometimes let my muscles tell me if I should wait two days or three. If I am super sore I wait a third day, but if I have minimal soreness I will go two days. You will see that most people will split their workouts into three major muscle groups and will rotate between those groups to give their muscles adequate rest before they exercise the same group again.

AliceDark

People get WAY too bogged down with "this exercise is marginally better than that exercise" types of details. Any exercise you'll do is better than one you won't. Find a program, any program you like, and try it for a month. See how it works for you, and adjust from there. You don't need a degree in biology, I promise. You just need to try something.

shelbyforsquares

debubbie - that is very good news, about the space requirements. I'm putting it off for now, if only because birthdays/holidays are around the corner, and people will be asking what I want. I'll stick to the equipment I already have in the meanwhile.

I have mixed feelings about dumbells. I think I just haven't found my ideal weight yet, which may be part of the problem, but I certainly don't want a collection of the things. I think variety is important for me. I want to try a lot of things, so I can switch between them when one starts to bore me, or do one obsessively when I'm feeling really into it. lol. I originally decided I liked the resistance bands and tubes better than dumbells because they take up almost negative space, whereas dumbells you just sort of keep collecting as needed.

Now I just think I need to do a lot of different things, so I never get bored. Cardio is easy to distract from - ipod, tv, whatever. Your mind doesn't have to really be in attendance. Strength, if you're not paying attention you'll end up hurting yourself.


AliceDark - 'any exercise you'll do is better than one you won't' <- there is no more perfect and succinct way to say this. I absolutely agree. That's why right now, it's about exercise every day, and try lots of things, but...do it in a way that's educated enough not to hurt myself in the process of figuring out what works vs what I like vs what I can do. Because I like my beginners pilates DVD, but it doesn't like me very much (the tailbone pain in boat pose is SO not the 'good' kind of pain. At all.). I would be fine with it if it was a matter of me just being way way out of shape and not good at the exercises (which is also absolutely true), but having certain exercises that make my bones hurt? That's obviously not maintainable.