Confused about lifting?

Cozmetick

I don't know if anyone will read this BUT IMA POST IT ANYWAY.

So Ive been lifting a little bit, not a lot cos Im still a chunk and a newbie!

Yesterday I was pretty sore and today Im a little better.

So my question is, is it okay to lift when your muscles are still sore??

Curlychip

Im interested in peoples answers too as Im new to lifting (2 weeks) and have been sore all that time, but functioning.
Just kneeling on the floor this weekend and my quad went pop! So I guess I was overdoing it...

lisalsd1

When I first started lifting, yes, I was sore all of the time too. I just kept going an eventually I wasn't as sore as often. I don't know the "expert" answer, but for me it was fine to continue. However, I'm not positive that your quad should "pop." You might want to have a dr check that out if it still hurts.

uconnwinsnc1

Soreness is different from injured. If you are a bit sore, warm up properly and see how you feel. If you can't lift that day, then don't. You don't want soreness to become an injury. If you are new to it your body might need a bit more recovery time.

sodakat

The person who trained me explained that if I wait to lift again until I am no longer sore, I won't be building up my muscles the same as if I just give a day or two recovery period between lifting. He said lifting breaks down the muscle fibers which rest repairs and strengthens but too much rest (or maybe I should say too long a recovery period) can allow the muscle to return to its original state -- so lift again after a couple days of rest, in order to "stress" the muscle again and start the cycle over. This leads to a stair-step like progression of strength, or size, depending on your goals.

So yes, unless you are actually injured, you should lift while you are still sore.

cwolfman13

The best thing you can do is follow an actual program. Programming your own routine requires a great deal of knowledge and all you're going to do is end up wasting a lot of time with minimal to no results.

Lifting routines generally fall into two categories; 1) Full body routines and, 2) Splits. Full body routines are typically done 3x weekly with a rest day in between to let your muscles recover. Rest is where the magic happens where lifting is concerned...if you lift everyday and use the same muscles every day, you aren't letting them repair and repair is where the magic happens. Split routines are typically 4-5 days per week where you will have back to back lifting days, but you will be working different muscles and different groups of muscles on those consecutive lifting days. Again...you don't want to tear down the same muscles day in and day out...you aren't going to get a whole lot of benefit from that.

I'm partial to full body routines in general and in particular for newbies...but really what is ultimately important is that you are following a well designed and properly programmed routine. My wife has don't New Rules of Lifting for Women and is currently doing Strong Curves...she enjoyed both, but like Strong Curves better...either/or would be a great place to start.

Keep in mind that the more untrained you are, the more intense and long lasting DOMs will be...but so long as you're giving your muscles a day to recover, you're fine...if you wait until you're not sore at all, you're doing yourself a disservice...as you train, DOMs will diminish....the first couple weeks can be hell though.

Chieflrg

If you are just sore, it is a good thing if you do. Foam roll/wine bottle/lacrosse ball/stretching afterwards will help with the feeling of soreness.

If you are injured, then you might want to take a couple days/week off depending on the injury. Some injuries you can work through depending on what training you are doing.