Am I that out of shape?

butterflyx3

I only started working out yesterday. Today was my second day doing 25 minutes on the elliptical and Im SORE! Is this normal? Should I still work out tomorrow or give myself a break?

rsonthelake

Work out the soreness.

billsica

rest day is important. You should take a day off for everything to re-situate itself and let the muscles heal.

herky

If it's only your second day working out, your body is not used to it. Soreness is good. Keep working out and the soreness will go away.

YMTaylor

If you're new or out of the habit then it's totally normal and in fact a good sign. You're using your muscles in ways you haven't recently. Keep at it and they will feel better. I will say I like a little bit of sore on a daily basis because then I know I've been upping the intensity every week. Good Luck and Keep Moving!

CarolHudson11

Work out the soreness.

Yep! Work it out! It's completely normal.

Naomi91

Definately normal. I workout 6 days a week and when I take a week long break and come back... OUCH haha

just keep working out, 4 days of cardio but maybe rest after tomorrow. You sore legs will go away soon :]

GorillaNJ

Depends... if it really hurts, a day off might not be bad. If you are just sore A day off from the elliptical would be best.

Make sure you drink plenty of water, and keep your muscles active by walking or stretching.

lucky48

If you haven't worked out in a while, you're going to be sore. I started doing Zumba last week after not doing anything for a long time and everything on me aches. If you are super sore, I would take a day off or do a different type of exercise to work a different group of muscles. If you are just starting out again, you will probably find that you need to take a few days per week to rest. Eventually you can work your way up to something a little more hardcore.

butterflyx3

Work through it I will, then! Thanks guys

Shane216

Definitely keep working out, it will get better and the soreness will wear off!!

k2d4p

I LOVE workout related soreness. Could mean you are out of shape (currently), could mean you pushed yourself really hard. Either way, keep going! soon enough, it will be a lot harder to get yourself sore from working out.

khrys1

Yes, it's normal! Anytime you start something new or do more than usual, you'll probably be a bit sore, but the longer you do it, the more you'll be able to do and be less and less sore each time. That being said, you should also take a day or two off a week, or do different body parts. For example, I do cardio every other day, and strength (weights) every other day. I try to give my legs one day off a week, and do arms and abs that day. Good luck!

butterflyx3

Its so much to coordinate.. Im horrible at it. Any suggestions on what I should do besides the elliptical? The gym in my development has a treadmill,elliptical,bike,and stair master and theres also a weight room..

RMinVA

I cross train a lot (running, biking, cardio equipment in the gym, etc.) and I do some strength training. I took my very first yoga class last summer and YOWZA!! It's a lot harder than it looks and I had muscles aching that I didn't know I had.

Bottom line, it really doesn't matter what kind of shape you are in. If you begin to use muscles differently or move in a different way, you are going to be sore.

samesam

I'd suggest switching up the exercise- don't train on the same piece of equipment day after day because then you are going to strengthen only a certain set of muscle groups; leading to an imbalance in your body. Long term imbalance in muscle groups leads to postural changes and pain/injury. You could try walking/jogging on the treadmill with the ramp inclined, biking, arc trainer, etc.

Keep at it! Try icing the painful areas approx 20 min a day... it should help to ease some of your soreness.

TrainingWithTonya

I'd recommend doing a workout, but do something different. Either the treadmill, bike, or weights, whichever hurts the least. Weights for upper body if the legs are so sore it is hard to walk. A combination of weights and a cardio machine would be good too so you aren't doing too much of one thing to get too sore.

Remember soreness is actually from cellular damage to the muscles. The rest time is when those muscles are repairing and rebuilding stronger. So, if you are continually using them in the same way, day after day after day, you aren't giving those microscopic tears time to heal so you can't get the best gains in strength in those muscles. Thats why I say to alternate modalities or muscle groups so that you aren't working the same muscle fibers day after day after day but can still workout daily if you want.

lilRicki

OMG totally normal...my whole lower body hurts today...I did sculpting and toning yesterday...squats are not my friend...everything from my butt cheeks to my ankles hurt...but you'll soon discover the difference between "good sore" and "pain"...good sore means you need a hot bath and a good work out the next day...try something else instead of the ellyptical and go back to it the next day. The soreness will fade until you up the intensity and then you'll be "good sore" again.

liscar

yep! just keep trudging on....it's going to be sore but that means you are working it the more you work it the easier it will get.

YeaILift

I would suggest taking a few days off from heavy resistance cardio. If it was normal resistance than take a break from cardio and focus more on your diet. If you aren't killing your metabolism with 1200 calories a day, you coils even lower your calories for a few days to compensate.

TiniTurtle

when i'm really sore, i usually take a day off & start again the next day )