problems after weight lifting!!

ditzee

Okay I have a question for y'all..... Lately when I have done the weight lifting the muscles I have been using are swollen when I get home from the gym. They feel like they "jitter" for hours and stay swollen for a couple of days. Has anyone else had this problem? I do weight lifting every other day...... Was told to not to do it every day. Then do water aerobics or swim laps in between! Any ideas?

wrightdj

:happy: I am not familiar with the muscle movements you are experiencing. I hope you are not overworking yourself in the amount of pounds you are working with.

Based on your schedule of weight lifting you are doing it correctly, meaning alternates days. This gives your muscles time to repair. Be sure you are getting your water and vitamins in daily. Sometimes we need certain nutrients and minerals that we can get from vitamins that will really help us.

I'm not a Dr., just sharing some things I have read up on. Be blessed and keep up the good work.

DJWright

AnnaValek

Cut your weight in half and double your reps. I usually stay light, around 15-25lbs, regardless of the weight, and I'll go for about 5 sets of 15 reps each. After completing about 10 different exercises like this, my muscles are engorged with blood from activity and feel 'jittery'. The 'jittery' feeling you have is due to the fact that you have been in activity for a period of time with more weight than you usually use at rest. Kind of like how you feel dizzy after getting off a treadmill when you'd been running for a certain amount of time. The muscles adjust to the workload and then 'freak out' when you stop and rest. It's normal.

You are correct in not weight lifting every day. Your muscles need days off, because they repair themselves while you sleep. Every time you work out you make microscopic tears in your muscle. Overnight, these tears are fixed by the body and grow stronger, either trimming fat or creating stronger, bigger muscles. If you want to keep yourself occupied, do this:
Create two different days in your routine. Even and odd days.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are Even days.
Sunday and Monday are Odd days.

On even days, work your upper body and abdomen in the weight room. Vary your workouts, don't do the same thing or you will only target a single muscle. Overall weight lost is best. Research all of the different upper body exercises you can do.

On odd days, work your lower body in the weight room. As with the upper body, there are many different muscles to work on and all sorts of exercises to work with.

In all cases, I believe that you should warm up with 15 minutes of stretching, 10 minutes of jogging at 4mph, 15 push ups, and 25 sit-ups. Then perform your even or odd day workouts. I recommend 5 sets of 10 reps each, staying around 10-20lbs. (The weight may increase for the lower body by 5-10lbs.) After working out, you could go for 30 mins of swim laps, then stretch for 15min afterwards.

Then, on Tues and Sat, rest your body. Only do light work, say an hour of walking or 30min of 4mph jogging and of course, stretching. Always stretch, all the time.

You can split up the days as you like. Always have two rest days, dedicate 3 days to upper body and 2 to lower, and stagger them somehow. Create your schedule to fit you. Good luck.
~AV

katherines2230

No experience with the swollen muscles but a week or so ago I was really weak after lifting weights, as in I felt like my muscles would collapse at any minute and my trainer said I needed to eat more calories. Sure enough I ate and felt MUCH better.

ditzee

Thanks everyone for all the information. I am going to try and stagger the workouts and weights and take in more water. thanks for info on vitamins, That is something that never crossed my mind. Probably need to check this out.

AnnaPixie

Eating plenty of protein and banana's are good for muscle repair/recovery too.

good luck :bigsmile:

tross0924

Explain swollen for me a bit. Is it something you can see? just something that feels swollen? tenderness with it? Weight lifters can get something called "the pump" where the muscles they worked out feel inflated. This can last for a day or 2 depending on how hard the muscle was worked out, and how quickly your body repairs the damaged muscles.

I'd agree with the others though about the water intake. More water is always good, and stretch after your done. As far as cutting the amount of weight you lift though, unless there's pain along with it I wouldn't.