what to do when your sore

00Angela00

So a friend of mine said that after a big strength training workout when your sore your not supposed to work out again until your no longer sore. But that's been taking me around 3 days! If I only exercise twice a week I'm never going to lose any weight! Does anyone have any recommendations, advice, etc? The people on biggest loser worked out daily, so I'm sure there has to be something I'm missing

00Angela00

So a friend of mine said that after a big strength training workout when your sore your not supposed to work out again until your no longer sore. But that's been taking me around 3 days! If I only exercise twice a week I'm never going to lose any weight! Does anyone have any recommendations, advice, etc? The people on biggest loser worked out daily, so I'm sure there has to be something I'm missing

kerrilucko

uh.. no, your friend is wrong. You SHOULD be sore after your workout. If you feel no soreness at all, your form probably sucks. Soreness is a natural part of strength training. Now, if you feel sharp pain anywhere, that's not good- stop what you're doing and see a doctor.

I work out in a 2 day rotation- triceps, biceps and back one day, then quads, calves and abs the next. SO each of my muscles gets a day off to heal in between workouts. I am told, however, that small muscle groups (like abs and calves) only need about 24 hours of rest between workouts so theoretically you could work those everyday.

When I started strength training I was very sore, everyday, for about a week. But I didn't stop. when you stop you lose progress. Don't stop unless, like I said, you have sharp or severe pain- could be a torn muscle or something.

ps- after a week or 2 the soreness won't be so bad. you're still feel it right after a workout, but not the next morning like you do at first. Seriously, I was shocked when I stopped feeling it, but it's good, because it makes getting up and working out the next day a LOT easier.

charliesgold

From what I understand you're supposed to leave at least a day between exercising that same muscle group again not between workouts all together You can also always do cardio, for example I do Monday upper body weights and cardio, Tuesday pilates and yoga (stretching and toning), Wednesday lower body weights and cardio, Thursday pilates and yoga and so on and so forth. I think the point is not to do Monday upper body, Tuesday upper body type of workouts.

hopeitworks

I find that if I do some type of walking (treadmill or outside) followed by some light stretching, it usually helps. Plus, make sure you don't work the same body parts two days in a row.

Coach2010

I like hopeitworks response.

When sore I usually try to walk it off, do something light, to get the muscles to relax and blood to get going. Also try to bring in some solid stretching to really get those muscles to relax.

This works for weight lifting...or playing in Soccer Tourneys
Coach

PS> Also consider just relaxing in a Hot Tub, or bathtub, it helps tremendously in getting muscle relaxation.

agarlits

Make sure you incorporate a warm up and cool down period into your exercise and stretch once your warm and before you cool down. Otherwise you have a much higher risk of injuring yourself even if your in good shape. As far as being sore, its just a natural process in your body, when you lift your body will produce lactic acid and you'll be sore, I've found that going on a moderate walk or a short run later in the day will greatly reduce the fatigue and soreness. A creatine supplement would help too, though unless your planning on building alot of muscle I wouldnt recommend it. Always consult your physician before starting any supplement of that sort too.

Hope that helps, best of luck

ktthegr8

I agree with Kerri, get to the gym even if you're sore. You'd be surprised how much better you feel when you start working those sore muscles.

Yewkon

I believe it's ok to workout muscles that are not sore to the touch. If you feel pain when applying pressing to the muscle, it's better to rest it or very lightly work it out (like walking or light cardio).

If the muscle is not sore to the touch, it is probably just stiff. After a good warmup and some stretching it should feel better and you can work it out just fine

Schaff

I agree with everyone who said don't work the same muscle groups two days in a row. It is true that your muscles need time to recover. Think about it this way, your muscles basically tear and heal over and over again, that's how they grow and for you to get stronger. The best thing to do is after your workout, within 30 minutes, make sure you down some protein. The best way to do this is through a protein shake or protein powder added to water. I promise it will cut your pain and soreness in half. Hope that helps!

SHBoss1673

Soreness is a natural part of working out. BUT, this is why I say full body weight training isn't really a great idea, soreness from cardio should go away in a day or so, if it doesn't you pushed yourself pretty hard, and might want to give it a few days.

So with weight training I usually tell people, you SHOULD be sore for 2 days after, which is why you really only need to work any particular muscle group once or at most twice a week, with a minimum of 3 days rest between.

There are certain types of exercise and muscle groups that don't conform to this rule though. For instance, isometric exercise and body weight resistance, should be able to be performed every day on small muscle groups like your core, and every other day on large muscle groups like your triceps and quads. this includes things like unweighted lunges, push ups and pull ups.

Cardio should be able to be performed every day for moderate levels and every other day for really strenuous levels.

If you mix all these types up you should be able to do 5 to 6 days of workouts every week.

take this example week for a good reference.

monday - upper body weight training - heavy weights to failure
monday - core work, 5 minutes or 3 types of core building activity.

tuesday - hard cardio (45 minutes to 1 hour HIIT training at 80% average of Max Heart Rate)

Wednesday - Lower body weight training - heavy weight to failure
Wednesday - core work, 5 minutes or 3 types of core building activity (different from monday)

thursday - medium cardio and isometrics

Friday - Hard cardio (tabada training) plus some core work, various

Saturday, Upper body medium weight training - lower weight higher reps

Sunday REST day

Repeat the next week, swapping out the upper heavy weight day with the lower heavy weight day.

you should be able to continue with this schedule for a loooooong time without problems and without your body becomming "used" to the activities. Remember to vary the types of training you do, to keep your muscles guessing. Muscle memory is your enemy when working out.

-Banks

lexxx

I was doing cruches with my best friend and boy, did we feel the burn the next day. We still went to the gym and did more. It feels good in a weird way to know that you pushed through being sore. Like they said earlier, it really does get better, you don't get as sore once your muscles get more used to it. Keep it up!