Muscle Soreness vs. Fatigue - HELP!!!!

rchupka87

I ask a LOT of questions - and I am apologizing in advance for that. I just began a weight lifting program (NROLFW), and I am doing the C25K on my off days, leaving Sunday for a full day of recovery.

Tuesday I lifted. Last night I ran. Today I am SORE!!! My traps and biceps (I find myself stretching about every 15 minutes), my quads and calves (I can feel it in my calves right now, sitting down, not using the muscle, and it's tight) especially. IF I work out tonight, I would be doing deadlifts, lunches, dumbell presses, lat pull downs and swissball crunches. I have heard the "listen to your body" comments, and I know that not having enough recovery can do more harm than good.

I am really thinking that I should put off my workout until tomorrow. But I don't know if that is just me being a baby, and I should push through, or if my muscles REALLY do need more recovery time.... How do you know? I am listening to my body - I just don't know what its saying...

jamiesadler

The great thing about NROLFW is you can wait an extra night. I would suggest you do some stretching tonight, drink lots of water and take and anti inflammatory. Then lift tomorrow. I have gone two or three days in between in stage 1 and did fine.

jacksonpt

I would do 15ish minutes of light cardio before you lift to get the blood flowing and the muscles loosened up. Working out through stiffness/tightness can be good for the muscles. Working out when you're hurt is bad.

rchupka87

Anybody else wanna chime in here...? I got two responses, and they are polar opposite of each other.... LOL

jacksonpt

ok, here's the deal. Muscles are sore because they are inflamed. increasing blood flow to the muscles helps reduce inflamation. Exercise increases said blood flow.

Soreness has never stopped me from lifting. I may start off a bit lighter to "warm up" more than usual, but (IMO) using soreness to skip/delay a workout is just an excuse.

rchupka87

I knew that about the blood/muscle thing. There was a whole chapter on it in the book NROLFW. And the book says the same thing you just said. BUT - it also says that if you don't give your muscles the correct amount of time to recover (to get the blood and water they need to repair themselves) - that it can actually be counter productive, and can actually do more harm than good. That you can lose strength instead of gaining it.

This is what my question is about. How do I know if i am just "sore" and being a baby, and making excuses, as you said. Or, are my muscles truely fatigued, and need an extra day of rest before I hit the weights hard again tomorrow? Because I have been doing this a few weeks now. And this is the very first day I have felt like this. Soreness, stretching, warming up, I get that, and I do work through that. But because these muscles are hurting when I am not even using them, I am afraid I did TOO much last workout.

I am not trying to get out of anything. I WANT to workout tonight. I am just afraid of hurting myself, or stalling my progress because I am trying to do too much....

jacksonpt

In your OP you say you just began. If that's the case, then I'd push through it. You're not going to do any harm or lose any ground that quickly. The first couple of weeks of any program should be about getting used to the weight and getting your body adjusted to the program.

IMO, the bigger concern is are you getting enough sleep and are you giving your body enough cals to handle the workouts your are doing?

Also, IMO over exercising is a lot like building muscle - most people think it happens a lot faster and a lot easier than it actually does. Both are really hard to do.

DavPul

This is what my question is about. How do I know if i am just "sore" and being a baby, and making excuses, as you said.

It's right there in your wording. Just like JacksonPT is saying, it's okay to work thru soreness. Now if you had used the word "pain" it would be different. I know it seems like splitting hairs but you'll know the difference soon. Soreness you'll be able to work thru even when you'd rather not, but pain you'll want to work thru but your body will shut you down. I empathize with you. The soreness one feels when just starting out is incredible. But it will go away, and it will go away much, much sooner, if you get some blood to the muscles by working out again. In my experience the soreness lingers longer if a person avoids the next workout but dissipates quickly after the next workout.