Question about soreness after working out

karaks

Hi all! I'm new here, so please be patient with me, especially if this question has been asked a thousand times. I'm wondering...how do you deal with or get rid of soreness after working out?

Here's a little background on me and why I think I'm getting so incredibly sore after my workouts. Before 2008, I was a runner and in great shape. I would run several miles a day and felt great. Then in the summer of 2008, I started having severe pain in my left knee. Long story short, I ended up having a rare cartilage transplant surgery. The nurses called me "special". Lol. Anyway, the doctor warned me that that particular surgery takes around 2 years to recover from and he was right. I was on crutches for four months and kind of had to learn to walk again. In that whole process, I lost pretty much all the muscle in my legs and gained about 25 lbs.

By 2010, I was ready to workout again and wouldn't ya know it...I torn my menicus in the same knee. Surgery again. I recovered pretty quickly from that surgery, but was leary of doing too much at one time and scared that I would do something to hurt that knee again. I was warned by my doctor that I could never run again or do anything even close to high impact. Being a former runner and scared of getting hurt, I had a hard time finding the motivation to workout and, at the same time, find something that gave me that "runners high".

I gradually started riding a bike and lifting weights again. I felt like I was making progress and then...bam. Tore a tendon in my elbow last summer. I had to have surgery to repair it. Luckily, it wasn't anything I had done (like bad form). Turns out my body is made weird and using a barbell like I was actually put stress on the tendons in my elbow. By the time I had surgery and then healed, I had lost most of the muscle in my upper body. So I ended up basically having no muscle at all anywhere on my body.

Anyway, fast forward to two months ago. I found the Insanity workouts and quickly became addicted. With my doctor's permission, I started the workouts doing everything high impact on a rebounder (mini trampoline) that is made with bungee cords instead of springs, so it's easier on the joints and has a softer bounce. Then for the stuff on the floor, like push ups, I started doing them from a 12 inch bench and gradually worked my way down to the floor. I also started lifting weights 3 times a week...using free weights and bands...no barbell for me anymore.

That's where I am now. I'm doing all the high impact stuff on the rebounder and the other stuff from the floor. I absolutely love Insanity, and have found that my endurance and stamina are better now than they ever were, but I'm am so incredibly sore by the end of each night that I can hardly walk. Don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining. I'm so happy to be working out and getting stronger every day that I can deal with the soreness. I'm just looking for some advice on helping to deal with it that I might not have tried yet.

If it helps to know, I do all the stretching in the beginning of the workouts and all the stretching at the end. I'll sometimes even stretch a little longer afterwards in the hope it'll help. I've also started doing some pilates and yoga, and drink about 10 glasses of water every day. Anyway, thanks in advance!

brennamurphy42

First of all, major props to you for sticking it out through all of those injuries and continuing to have motivation to exercise! That is so amazing to me and I applaud you.

I have definitely never had any of the injuries that you've struggled with, but I do have some experience with being extremely sore. As long as the pain you're feeling is soreness only (no sharp pains or unusual aches that might be related to your previous injuries), then I would recommend ice and stretching the day after workouts. If you're working out every day, then stretch when you wake up in the morning. If you're working out every other day (or some other pattern), then stretch extensively on your days off. It sounds like you're doing everything right, but if you add in some extra stretching when you're feeling sore, it might help loosen up your muscles so they're not so painful.

Good luck!

karaks

Thank you so much for responding. I'm currently working out full speed 5 days a week and doing yoga and pilates on the 6th, with the 7th day off. I'll start stretching in the mornings and on those two other days in the hopes it helps. I hadn't thought about that. Thanks again for the reply!

brennamurphy42

No problem! I hope it works!