Muscle Soreness

perfect10isha

For some of the NROL4W veterans, did you get sore at any time during the program? If so, when and how often? Should I be exhausted at the end of my sets?

I just started phase 1 and I was sore the very first day, for two days straight, but since then I haven't experienced any soreness. If I'm not sore and I can complete my sets (with effort), does that mean I'm getting enough out of it, or should I see that as a sign to increase my weight? It may sound crazy, but I actually *like* being sore, because it lets me know I pushed myself. Without it I'm sometimes at a loss if my workout is actually working me out!

TIA

FTR in regards to the squat rack at my gym, it does not have safety catches, but it ain't stopping me from using it!

jennkain97

If you're never sore, then you aren't doing all you can, and will not increase your strength. The way I understand it, each time the workout says to decrease reps/ increase sets, you should be increasing your weights (if possible -- if it takes maximum effort, don't increase and hurt yourself).

AABru

I was sore after the first time I did both Workout A and Workout B for two days. Since then I have some muscle soreness, but not the "oh-my god, I can't get up from the toilet or brush my hair" soreness like the first time. Usually it's done by the day after.

ebaymommy

I was sore after the first time I did both Workout A and Workout B for two days. Since then I have some muscle soreness, but not the "oh-my god, I can't get up from the toilet or brush my hair" soreness like the first time. Usually it's done by the day after.

^^^^ yeah that

stfriend

I experienced soreness at the very beginning but not much now. I'm ALWAYS tired on lifting day. FTR, I've been able to increase my weights fairly steadily, though not as much as I'd like in the shoulder moves. But enough to start seeing a tiny bit of definition.

Anniel88

I'm still new to the program. I was extremely sore the first couple of times, but since then I haven't been very sore. When I was really sore, I read up on some tips to reduce soreness and learned that by upping your protein and really putting in a good warm up you can help decrease some of the soreness. I've been upping my weights and pushing myself so I was just assuming that the tips were working! I've already been losing inches and have been upping my weights so I think it is still working even if I'm not so sore anymore.

girlinahat

I uststarted Stage 1 and the second workout (1B) was planned for last night but my muscles felt too sore so rather than do a half-a**sed workout I will shift the workout to today instead.

I think when we start a new programme, certainly one like this which may be completely different to anything else we have done before our bodies are going to be pretty shocked by it so the first few workouts will be the hardest to recover from.

But I would think you should be experiencing some msucle fatigue at the very least from subsequent workouts - after all, the way to build muscle is to damage it with micro-tears and then let it rebuild. Not so-sore-you-can't-stand-up-from-sitting but if you don't feel it you probably aren't doing enough.

Anniel88

I thought I’d add some more information to my original reply. After my first couple of workouts I was EXTREMELY sore. I did some research to see what I could do to aid in my recovery because I quickly realized I could not be incapacitated Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday every week. Although I liked that I was seeing progress and could tell that I was really working my muscles, that just wasn’t going to work as a long-term solution. I needed to be able to function!

The effects of DOMS are still not entirely understood, but here’s a summary of some of the research I found:

- Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is not necessarily an indication of how hard you worked your muscles. It varies from person to person. Some people get extremely sore after a workout and others don’t feel anything.

- You will typically experience DOMS more frequently when you first start a new routine. DOMS will likely begin diminish as you continue the workout program. (Athletes are more prone to soreness when the season begins.)

- Making sure you get enough protein is essential to muscle recovery after weight lifting

- Proper warming up your muscles helps to prevent muscle soreness (When I started I could only do bodyweight squats, which meant I couldn’t do a lesser weight warm up for squats. Now I can do the correct warm-up at a lesser weight than what I will be lifting for my full set.)

I feel as long as you’re honestly pushing yourself, increasing your weights, and not feeling intense muscle soreness, I take that as you’re doing something right rather than wrong. It means you are warming up and getting proper nutrition to fuel your recovery. If you are honestly pushing yourself, lifting your weights properly, and upping your weights you will still products those muscle tears.

You should really feel it while you’re working out. I am sweating like crazy, heart rate pumping, and I feel drained on lifting days. The soreness level is different from person to person. Be honest with yourself, are you really pushing yourself to your max? If you say no, then UP THOSE WEIGHTS! If you feel that you can do more, you probably should do more. Try it with more weights, if you can’t do it, you can always back down to a lower weight.

Some interesting reads:
1) http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/domos.html
2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12617692
3) http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Treatment and Prevention of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.pdf
4) Easy read: http://www.livestrong.com/article/526195-muscle-aches-after-weight-lifting/
5) http://www.sportsmed.info/articles/doms.html
6) http://scoobysworkshop.com/no-pain-no-gain/

PUSH YOURSELF!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

If you're never sore, then you aren't doing all you can, and will not increase your strength. The way I understand it, each time the workout says to decrease reps/ increase sets, you should be increasing your weights (if possible -- if it takes maximum effort, don't increase and hurt yourself).

This isn't necessarily true. While I do enjoy DOMS, the absence of DOMS doesn't indicate a lack of effort but instead the body's efficiency at what it's doing. I generally get DOMS the first time that I do a move I'm not used to and therefore not efficient at, but on repeat sessions do not get it again. Before returning to this program I was doing SL 5x5 and lifting some pretty crazy (for me) weights without experiencing DOMS from lifting for several months because I spent that time doing the same 5 exercises.
To be fair, she's right in that you should be able to increase weights with the decrease of reps and increases in rest, but even working at your maximum effort may not produce DOMS.

Yes, DOMS means Delayed onset muscle soreness . . . but many people also refer to it as DO More Stuff. If you experience DOMS you want to keep moving, or it will get worse before it gets better and it will take longer to go away. When you get DOMS, no matter how much it hurts you need to keep moving, walking, running, biking, the next day to warm the muscles back up, drink lots of water, and eat lots of protein. If I sit it takes 72 hours or more before I feel better, if I move it's more like 36 to 48.

ACEgirl1

Thank you for this thread. I learned so much! I started NROL4W in April and gave up after the first workout because of the intense pain I experienced for about 4 days afterwards. I just bought a bench and heavy weights and I will give it another go starting in September.

girlinahat

When you get DOMS, no matter how much it hurts you need to keep moving, walking, running, biking, the next day to warm the muscles back up, drink lots of water, and eat lots of protein. If I sit it takes 72 hours or more before I feel better, if I move it's more like 36 to 48.

ah....thankyou....

I've been worrying because I'm finding it takes 3 days to recover enough to do the next workout, which won't fit into my schedule. I did a load of cleaning yesterday to keep moving but ache as soon as I get up from sitting for longer than ten minutes. I'm hoping that as my body gets used to actually DOING something that the recovery will improve.

melissaw1232

I also just started the program and im on 4a. I havent experienced any real soreness and have been upping my weight in every workout as directed when I can. I just assumed that it was because none of these exercises are new to me. Working with heavier weights is new but not the workout themselves. On my last set of shoulder presses I lifted 20lbs ea/hand and im feeling soreness in my triceps and Ive never felt that before so thats new. Hope this helps
~ Melissa

perfect10isha

Thank You soooooo much ladies, ya'll are awesome. I took all your advice and put it to use, especially in regards to upping my protein and continuing to move, and that has definately helped with that unable-to-sit-on-the-toilet-seat soreness. And thanks @Anniel88 for the research and explanation. I'm definately fatigued on lifting days, and since I'm still in the early stages of phase 1 I'm slowly increasing my weights every session. I wear a hrm when I workout so I know I'm pushing myself, so I'll continue to use those indicators mentioned (sweating, breathing heavy, hrm, exhaustion, etc) to gage how I'm doing.

Just curious, if you're able to complete a set and decide to increase your weight, by what increment do you typically increase it by? On my squats I went from 95lb to 110lb today. I completed them, I struggled, but I completed them. Do you still increase or do you gain some efficiency at that weight before you move on?