Question of lifting and pain

Guamybear

I just recently upped the amount of weights I am lifting and I can definitely feel a burn. My question is.. should I wait until the burn is completely gone before I lift on that body part again?

I usually do one day with my arms and back and another for my legs and butt/abs.

I would alternate days but now that I can feel more burn I actually wait two days in between..should I wait longer if I can still feel it in my arms.. like 3 days or is it okay to go back and lift after 48 hours?

Guamybear

bump..anyone?

watkinsig

I am not a physician or any other sort of fitness professional. This is my opinion only, but it is tempered with relavent expirence.

You absolutely need to give your body time to repair itself after lifting weights, and you should not work the same muscle groups as hard every day.

I do P90x, and it works for me. The workout schedule is readily available online, but the basics may help you get a better picture of what a reasonable workout rotation looks like:

Day 1: Upper Body/Abs - Chest and/or Back focus (that means push ups and pull ups)
Day 2: Lower Body Cardio (Zone 3-Zone 4, with some Zone 5 peaks -- this is hard)
Day 3: Upper Body/Abs - Arms (Biceps/Triceps/Shoulders)
Day 4: Repair/Refocus (i.e., yoga)
Day 5: Lower Body resistance + Back/Abs (Glutes/Calves/Quads)
Day 6: Total Body Cardio (Zone 2,3 with some Zone 4 peaks - easier than day 2)
Day 7: Rest/stretch

So, I don't come back around to my upper body for 48 hours, and when I do, it's different. The legs get at least 3 days between getting focus, and that focus is different. 7 days between hitting the same groups in the same way.

So, my advice is to give your body time to repair, but do work some other part of your body. If you're feeling bad, then it's OK to go easy some days. The main thing is to not get hurt. Because if you do, you'll get discouraged.

So, maybe a reasonable modification for you would be to do legs again after 48 hours, but really lighten the load and do more reps (15-20). Same thing with arms. So, your schedule might be:

Day 1: Heavy Upper
Day 2: Cardio
Day 3: Light Upper
Day 4: Heavy Lower
Day 5: Cardio

Anyhow, keep it up.

wellbert

Sounds like you're new to lifting. Most people do 3x a week, a day between, ending in 2 rest days.
You can pretty much do a whole body workout every time.

Guamybear

I have lifted but never to this extent.. I don't ever do the same parts 2 days in a row.. I have decided to skip today all together..just too tired..will take today as a rest day.

MinnieInMaine

My rule of thumb for pain with weight lifting is that if you're hurting bad enough so that you can't keep proper form, you should skip it. If you're just "sore" at least try the moves but be very aware of your form and pay attention to any aches or pains or something feeling out of whack. Utlimately, you don't want to push yourself ot the point where you cause a real injury and then have to stop lifting altogether. Also, make sure you're warming up with some dynamic stretching or cardio 5-10 minutes before you lift and make sure you stretch well after. It really does make a difference!

Lady_Bane

If you are sore enough after your days not working that day off, you need to spread your split out more.
I am currently on a 4 day split:

1. Legs
2. Shoulders
3. Bis and Tris
4. Back and Chest

By day 5 my legs have finally stopped feeling sore. So I begin my split again.

war1575

You are definately need to give yourself at least 48hrs of recovery time when lifting weights. The soreness you feel is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Average time for DOMS is 24-48hrs. Depending on the muscle group you work, it can last longer.

Another important thing to remember is, if you are doing seperate muscle groups, always alternate between big muscle groups (legs, chest, back) and small muscle groups (arms, shoulders).

If you are doing 2 days a week, my suggestion is to do all pushing execises on day (squats, bench press, shoulder press, triceps, etc.) and all pulling execises (curls, all back exercises, leg curls, etc) the other.

ilinx

Yes.Spreading out your split is a great idea to give your body really enough rest.

I have a 3 day split following the push/pull method:

1 chest/triceps/shoulders(partly) ->push-movements like bench press, shoulder press and triceps kickback
2 legs/abs/butt
3back/biceps/shoulders(partly) -> pull-movements like deadlifts, lat pulldown, curls

Inbetween I do some yoga, pilates and cardio.But I have at least one rest day.

Guamybear

thanks, I might have to do as suggested and spit between 3-4 days.. I was just doing upper one day and lower the next day..

Greenrun99

You can still lift when your sore.. but make sure its just soreness and not something else.. Also soreness actually will go away (atleast for me) once I get into the routine most of the time, usually will come back the next day, only down side is you may not be able to do as much during the sore reps.