Soreness Q

Leigh14

Last Thursday I did strength training for the lower half of my body. I decided to try dead lifts for the first time. I only used two 10 lb. dumbells and did three sets of 10.

I then moved on to this machine for your lower back. It's basically a padded bench on an adjustable angle that has a platform for your feet and pads that hit around your ankles. The bench comes just to the top of your legs, you bend forward and do a reverse sit-up. I usually hold a medicine ball while doing this.

On the last rep of my last set, I felt like I kind of just gave out. I took a short break and moved on to leg curls. I laid down on the bench, had the weight set to 40, and tried to lift. Nothing. Moved it to 30. Nothing. Moved it to 20 and could only do 5 reps. I did two sets of that and was DONE. I moved the bench and did leg extensions at my normal 40 lbs. When I left the gym, the backs of both legs above the knee were very sore.

Friday night, they were so sore that they interfered with my sleeping. I tried stretching them, but it hurt worse. My boyfriend rubbed them and they felt a little better, but were still sore the next day. Today is Wednesday, almost a week later, and my legs are still super sore. If I extend my legs straight out, it hurts. The act of sitting down hurts. Tomorrow I am supposed to be doing strength training again, and I'm worried ... lol. Any ideas why my muscles would stay so sore, so long? I've never had this happen before and I usually enjoy the soreness. This time is just too extreme. :frown:

SHBoss1673

So, there's a marked difference between DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) and pain, if you confirm that there's no actual pain, then you're just experiencing what we all go through when we first start a new program and start it at a relatively high level of intensity.

Depending on how "sore" you are, you can attempt to try the workout again, but the only thing that worries me is your statement "On the last rep of my last set, I felt lik I kind of just gave out." By this do you mean that you didn't have the strength to do another rep, or that your back literally gave out? Because there's a BIG difference, one means you just did a failure set (which is fine if you observe proper form), the other means you should immediately stop and seek medical treatment.

Please clarify.

Put it this way, if it's just soreness, well....welcome to the world of weight training to failure

This is how I feel for some muscle group every day of the week, every day of my life. :ohwell:

After a while you actually start to look forward to the burn.

Things that can minimize the soreness:

Eating properly before and after training. If it's failure work, make sure you eat some carbs about 2 hours before the workout (not a huge amount, but enough to keep your fires burning, and make sure they're complex carbs). Also make sure you have a good carb/protein mix after, again, it doesn't have to be a large volume, but you want to make sure you give your body the energy it needs so it doesn't start pulling energy for recovery from other places.

drink your water!!!!! Make sure during and after your workouts, you have enough water (this means all day every day).

Make sure you give your body enough time between workouts, if you work to failure, 2 to 3 days of rest between routines is the minimum you should have. For example, if you did quads, hamstrings and gluts today, don't do them again until at least 2 days from now, but probably 3 days from now.

Massage can help.

Stretching is good. Muscles can bunch up and become tight after a workout. Use both ballistic and static stretching to keep your muscles lose and ready to go.

Hope this helps.

-Banks

loverrgirrl

could just be that that you over worked yourself previously. a little trick is to add some lemon juice (real lemon) to your water that you drink at the gym it helps keep the build up of lactic acid (the reason you get sore) out of your muscles. take it easy when you go do what you normally would do but just try to go easy on your self. also try swtiching it up a little bit change your routine....try doing the leg curls first and work backwards.

Hope it helps

aippolito1

Keep in mind those bars are 25 lbs so even if you set it at 20 and "could only do 5 reps"... you're really lifting 45 lbs. Just a thought.

SHBoss1673

could just be that that you over worked yourself previously. a little trick is to add some lemon juice (real lemon) to your water that you drink at the gym it helps keep the build up of lactic acid (the reason you get sore) out of your muscles. take it easy when you go do what you normally would do but just try to go easy on your self. also try swtiching it up a little bit change your routine....try doing the leg curls first and work backwards.

Hope it helps

The lemon juice thing actually doesn't apply to her situation, as DOMS has nothing to do with lactic acid build up. It's actually from the microtears in muscles that happen when you work to failure. The lactic acid build up that you're thinking of is the "burn" you get immediately after a workout to failure, and it goes away after about 1/2 an hour or so. They are two different phenomena.

Leigh14

Banks: Sorry. :flowerforyou: Clarifications: #1 - I worked to failure - nothing really "gave out," I just felt like I couldn't possibly do any more. And, my energy took a hit because I left not long afterward. #2 - I know what muscle soreness feels like and I actually enjoy it... lol, I've just never felt anything like this before. The night that it affected my sleep, it was actual pain - not just soreness. No matter what position my legs were in, there was a nagging ache. Now, the pain is gone, but they are still sore. #3 - If I recall correctly, I had a banana after my workout and a protein shake later. Sufficient? And, I drink tons of water ... just not typically DURING my workout ... maybe I need to change that. #4 - Stretching. I honestly do not stretch ... maybe this is the culprit?! My boyfriend lifts weights like a fiend and *never* stretches ... I discussed it with him a couple times and he said it's not needed. Why did I listen to him? lol

Leigh14

Keep in mind those bars are 25 lbs so even if you set it at 20 and "could only do 5 reps"... you're really lifting 45 lbs. Just a thought.

Actually, they were dumbells, not a barbell. I didn't know a barbell weighed 25 pounds, though!

SHBoss1673

Banks: Sorry. :flowerforyou: Clarifications: #1 - I worked to failure - nothing really "gave out," I just felt like I couldn't possibly do any more. And, my energy took a hit because I left not long afterward. #2 - I know what muscle soreness feels like and I actually enjoy it... lol, I've just never felt anything like this before. The night that it affected my sleep, it was actual pain - not just soreness. No matter what position my legs were in, there was a nagging ache. Now, the pain is gone, but they are still sore. #3 - If I recall correctly, I had a banana after my workout and a protein shake later. Sufficient? And, I drink tons of water ... just not typically DURING my workout ... maybe I need to change that. #4 - Stretching. I honestly do not stretch ... maybe this is the culprit?! My boyfriend lifts weights like a fiend and *never* stretches ... I discussed it with him a couple times and he said it's not needed. Why did I listen to him? lol

so, technically, stretching isn't "needed", but lifting weight to failure and not stretching can severely limit your range of motion over the long term. It's a good way to tear a muscle, and/or do ligament and tendon damage.

That pain just sounds like Severe DOMS to me. Annoying to say the least, but I don't think it's a symptom of anything but putting forth a little too much effort for your first time with a routine. Maybe back it off a tiny bit. instead of working until you can't do another one, work until you are 1 shy of not being able to do another one. Your results shouldn't vary that much because of it, and in the long run, it'll really help your recovery efforts.

Banana is ok after a workout, but I'd say a better food would be some black beans and maybe some brown rice (a small amount). I know this sounds odd, but the pairing is a good for protein/carb replacement. I'd say wild rice, but I think brown rice would be better in this situation since you're looking for relatively quick release of the carbohydrate sugars, and wild rice can take about twice as long to break down as brown rice (granted, more vitamins in wild, but still).