Sore Muscles

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RhineDHP
RhineDHP Posts: 1,025 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Just curious, when you work out and are ridiculously sore the next 2 days, should you wait til you're healed or keep exercising (for those days right after the initial workout)? I went to the gym for the first time in months the other day, and even while stretching after the work out and eating some protein, I woke up the next day barely able to move. Yesterday was slightly less horrible, and today is better. Probably should've taken an ibuprofen as well.

What are your thoughts?

Replies

  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    stop for injury, work through soreness.
  • MyNewZen
    MyNewZen Posts: 101 Member
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    What type of pain is it?

    If it’s DOMS I find light exercise helps a lot.

    If you have strained, pulled or torn something then rest!
  • Joneisha07
    Joneisha07 Posts: 49
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    I dont think anything helps but time. I have tried protein, and ice and I still suffered for about two days. When I did the 30 day shred I fought through the soreness and it was OK. It hurt at first but actually helped the muscles relax.
  • LMT2012
    LMT2012 Posts: 697 Member
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    Muscles do take time to repair. You should also be certain you are WELL hydrated before, during and after workouts. Being dehydrated does cause more soreness. On your in between days, lots of movement is good like walking and gentle stretches and nothing weight bearing. First two weeks of a program are always the toughest. Good luck!
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    Whie you are yuung, go for it. Make sure you are eating healthy and just go for it. It doesn't get any easier to be in shape than now.
  • babeinthemoon
    babeinthemoon Posts: 471 Member
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    First of all, how do you define sore? For me, sore is when I can feel my muscles, but I'm not saying "ouch, ouch, ouch" every move I make. Extreme soreness would be saying "ouch" every once in a while. Pain/Hurting would be saying "ouch, ouch, ouch" with every move. :wink:

    So, with that being said... when I'm sore the day after a workout I keep going with my plan for the day. Lately that means running M,W,F & a short 20 min walk the other days of the week. When I'm really on top of the world, I add in Jazzercise on Tu & Sat.. with Thursday being a simple walk.

    But, it sounds like you might be in the "extreme soreness" or "pain/hurting" side of my scale. When I'm at that level, I just do some light walking and/or stretching with the muscles that hurt. Just enough to keep things moving, but not enough to cause more pain. If walking hurts too much, I take the ibuprofen & ice the muscles in question. So far I've only had to do that once since October... so I've been lucky.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Firstly welcome back to world of exercise :smile: The first week back is always the hardest - remember that and keep in mind that if you don't stop you never have to have another first week back.

    It really depends on how sore you are and what you have been doing. If you are lifting you can always try working a different muscle group (you shouldn't do the same ones 2 days in a row anyway as your body needs time to recover). If you are lifting and you can complete the range of motion you can probably work out - you may need to reduce reps or weight. If the soreness is restricting your range of motion then you probably need a rest.

    In terms of cardio exercises, if you are sore, try warming up slowly for 5-10 minutes and see how you feel. If you don't feel significantly better after warming up you may need a break. If you start to feel okay then you're probably right to work out (maybe at a reduced intensity/speed/time).

    This is really all about getting to know your body, your pain threshold and your limits. In the end only you can really make the call of whether you are okay to go again or need a rest.

    You could consider doing something light like walking, pilates or yoga. Doing something different to what made you sore is also a good idea because you will use different muscle groups.

    You need to know the difference between soreness and pain/injury. Soreness you can push through and it'll go away but attempt to push through an injury and you'll only make it worse
  • RhineDHP
    RhineDHP Posts: 1,025 Member
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    I didn't injure myself. Well I might've gone a little overboard with my right upper arm. But you know, now that I think about it I wasn't really well hydrated, so I guess that was a factor.

    Just the main culprit is my shoulder blades, from the lat pulldown. My legs aren't so bad anymore. Haha, and yeah, it was the "ow, ow, ow, ow" type of soreness. I had to attempt to take my shirt off like a guy, because I couldn't lift my arms that high without sore pain.
  • Mighty_Rabite
    Mighty_Rabite Posts: 581 Member
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    stop for injury, work through soreness.

    This.

    I will also take a breather and knock things down a few notches if I am in need of some active recovery.
  • ilovedeadlifts
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
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    stop for injury, work through soreness.

    this.


    Focus on doing the things to recover properly instead of masking the discomfort with anti inflammatory drugs.
    Take contrast showers (hot/cold), take an epsom salt bath, foam roll, stretch, go for a walk, workout with light weight for high reps, etc

    There are lots of ways to take care of soreness before resorting to NSAIDs.
  • bdamaster60
    bdamaster60 Posts: 595 Member
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    stop for injury, work through soreness.

    Agreed. If its pain, stop. If its sore, suck it up.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    hot soaking bath and medium intensity cardio...if you can get your cardiovascular system going it will get your lymphatic system going which will help clear out the lactic acid which is making you so crazy sore.
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    Lots and lots of stretching and don't leave it too long until you work out again. If you keep it regular its never as bad as that first time xxx

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