MUSCLE SORNESS post that will never be read by anyone

<rant>

Instead of coming onto the forums and stating 'I worked out yesterday and I'm supposed to work out today...but I'm sooooooooo sore what should I do?????' take a minute and try to figure it out for yourself.

I'm 27 and a former athlete. I'm out of shape from years of being sedentary and eating all the delicious foods to great excess, but I can still push myself pretty hard in the gym. So when a 65 year old woman comes on here and says 'I walked a mile yesterday and I'm so sore should I skip my workout today?' I can safely say 'push through it' and my advice would be valid...for me. I don't know that said person has bad arthritis in both knees and her right ankle, is recovering from mono, and has a torn ALLOFTHEM-CL. In that case, the lady should probably not take my perfectly reasonable advice and should sit the f*** down and get some rest. But what she should really do is recognize that she's busted up herself rather than trying to get permission to heal from someone she's never met.

By the same token, if I post about trying some obscure Russian lifting method that has me squatting 8 times a week, people are quick to shout 'zomg overtraining' or 'your knees are literally going to turn into chainsaws and will shred up your whole body and face Texas Chainsaw Massacre style'. They don't know anything about my work capacity, or how much I'm eating/resting to account for the workload. Maybe I could handle it and see success from that kind of program, you certainly don't know.

When you work out, it should be uncomfortable. It should strain your body. This strain can and will cause soreness. In general, a good way to address that soreness is to force blood through the area. How do you do that? By stretching or working out. Or you can rest, and it'll work itself out that way too. Or you could keep whining about it on the forums, I guess that works for some folks?

Soreness is generally a dull to moderate throbbing or stiffness. If it's sharp, shooting, burns, makes funny noises, or has an odor like rotten cheese farts, go to a damn doctor! As far as I know, no one on the MFP forums can remotely take an MRI of your knee, so go get a professional to do it.

Also, if you're already injured, any advice to push through it goes right out the damn window (duh). I have a friend who's a corrections officer. He has an injured shoulder and knee from altercations at his job. You know what he does? Surprisingly, he doesn't logon to MFP to ask if he should skip shoulder day because he's sore...he just favors his shoulder and knee. He gets the work in that he can, and stops if he starts to feel uncomfortable. He knows he needs to maintain as much mobility and strength as he can as he can't risk getting injured (it would potentially put him in danger at work). He's not going to get accurate medical advice here since he doesn't post his medical history on the forums, and neither are you.

The MFP forums are a fantastic place to get suggestions and reference material to do your own research. Much of the knowledge I have regarding fitness and nutrition came from links posted by folks on here that are far smarter than I. That knowledge came from asking how things worked (what are the principles behind IIFYM, what are good exercises that target your hamstrings, where can I find good videos of proper technique for front squats, which chicks on here have the best spank bank profile pics...I mean are the most motivational). I then applied that information to myself as best I could. I didn't try to skip the step that takes work and ask things with no background info that no one could possibly answer on the forums (should I do cardio or lift today, can I do 6 sets of squats instead of 5, is Paleo right for me, can I have a piece of cheesecake for dessert, why does nobody love me, why does it burn when I pee, what the hell did the ending of Inception mean).

There's a lot of information to be had here, but you have to be willing to put the work in. You have to actually understand the principles behind the information and how it applies to you personally. Other people aren't going to be able to do that for you, and they certainly can't tell you with any confidence if that twinge in your chest is just a little tightness that'll go away when you hit C25K this afternoon or if Uma Thurman hit you with the exploding heart technique in your sleep (by the way, why didn't David Carradine just confine himself to a wheelchair after that?)

Also, boobs

</rant>

Read the first three lines and the last. It's legit. Carry on.