Exercising with sore muscles?

Juliette320
Juliette320 Posts: 144 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Should I exercise through the pain of my leg muscles or should I have a day of rest? I was planning on found 7 consecutive days of exercises this week but my shin Bone and calf muscle is burning I'm not sure if I should or should not. Does anyone have any advice or information?

Replies

  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    indulge in a hot tub and sauna, they work wonders.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    Rest days are important. Take a day of rest, see how it feels the next day.
  • Rehobobound
    Rehobobound Posts: 143 Member
    Rest days are important. Take a day of rest, see how it feels the next day.

    Ditto!
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    What BigGuy47 said but if you're like me and just feel better if you do something... go for mild walk. It will burn some calories but won't stress muscles that need a break. Rest days don't and aren't meant to be "sit on the couch all day" days.
  • Honeybea86
    Honeybea86 Posts: 107
    Rest days are hard to do when your so used pushing your body but your body will thank you for the rest
  • bwdcjk
    bwdcjk Posts: 96 Member
    I just asked my FB friend this the other day. Back at daily workouts over my lunch after 2 months of not working out and I have been soooooo sore I could barely move. Just lowering myself down to the toilet was painful...hehe...TMI! They all said work through it and I did - just didn't do the same workout tape two days in a row...mixed it up a little...and by day 3 it was getting better. Today is day 4 and I only have twinges here and there.
  • bwdcjk
    bwdcjk Posts: 96 Member
    I just asked my FB friend this the other day. Back at daily workouts over my lunch after 2 months of not working out and I have been soooooo sore I could barely move. Just lowering myself down to the toilet was painful...hehe...TMI! They all said work through it and I did - just didn't do the same workout tape two days in a row...mixed it up a little...and by day 3 it was getting better. Today is day 4 and I only have twinges here and there.


    I meant FB friends - as in plural...I do have more than just the one! LOL
  • Rambo529
    Rambo529 Posts: 170 Member
    You aren't supposed to work the same muscle groups day after day. They need time to rebuild themselves after being broken down. That being said, if you're calves and legs are hurting, you can still work your arms if you absolutely feel the need to do a hard workout. I agree though, taking a mild walk will not only help with the soreness, it'll keep you from stiffening up as well.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Rest days are very important...if you're newer to working out, you'll likely need more of them and/or less intense exercise on certain days. When I first started out on my fitness mission, I could only do 3 days per week...at that, one of those days was just a long walk. Now I do five days, but two of them are just a walk and the other three are more intense HIIT or running days. I lift on my walk days...I just do the walk because I've grown accustomed to getting out of my office and moving around for a half hour. Even if you are very fit, you should have 1-2 rest days per week to allow for recovery. Without recovery, there is no benefit.
  • footiechick82
    footiechick82 Posts: 1,203 Member
    I always take at least 1 day of rest a week - I go for a walk with my dog, clean the house, do yard work, etc - on that day (those days, depends on my week). I was in a lot of pain this morning in my shoulders, my abs, my legs, my butt and my calfs and I went to the gym anyway! I always do. Your body will be sore the next day, the 2nd next day, if you do NOTHING, will be worse. So... if you want to relieve pain, a hot bath with epsom salts. I ice anything that really hurts - for me, baths are rare. I also use that muscle MORE so it gets use to movements and doesn't hurt as much next time.

    Whatever you think will relieve your pain, do it.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    Depends on what kind of routine (or routines) you're doing. If you're working different muscle groups from day to day, then you can probably just choose a different workout that avoids the really sore muscles. But if you do the same routine when you work out (which is what I do - hitting as many muscle groups as I can at once), then you need to take a rest day to recover.

    Just remember that a rest day is a lot better than an injury.
  • fiferize
    fiferize Posts: 141
    I agree with Brower but also be sure you are getting enough protein after a work out to help repair those muscles. You likely have microtears in them.
  • Queen_Adrock
    Queen_Adrock Posts: 130 Member
    Your muscles need some time to recover...my calves were burning yesterday, so I took the time I would have gone to the gym, did some light housework instead and called it a day. Still enough to get some circulation going and my heart rate up, but not enough that I would do any more damage to my muscles.
  • nturner612
    nturner612 Posts: 710 Member
    i was getting EXCRUCIATING pain in my calves and shins. i tried icy hot, hot showers, masages etc. what finally worked? STRETCHING. i was seriousy underestimating the importance of stretching. i spent about 5mins seriously stretching my calves,and i had a good workout. about 10 min after i started runnin or class, my calves were hurtin soooo bad. they felt like cement. sigh. try it. u will b glad u did
  • wells0707
    wells0707 Posts: 251 Member
    In my experience, I work through the pain. By the end of the workout I have warmed the muscles up again and they hurt less (for a bit)
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    What BigGuy47 said but if you're like me and just feel better if you do something... go for mild walk. It will burn some calories but won't stress muscles that need a break. Rest days don't and aren't meant to be "sit on the couch all day" days.
    I agree on the rest days... talking a walk, doing some Pilate's, Yoga, Meditation anything like that is still moving your body but not pushing it quite as hard. I definitely agree rest days are important, they might not seem like it but as soon as you injure something you'll realize the importance of resting our muscles.

    Also your thread title you used the word "sore", in your post you used the word "pain". Big difference in the two, working through pain is not something you want to do but if your muscles are sore it often helps them when you get up and move them. Least I've found this works for me.:flowerforyou:
    i was getting EXCRUCIATING pain in my calves and shins. i tried icy hot, hot showers, massages etc. what finally worked? STRETCHING. i was seriously underestimating the importance of stretching. i spent about 5mins seriously stretching my calves,and i had a good workout. about 10 min after i started running or class, my calves were hurting soooo bad. they felt like cement. sigh. try it. u will b glad u did
    :drinker: Definitely! Great point!

    lol I've found this out first hand myself, stretching is so important and wow, do I ever feel it if I leave it out or simply don't do enough.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    seven days a week is overkill for sure..

    I usally lift mon through friday and then get in some light cardio on saturday and sunday is off day...
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
    I agree that taking a rest day is a must, and it sounds like your body is demanding it! You certainly don't want to burn out. If you're really sore, though, in addition to the massage and hot tub ideas, you may want to do some light stretching or even a slow stroll (if you can do it without turning it into a workout) to help loosen them up a little.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    You called it soreness in the title of the post but described it as pain in the post itself. There's a big difference. Which is it?

    If you are feeling actual pain (as in "I pulled something" pain), you have probably damaged the muscle, and you should definitely rest the affected muscle group(s) until healed.

    If you are feeling soreness, it depends on how severe it is. If you're experiencing deep soreness, then you need to do a lot of stretching and no more. But I'm not an absolutist when it comes to the theory of not training the same muscle groups on back to back days. I'd never do presses two days in a row, but I don't think it's wrong to train the lower body on back to back days, even with mild soreness. Of course that's assuming you're not one of these people who think it's badass to do squat cleans as fast as you can for 10 minutes. I definitely wouldn't advise doing that two days in a row (or ever).

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