Sore pecs

Lyadeia
Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
edited September 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
It has been a couple of months since I did any kind of serious weight training. This week, however, I started my program to lose body fat. My program looks like this:

Monday: weights (chest and back)
Tuesday: cardio
Wednesday: weights (shoulders, biceps, triceps)
Thursday: cardio
Friday: weights (quads, hams, calves, abs)
Saturday: cardio
Sunday: REST

I haven't been lifting the same amount that I did a couple of months ago since I lost some strength, but I ALWAYS lift to failure for 3 sets of each exercise which is normally between 8-12 reps.

Tuesday my chest was sore! Not pain, just sore. :)

Yesterday after I finished my shoulders/arms workout, I noticed that my chest was now sore again, this time moreso, and now my upper back is also sore. I have reduced range of motion and it is difficult to do things cause of this wonderful muscle-tear induced soreness, lol.

Thank goodness I don't have another upper body workout for 5 more days. :)

So what are your experiences with doing cardio the day after getting sore muscles? Does it help loosen up the tightness, reduce pain, etc? I am afraid that the soreness will get worse if I DON'T workout, and I just don't want to miss a workout. The cardio that I was planning on doing is Turbo Kick, so my arms will obviously be used...but no push-ups or any other body weight bearing things will be done.

And how long does this normally last? Sheesh...I will never take a break from working out again!!! I went nearly 3 years without missing workouts for more than a couple of weeks, and now I have another reason to keep that up, lol. Soreness sucks, but at least that means that I am going to build that lean muscle mass, increase my metabolism, and lose some body fat! :)

Replies

  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
    Take in more water. Also it is hard to notice but sometimes you lose muscle mass and when you go back to lifting you are sore and it might not be just your first day back. I lost 30lbs from months back and started to lift and I could barely touch what I was doing before even after the soreness was gone and the soreness would come back after an eliptical workout.
  • mmtiernan
    mmtiernan Posts: 702 Member
    What works best for me is a short yoga workout after my lifting set or the day in-between lifting sets. I know some folks find it boring, but the benefits are absolutely worth it and I find the slow stretching really helps. I prefer Rodney Yee's yoga DVDs. They are about 30 minutes in length and you can get them at Target for about $15. I use his 'flexibility' DVD most often.

    I also make sure that I take in some protein - usually a protein shake - within an hour after my workout to help with the muscle repair.

    Hope this helps!
  • Beebee78
    Beebee78 Posts: 703
    I drink protein shakes to help the muscle repair and it works wonders for me xxx
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I have been drinking a lot of water today, and I guess I will be drinking some more. :)

    I also like Yoga, but right now, the only yoga that I have is the 90 minute monster long one from P90X. I love the workout, but I might be cutting it in half, lol. Ninety minutes in one day for any kind of workout, for me anyway, is just too long. :) I do have some other things like Core Cardio and Balance from Insanity, or some of the stretching routines from ChaLEAN. Do you think those would work until I can get to the store to get a shorter yoga workout?

    And I think that I will be hitting Subway for lunch today. I get the club sandwich on Italian bread with provolone cheese and no condiments, so it is about 400 calories total with low fat but pretty good amounts of carbs and proteins...I'll make that my "cheat" meal of the week, but I think it would be better than what I had planned otherwise.
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
    Remember to stretch well !
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I am thinking that tonight's cardio workout should be the 30 minute Fat Blaster routine from Turbo Jam since it is interval training and I can add as much intensity as I want...followed by a nice 30 minute stretching routine. How does that sound?
  • smuehlbauer
    smuehlbauer Posts: 1,041 Member
    If you want to do some yoga, check out your cable tv - they might have some free ondemand yoga that you can do.
    I would only suggest a longer stretch today before your cardio - but I find that if I don't work out the soreness gets worse on day two and day three.
    I usually push thru it!
    Good luck. I hope ya feel better.
  • mmtiernan
    mmtiernan Posts: 702 Member
    Great idea looking for on demand on TV - I've also heard that they have some yoga vids available through Netflix, if you have it. I have Netflix streaming to my TV via the Wii, which is free.

    I agree the P90X yoga is mega-long and frankly, Tony is boring on it. I prefer Rodney Yee. (I admit that I also have a Bryan Kest yoga vid just for the eye candy! :wink::)

    Your 30 minute stretching should do in a pinch however!
  • stringcheeze
    stringcheeze Posts: 286
    I drink protein shakes to help the muscle repair and it works wonders for me xxx

    This! Seriously! A scoop of whey shaken with a cup of unsweetened almond milk will help with the post-workout aches.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I drink protein shakes to help the muscle repair and it works wonders for me xxx

    This! Seriously! A scoop of whey shaken with a cup of unsweetened almond milk will help with the post-workout aches.

    I normally have this as one of my daily snacks anyway, so I guess I will just rearrange things so that I have it right after my workout. :) I have chocolate peanut protein powder, and I LOVE almond milk. :)
  • mrsyac2
    mrsyac2 Posts: 2,784 Member
    It has been a couple of months since I did any kind of serious weight training. This week, however, I started my program to lose body fat. My program looks like this:

    Monday: weights (chest and back)
    Tuesday: cardio
    Wednesday: weights (shoulders, biceps, triceps)
    Thursday: cardio
    Friday: weights (quads, hams, calves, abs)
    Saturday: cardio
    Sunday: REST

    I haven't been lifting the same amount that I did a couple of months ago since I lost some strength, but I ALWAYS lift to failure for 3 sets of each exercise which is normally between 8-12 reps.

    Tuesday my chest was sore! Not pain, just sore. :)

    Yesterday after I finished my shoulders/arms workout, I noticed that my chest was now sore again, this time moreso, and now my upper back is also sore. I have reduced range of motion and it is difficult to do things cause of this wonderful muscle-tear induced soreness, lol.

    Thank goodness I don't have another upper body workout for 5 more days. :)

    So what are your experiences with doing cardio the day after getting sore muscles? Does it help loosen up the tightness, reduce pain, etc? I am afraid that the soreness will get worse if I DON'T workout, and I just don't want to miss a workout. The cardio that I was planning on doing is Turbo Kick, so my arms will obviously be used...but no push-ups or any other body weight bearing things will be done.

    And how long does this normally last? Sheesh...I will never take a break from working out again!!! I went nearly 3 years without missing workouts for more than a couple of weeks, and now I have another reason to keep that up, lol. Soreness sucks, but at least that means that I am going to build that lean muscle mass, increase my metabolism, and lose some body fat! :)
    the 2nd day of a workout (lifting/weight training) is by far the worse. Keep up with your workout the soreness will ease up during your warm ups. give it a couple of weeks and the soreness will ease up never fully going away but your body starts getting used to it. also even though your lifting a for a certain body part their is still secondary muscles involved so thats why even though you worked a certain part other parts get a little sore too. Like Pull ups is a back exercise but yet your biceps get sore even though the back is the main muscle being worked you still use your biceps. Just like Push ups is a chest workout your triceps are the secondary muscle.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    Throughout the day I have been doing some light stretches, both static and ballistic...I think what has felt the best so far are those "pot stir" things that Tony does in P90X.

    I was concidering going back to X after I finish my own program, but I can now see that the X would have murdered my muscles this time around, lol.

    I am actually looking forward to tonight's workout to ease some of this annoying soreness. :)
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