Working out while sore?

Depends on how sore you are. If it's really hurting to move, I'd just stick with some stretches and light cardio to keep your muscles warm. If it's just a light soreness, I'd go ahead with whatever workout I had planned.

Yesterday I could barely walk because my hamstrings and quads were SO sore but I knew I had to go to the gym. When I got there I stretched for a good 20 minutes then started my chest/tricep routine. Afterwards I still felt sore so I did the stairs for about 45 minutes, I finally was loosened up enough to Spin for an hour. After I sat in the sauna and hot tub. It helped a lot. I think a lot of it is mental. Just do it is my motto Unless you have an injury, of course, but being sore from working out is a good thing.

As we all know, soreness is a normal part of exercising. However, it is also your body's way of telling you to take a break! If you are very sore, then it is probably a good idea to lay off of working out that sore muscle group until the discomfort mostly goes away. Continually exercising sore muscles can lead to over training, muscle tears and other injuries. That's not to say that it isn't ok to go for a light jog the day after a tough leg workout! In fact, light jogging and stretching are encouraged and will aid greatly in muscle recovery.

For most people, soreness from a good workout might last up to 48 hours. If you are finding that you are sore any longer than that, then you may want to take a look at how you are feeding your body. Without lots of water, proper diet and enough sleep your body will take longer to rebuild the muscle you break down while exercising. Drinking water, taking a multivitamin and taking in good protein immediately after your workout are probably the best ways to see a difference in your recovery (if you aren't already doing so).

In short, it is definitely OK to exercise a sore body part, but if it is very sore then you might want to skip it unless you are training for something specific. If you are working out your whole body every day and are always sore, then you might want to consider splitting body parts into different days and working each out more intensely, but less frequently. Depends on your goals. Working through pain is great, but you can't burn many calories sitting on the couch with a pulled hamstring or bum bicep!