Aching Muscles - should I still exercise them?

SarahLovesCheesecake
SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
I was recently lucky enough to have bought all the equipment I need to be able to train at home, so I have been going for it on the weights; which is what I enjoy the most. Having had a break from weights (the last time I went to the gym was 2 mths ago), my muscles are not used to it....So after 3 consecutive evenings of pumping some iron, my back & arms are feeling it.

My question is, should I still be working these muscles? I have tried varying it, ie I did crunches and cross trainer yesterday as opposed to lat pull downs, bench press etc and cross trainer the day before...

I dont want to do more harm than good, but Im loving it and cant bear a day off ! :love:

Replies

  • zickbow
    zickbow Posts: 7
    get some good amino acid vitamins and take them right after working out and right before bed. This will help tremendously
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
    Thanks. Good advice.
  • lecia125
    lecia125 Posts: 126 Member
    drink LOTS of water, flushes out the toxins that cause soreness
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
    hey. I already drink shed loads of water....
  • Juliebean_1027
    Juliebean_1027 Posts: 713 Member
    I've found that when my muscles are sore one of the only things that DOES help is continued exercise. It's weird, but if I take a day off to let my sore muscles relax and repair it seems like the soreness lasts longer. Just be careful that what you're experiencing isn't really an injury. Good luck!
  • foreverjade
    foreverjade Posts: 213 Member
    Nothing wrong with exercising muscles that are sore from working out. As previous post mentioned, it actually helps with soreness to work the same muscles.

    That being said, your muscles do need recovery days to heal. You said that you changed it up yesterday - did different muscles and type of exercise. That is the definitely the the way to do it. chest and back today, shoulders and arms tomorrow, legs the next day, cardio and abs the next, etc.
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
    Off I go then, just made up a new playlist to bop and pump to lol......Thanks guys xxx
  • dougstevens
    dougstevens Posts: 208 Member
    Yes, work it. Feel the burn.
    But also be conscious of keeping yourself hydrated and properly stretched before and after each workout. For me, whenever I notice my muscles aching too much, its an indicator that I'm skimping on my stretching.
  • MyNameIsNotBob
    MyNameIsNotBob Posts: 565 Member
    I've heard / read that you're supposed to take a day off between strength training to give your muscles time to repair & rebuild. Maybe do some cardio instead.
  • thumper44
    thumper44 Posts: 1,464 Member
    I've heard / read that you're supposed to take a day off between strength training to give your muscles time to repair & rebuild. Maybe do some cardio instead.
    ^^ That's what I've read over and over.. Alternate with Cardio, or alternate working strength training to different parts of the body.

    If you want to keep working out like crazy, work your bottom half.

    I know when i'm REAL sore from a workout, I can't do nothing with those muscles the next day - Give them rest. They will rebuild stronger.
    I take L-Glutamine to help with the soreness.
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
    probably shouldn't lift 3 days in a row in my opinion.

    I lift MWF and that works better for me than lifting 5 days a week.
    Your body needs time to heal.

    creatine and protein will help with soreness.
    Protein powder is going to have glutamine in it. (personally I find glutamine to be a rip-off by itsself)
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    This one is simple. Don't do it several days in a row like that. Ever.

    Your muscles need time to heal.

    You also need to alternate what parts you work on. Never do arms, arms, arms for example. Some people alternate which muscle groups they work on. You're going to hurt yourself if you do the same thing all of the time.
  • pchann
    pchann Posts: 84
    My opinion is it depends on why the muscls are sore. The type of weight lifting you did. Was it a heavy day or a high rep day. I find that when I go heavy on compound lifts I need extra time for my muscles to recover. I also concentrate on exceeding "my" protein consumtion for a 48 hour period after. But if I'm doing endurance "high reps, sometimes with no iron just body weight and iso holds" my recovery is signifacantly faster. As a general rule sufficient sleep, good nutrition and proper stretching will accelerate your recovery and allow for maximum intensity during workouts. I want to emphasize the stretching. Stretch before and after every single workout. Your local community center should have some Yoga classes. Sign up with a friend and do some yoga once a week. I promise you'll see improvements in all aspects of your life from yoga.
    p.s. yoga counts as a workout. Wear your heart monitor for yoga ;) All the best.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    My opinion is it depends on why the muscls are sore. The type of weight lifting you did. Was it a heavy day or a high rep day. I find that when I go heavy on compound lifts I need extra time for my muscles to recover. I also concentrate on exceeding "my" protein consumtion for a 48 hour period after. But if I'm doing endurance "high reps, sometimes with no iron just body weight and iso holds" my recovery is signifacantly faster. As a general rule sufficient sleep, good nutrition and proper stretching will accelerate your recovery and allow for maximum intensity during workouts. I want to emphasize the stretching. Stretch before and after every single workout. Your local community center should have some Yoga classes. Sign up with a friend and do some yoga once a week. I promise you'll see improvements in all aspects of your life from yoga.
    p.s. yoga counts as a workout. Wear your heart monitor for yoga ;) All the best.

    And yoga is the ONLY exercise that rids your body of toxins!!
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    It's a good idea to rest sore muscles. They need time to heal from your workouts and forcing them to continue working hard when they're sore can and often does result in injury. Let them rest and heal for a day or two. In the mean time work another set of muscles - like your legs. :)
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    My opinion is it depends on why the muscls are sore. The type of weight lifting you did. Was it a heavy day or a high rep day. I find that when I go heavy on compound lifts I need extra time for my muscles to recover. I also concentrate on exceeding "my" protein consumtion for a 48 hour period after. But if I'm doing endurance "high reps, sometimes with no iron just body weight and iso holds" my recovery is signifacantly faster. As a general rule sufficient sleep, good nutrition and proper stretching will accelerate your recovery and allow for maximum intensity during workouts. I want to emphasize the stretching. Stretch before and after every single workout. Your local community center should have some Yoga classes. Sign up with a friend and do some yoga once a week. I promise you'll see improvements in all aspects of your life from yoga.
    p.s. yoga counts as a workout. Wear your heart monitor for yoga ;) All the best.

    I keep hearing a lot of people say yoga is fantastic for your body and is a great thing to do after intense workouts. I had back surgery in 1992 and can't arch my back AT ALL. Would I still be able to do it? I don't want to buy a yoga DVD only to find out 90% of it involves arching your back - which is physically impossible for me to do (I have steel rods/pins in my spine and no individual vertebrae anymore - they are fused).
  • nuttylou
    nuttylou Posts: 33 Member
    Personally I would take some time out & maybe go for a walk etc instead if the muscles are aching! I say this as you are just starting out exercising and at that time when it is easy to override any aches as normal and continue working out as I did 3 weeks ago & ended up with a Medial collateral ligament tear & hopping around for 2 and a half weeks. I am literally just walking normally again!!
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
    as you are just starting out exercising
    Hi Im not starting out, Ive been at this game for a year, just not lifted weights for 2 mths....
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
    K. well if you've been going at it for a year, you should know to not train 3-4 days in a row.

    3x a week is all you need.
    You can do cardio or yoga on off days, but weight training shouldn't happen more than that.
  • kacarter1017
    kacarter1017 Posts: 651 Member
    You should exercise, but do something different. Like some cardio. Your body needs a break from the same repetition.
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
    You should exercise, but do something different. Like some cardio. Your body needs a break from the same repetition.


    hiya...yes tonight I did stomach crunches (410), leg raises (lots), glutes (60) lol!!! Gave the old shoulders, back, chest and arms a break...
  • Agglaki
    Agglaki Posts: 105
    For a minute while reading the first few posts I was afraid no one had said anything about training different muscles on different days :)

    Thankfully that problem was addressed.

    But since I stopped and read through the thread:

    You can still exercise if your muscles feel sore, but try to work different muscles on different days.
    Cardio is very good for getting the blood pumping which will help with repairing your muscles, so don't skimp on that even if that is the only exercise you will do on a particular day.

    Make sure you get enough protein after your workout and also don't skimp on good complex carbs, in fact if you want the sugary stuff (e.g. gatorade) try to drink it after a workout when the sugars will be used by the body as opposed to being stored.
  • pchann
    pchann Posts: 84
    My opinion is it depends on why the muscls are sore. The type of weight lifting you did. Was it a heavy day or a high rep day. I find that when I go heavy on compound lifts I need extra time for my muscles to recover. I also concentrate on exceeding "my" protein consumtion for a 48 hour period after. But if I'm doing endurance "high reps, sometimes with no iron just body weight and iso holds" my recovery is signifacantly faster. As a general rule sufficient sleep, good nutrition and proper stretching will accelerate your recovery and allow for maximum intensity during workouts. I want to emphasize the stretching. Stretch before and after every single workout. Your local community center should have some Yoga classes. Sign up with a friend and do some yoga once a week. I promise you'll see improvements in all aspects of your life from yoga.
    p.s. yoga counts as a workout. Wear your heart monitor for yoga ;) All the best.



    I keep hearing a lot of people say yoga is fantastic for your body and is a great thing to do after intense workouts. I had back surgery in 1992 and can't arch my back AT ALL. Would I still be able to do it? I don't want to buy a yoga DVD only to find out 90% of it involves arching your back - which is physically impossible for me to do (I have steel rods/pins in my spine and no individual vertebrae anymore - they are fused).

    Hi, in your case I would seek the advice of a doctor/physical therapist for a stretching routine. Yoga is a concept of mind, body and spirit. With that said you can design your own 'yoga' routine. What I'm saying is think of combining stretching and meditation to create a yoga routine that will work with and around your individual needs. The doctor or physical therapist I'm sure has literature that will get you started stretching. For the meditation just start simple and slow. Buy a meditation book. After a few times doing your structured stretching moves they will become almost auto pilot which will allow you to start 'clearing' your mind. Your now a yogi. :) All the best.
  • MyNameIsNotBob
    MyNameIsNotBob Posts: 565 Member
    My opinion is it depends on why the muscls are sore. The type of weight lifting you did. Was it a heavy day or a high rep day. I find that when I go heavy on compound lifts I need extra time for my muscles to recover. I also concentrate on exceeding "my" protein consumtion for a 48 hour period after. But if I'm doing endurance "high reps, sometimes with no iron just body weight and iso holds" my recovery is signifacantly faster. As a general rule sufficient sleep, good nutrition and proper stretching will accelerate your recovery and allow for maximum intensity during workouts. I want to emphasize the stretching. Stretch before and after every single workout. Your local community center should have some Yoga classes. Sign up with a friend and do some yoga once a week. I promise you'll see improvements in all aspects of your life from yoga.
    p.s. yoga counts as a workout. Wear your heart monitor for yoga ;) All the best.

    I keep hearing a lot of people say yoga is fantastic for your body and is a great thing to do after intense workouts. I had back surgery in 1992 and can't arch my back AT ALL. Would I still be able to do it? I don't want to buy a yoga DVD only to find out 90% of it involves arching your back - which is physically impossible for me to do (I have steel rods/pins in my spine and no individual vertebrae anymore - they are fused).

    Hmm... I'd check with a doctor. Vinyasa yoga def. has a lot of backbends. Hatha is gentler, and svaroopa is the gentlest of all (really just a lot of laying around on blankets... but you'd be surprised how sore & stretchy you'll feel the next day).
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520

    Make sure you get enough protein after your workout

    Id be interested what you'd recommend for this?

    Thanks
    Sarah
  • pchann
    pchann Posts: 84

    Make sure you get enough protein after your workout

    Id be interested what you'd recommend for this?

    Thanks
    Sarah

    Hi Sarah, there's a ton of ways to get extra protein so instead of blah blah blah I'll just tell you what I use. :)"

    skinless chicken breast, grilled
    Crystal Farms 100% egg whites, haha yes I drink it raw, sometimes I cook it.
    GNC Amplified Wheybolic 60
    GNC Pro Performance Casein protein
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
    @pchann

    Im veggie but not vegan:smile:
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