Super sore from lifting

Just push on through...being sore initially (DOMs) is completely normal...just keep lifting. Take an advil and a hot bath...do some stretching...make sure you move, go for a walk.

Ibuprofen and epsom salt bath. As mentioned, just moving around to keep the blood flowing helps. Staying stationary doesn't.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Only thing to add is be careful not to over extend your lifting motion. It's pretty easy for bad form to cause you to over reach what you should be doing. I.E. rolling your shoulders too far on chest press.

I've said this before and many people voiced there disagreement but, if you are getting sore, your body is telling you that you are doing TOO MUCH and you need to allow your body to heal and recover before you do more and when you resume you need to restart by doing less and then slowly increase the workload from there.

"Pushing through" is not a solution to soreness. That's macho BS. It will only create more soreness and may lead to injury. Do NOT do that! Allow your body to rest. Treat the symptoms w/ice of there's swelling/inflamation (or heat if there's not), OTC pain meds (if they work for you) and/or massage until it goes away.

Then you can return to doing what you were doing but I'd suggest cutting back the amount (reps/sets) and or weight that you are using to a slightly lower level (around 80-90% of what you were doing) before you start over again.

If you are going for endurance, you'd typically use low weights and high reps and if you are going for strength, you'd go for higher weights are low reps. Adjust the sets/reps/weights to suit your objectives and then raise the weights in small increments to increase your endurance or strength depending on your goal.

You should NOT experience any soreness lifting if you do this.

Using a foam roller after lifting really helped limit my DOMS. I also bought these "therapy balls." They're different sizes rubber balls of different densities and use Jill Miller's "Roll Model" book. They have also really helped me reach areas the roller can't. The book has a lot of really interesting physiology stuff, which is great for the fitness need like me.

I had some extreme muscle soreness - think chest/lats swollen to a point where I was a full two inches bigger than normal - over the weekend. I took an Aleve, did the epsom salt bath, and iced. I also rubbed on some icy hot when I went to bed. Foam rollers and/or lacrosse balls will do wonders, too, even if they don't feel so good.

I agree with BCAAs helping and the idea that this won't last for long. Also there is a slight soreness that feels good and an "I can barely move" soreness that doesn't - the former is a good thing and the latter is not. Deload, work up your weight in ways that don't kill your muscles. I'm doing StrongLifts 5x5 and the soreness is completely bearable where in the past I've been closer to injured when starting up with weights after a long break.

briislovely wrote: »

I'm new to lifting weights

Be patient. With consistency, you'll stop having DOMS.