Muscle soreness & protein - is this bro science?
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Your training frequency is, in my experience, one of the main reasons why you are sore. Every person i have trained who follows a system/program like yours suffer the same issues. Increase frequency with increased protein should help. Generally 3-4x a week is ideal. Also, what does your program look like? Its going to be difficult to see strength gains if you are going extended periods (like 7 days) between hitting the muscle groups.
Also, while DOMS is not uncommon, it also isn't a precursor for muscle growth. I never get DOMS in my upper body and always get it in my lower body and i hit some high volume programs. This has been the case and i have been lifting for awhile.
Thank you for your input! I hadn't considered that - I often waited because I was sore, so I didn't do eg. a workout the day after, although I would do a yoga class (I intended to do an aquafit class as well but never quite made it). I did have several weeks at 3 but then I had a couple at 1 and I missed a week doing essays so I averaged it out. 3 does seem basically doable, I'll try for that and see if it helps.
I don't think I have exactly the right language to describe my routine but I will do my best. Currently, I'm aiming for 10 repetitions, and 2 sets. Usually after about 15-20min on the treadmill, walking on the incline in a pyramid increase to warm up, cool down (now trying for some 1min jogs interspersed, currently I've managed only 3 of those).
I start with lower body and it's all bodyweight. Squats, lunges (I'm very wobbly on lunges, still working on balance & form), bridge with a resistance band - on the 10th I hold and push my thighs out against the band 10x as well, and a kickback on hands and knees.
Upper body - I have an exercise that is 3 parts, a bicep curl to 90 degrees to above my head then back to 90 and down. I use one weight to reach back and do triceps, trying to keep my elbows forward. Keeping arms straight, I lift to the side, then on the 10th do small circles for 10sec. Arms straight lift forwards, on the 10th hold for 10sec (this one kills me and is very very hard to do twice still). I'm doing "push ups" not on my knees, but still struggling to keep my body straight. She said that was better than doing them on my knees, because my form was almost there. This one is also a struggle, and I'm often pausing between repetitions to psych myself up to try again.
Core, again bodyweight: I do a 30 second plank. I was encouraged to do a pilates sit-up where you lower back down for 5 seconds, but other than once in the training session I haven't managed to recreate it and do the sit-up part correctly so unfortunately I do tend to skip it. I do the crunches and side crunches to knee. I added side planks as well because I also failed to do the Russian twists.
I end up being in the gym about 2 and a 1/2h doing this, with stretching and a shower. I'm not sure if I'm just not moving fast enough but it seems excessive.
I think you would benefit from a bit of additional structure. If anything, i would replace your routine with one of the ones on the list below. M&S full body being on the top of my list. Your program seems like a bunch of randomness and misses some of the key body parts.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
So a good 3-day full body routine + yoga on off days should help perform much better and over time, you should see more recovery.
Thank you for the input! I will look into that one specifically, I have looked at these programs before and generally found them to be beyond me, but that was a while ago and could use a revisit.
Edit: I looked at this one (glad it’s online and not a book) but it has a lot of different exercises I don’t know how to do yet, and I’m not exactly confident my form will be good if I’m not learning from a person. I also don’t think I can add weight to squats or lunges yet...2 -
Your training frequency is, in my experience, one of the main reasons why you are sore. Every person i have trained who follows a system/program like yours suffer the same issues. Increase frequency with increased protein should help. Generally 3-4x a week is ideal. Also, what does your program look like? Its going to be difficult to see strength gains if you are going extended periods (like 7 days) between hitting the muscle groups.
Also, while DOMS is not uncommon, it also isn't a precursor for muscle growth. I never get DOMS in my upper body and always get it in my lower body and i hit some high volume programs. This has been the case and i have been lifting for awhile.
Thank you for your input! I hadn't considered that - I often waited because I was sore, so I didn't do eg. a workout the day after, although I would do a yoga class (I intended to do an aquafit class as well but never quite made it). I did have several weeks at 3 but then I had a couple at 1 and I missed a week doing essays so I averaged it out. 3 does seem basically doable, I'll try for that and see if it helps.
I don't think I have exactly the right language to describe my routine but I will do my best. Currently, I'm aiming for 10 repetitions, and 2 sets. Usually after about 15-20min on the treadmill, walking on the incline in a pyramid increase to warm up, cool down (now trying for some 1min jogs interspersed, currently I've managed only 3 of those).
I start with lower body and it's all bodyweight. Squats, lunges (I'm very wobbly on lunges, still working on balance & form), bridge with a resistance band - on the 10th I hold and push my thighs out against the band 10x as well, and a kickback on hands and knees.
Upper body - I have an exercise that is 3 parts, a bicep curl to 90 degrees to above my head then back to 90 and down. I use one weight to reach back and do triceps, trying to keep my elbows forward. Keeping arms straight, I lift to the side, then on the 10th do small circles for 10sec. Arms straight lift forwards, on the 10th hold for 10sec (this one kills me and is very very hard to do twice still). I'm doing "push ups" not on my knees, but still struggling to keep my body straight. She said that was better than doing them on my knees, because my form was almost there. This one is also a struggle, and I'm often pausing between repetitions to psych myself up to try again.
Core, again bodyweight: I do a 30 second plank. I was encouraged to do a pilates sit-up where you lower back down for 5 seconds, but other than once in the training session I haven't managed to recreate it and do the sit-up part correctly so unfortunately I do tend to skip it. I do the crunches and side crunches to knee. I added side planks as well because I also failed to do the Russian twists.
I end up being in the gym about 2 and a 1/2h doing this, with stretching and a shower. I'm not sure if I'm just not moving fast enough but it seems excessive.
I think you would benefit from a bit of additional structure. If anything, i would replace your routine with one of the ones on the list below. M&S full body being on the top of my list. Your program seems like a bunch of randomness and misses some of the key body parts.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
So a good 3-day full body routine + yoga on off days should help perform much better and over time, you should see more recovery.
Thank you for the input! I will look into that one specifically, I have looked at these programs before and generally found them to be beyond me, but that was a while ago and could use a revisit.
Edit: I looked at this one (glad it’s online and not a book) but it has a lot of different exercises I don’t know how to do yet, and I’m not exactly confident my form will be good if I’m not learning from a person. I also don’t think I can add weight to squats or lunges yet...
Any of the dumbbell training programs will be good.1 -
Thanks everyone for your replies, I'm thinking while the protein thing is largely a myth, I have a few experiments to try - increasing frequency to 3 or 4 times a week, and doing a 5min 'cool down' walk on the treadmill after doing the strength work. If I'm increasing frequency, I'll be doing some strength work at home without cardio, but of course I can go outside and walk or walk up and down stairs (more likely with the cold/icy weather)
its a total myth - one thing you can do is cut back bit on sugar - carbs etc... sugar causes inflation and that is what causes DOMS ... also try the next day light 3 high rep low weight s set on sore body part - it will help and stimulate prolonged muscle hypertrophy
Carbs have been demonstrated to support muscle recovery and mitigation of protein degradation. And sugar by itself doesn't cause inflammation. You can see reductions of CRP even while following a high carb/high sugar diet. Also, there some be a discussion between acute and chronic inflammation.
Too much sugar absolutely causes inflation - every glycogen molecule binds 4 water molecules to it - now if you are burning those off great - the water sheds as well - BUT if you are over consuming YEP inflation - water retention. Diabetics are puffy because they retain water due to their bodies inability to metabolize sugar and it hangs in their body driving the sugar levels up in their blood stream and locking in more water
Anything in excess can cause inflammation as most chronic inflammation is caused by obesity. It's not frequent to have chronic inflammation while being more lean with the except of autoimmune disorders or diabetic (which is rare for a lean person).
And as an FYI, diabetes tend to have elevated BG and insulin which both binder with water. That is a chronic disorder... so not the norm, nor the example of "sugars are bad". Not suggesting a person should pound skittles all day long though.8 -
Thanks everyone for your replies, I'm thinking while the protein thing is largely a myth, I have a few experiments to try - increasing frequency to 3 or 4 times a week, and doing a 5min 'cool down' walk on the treadmill after doing the strength work. If I'm increasing frequency, I'll be doing some strength work at home without cardio, but of course I can go outside and walk or walk up and down stairs (more likely with the cold/icy weather)
its a total myth - one thing you can do is cut back bit on sugar - carbs etc... sugar causes inflation and that is what causes DOMS ... also try the next day light 3 high rep low weight s set on sore body part - it will help and stimulate prolonged muscle hypertrophy
Carbs have been demonstrated to support muscle recovery and mitigation of protein degradation. And sugar by itself doesn't cause inflammation. You can see reductions of CRP even while following a high carb/high sugar diet. Also, there some be a discussion between acute and chronic inflammation.
Too much sugar absolutely causes inflation - every glycogen molecule binds 4 water molecules to it - now if you are burning those off great - the water sheds as well - BUT if you are over consuming YEP inflation - water retention. Diabetics are puffy because they retain water due to their bodies inability to metabolize sugar and it hangs in their body driving the sugar levels up in their blood stream and locking in more water
While inflammation can cause water retention, water retained to store glycogen does not cause inflammation.7 -
Your training frequency is, in my experience, one of the main reasons why you are sore. Every person i have trained who follows a system/program like yours suffer the same issues. Increase frequency with increased protein should help. Generally 3-4x a week is ideal. Also, what does your program look like? Its going to be difficult to see strength gains if you are going extended periods (like 7 days) between hitting the muscle groups.
Also, while DOMS is not uncommon, it also isn't a precursor for muscle growth. I never get DOMS in my upper body and always get it in my lower body and i hit some high volume programs. This has been the case and i have been lifting for awhile.
Thank you for your input! I hadn't considered that - I often waited because I was sore, so I didn't do eg. a workout the day after, although I would do a yoga class (I intended to do an aquafit class as well but never quite made it). I did have several weeks at 3 but then I had a couple at 1 and I missed a week doing essays so I averaged it out. 3 does seem basically doable, I'll try for that and see if it helps.
I don't think I have exactly the right language to describe my routine but I will do my best. Currently, I'm aiming for 10 repetitions, and 2 sets. Usually after about 15-20min on the treadmill, walking on the incline in a pyramid increase to warm up, cool down (now trying for some 1min jogs interspersed, currently I've managed only 3 of those).
I start with lower body and it's all bodyweight. Squats, lunges (I'm very wobbly on lunges, still working on balance & form), bridge with a resistance band - on the 10th I hold and push my thighs out against the band 10x as well, and a kickback on hands and knees.
Upper body - I have an exercise that is 3 parts, a bicep curl to 90 degrees to above my head then back to 90 and down. I use one weight to reach back and do triceps, trying to keep my elbows forward. Keeping arms straight, I lift to the side, then on the 10th do small circles for 10sec. Arms straight lift forwards, on the 10th hold for 10sec (this one kills me and is very very hard to do twice still). I'm doing "push ups" not on my knees, but still struggling to keep my body straight. She said that was better than doing them on my knees, because my form was almost there. This one is also a struggle, and I'm often pausing between repetitions to psych myself up to try again.
Core, again bodyweight: I do a 30 second plank. I was encouraged to do a pilates sit-up where you lower back down for 5 seconds, but other than once in the training session I haven't managed to recreate it and do the sit-up part correctly so unfortunately I do tend to skip it. I do the crunches and side crunches to knee. I added side planks as well because I also failed to do the Russian twists.
I end up being in the gym about 2 and a 1/2h doing this, with stretching and a shower. I'm not sure if I'm just not moving fast enough but it seems excessive.
I think you would benefit from a bit of additional structure. If anything, i would replace your routine with one of the ones on the list below. M&S full body being on the top of my list. Your program seems like a bunch of randomness and misses some of the key body parts.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
So a good 3-day full body routine + yoga on off days should help perform much better and over time, you should see more recovery.
Thank you for the input! I will look into that one specifically, I have looked at these programs before and generally found them to be beyond me, but that was a while ago and could use a revisit.
Edit: I looked at this one (glad it’s online and not a book) but it has a lot of different exercises I don’t know how to do yet, and I’m not exactly confident my form will be good if I’m not learning from a person. I also don’t think I can add weight to squats or lunges yet...
Any of the dumbbell training programs will be good.
Thank you. I am honestly quite nervous to try exercises I haven't had a person show me how to do them, but I will come back to this. Do you mind answering, which "key body parts" does the current routine miss? I thought it had all of them, the lower body, upper body, and core.1 -
Your training frequency is, in my experience, one of the main reasons why you are sore. Every person i have trained who follows a system/program like yours suffer the same issues. Increase frequency with increased protein should help. Generally 3-4x a week is ideal. Also, what does your program look like? Its going to be difficult to see strength gains if you are going extended periods (like 7 days) between hitting the muscle groups.
Also, while DOMS is not uncommon, it also isn't a precursor for muscle growth. I never get DOMS in my upper body and always get it in my lower body and i hit some high volume programs. This has been the case and i have been lifting for awhile.
Thank you for your input! I hadn't considered that - I often waited because I was sore, so I didn't do eg. a workout the day after, although I would do a yoga class (I intended to do an aquafit class as well but never quite made it). I did have several weeks at 3 but then I had a couple at 1 and I missed a week doing essays so I averaged it out. 3 does seem basically doable, I'll try for that and see if it helps.
I don't think I have exactly the right language to describe my routine but I will do my best. Currently, I'm aiming for 10 repetitions, and 2 sets. Usually after about 15-20min on the treadmill, walking on the incline in a pyramid increase to warm up, cool down (now trying for some 1min jogs interspersed, currently I've managed only 3 of those).
I start with lower body and it's all bodyweight. Squats, lunges (I'm very wobbly on lunges, still working on balance & form), bridge with a resistance band - on the 10th I hold and push my thighs out against the band 10x as well, and a kickback on hands and knees.
Upper body - I have an exercise that is 3 parts, a bicep curl to 90 degrees to above my head then back to 90 and down. I use one weight to reach back and do triceps, trying to keep my elbows forward. Keeping arms straight, I lift to the side, then on the 10th do small circles for 10sec. Arms straight lift forwards, on the 10th hold for 10sec (this one kills me and is very very hard to do twice still). I'm doing "push ups" not on my knees, but still struggling to keep my body straight. She said that was better than doing them on my knees, because my form was almost there. This one is also a struggle, and I'm often pausing between repetitions to psych myself up to try again.
Core, again bodyweight: I do a 30 second plank. I was encouraged to do a pilates sit-up where you lower back down for 5 seconds, but other than once in the training session I haven't managed to recreate it and do the sit-up part correctly so unfortunately I do tend to skip it. I do the crunches and side crunches to knee. I added side planks as well because I also failed to do the Russian twists.
I end up being in the gym about 2 and a 1/2h doing this, with stretching and a shower. I'm not sure if I'm just not moving fast enough but it seems excessive.
I think you would benefit from a bit of additional structure. If anything, i would replace your routine with one of the ones on the list below. M&S full body being on the top of my list. Your program seems like a bunch of randomness and misses some of the key body parts.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
So a good 3-day full body routine + yoga on off days should help perform much better and over time, you should see more recovery.
Thank you for the input! I will look into that one specifically, I have looked at these programs before and generally found them to be beyond me, but that was a while ago and could use a revisit.
Edit: I looked at this one (glad it’s online and not a book) but it has a lot of different exercises I don’t know how to do yet, and I’m not exactly confident my form will be good if I’m not learning from a person. I also don’t think I can add weight to squats or lunges yet...
Any of the dumbbell training programs will be good.
Thank you. I am honestly quite nervous to try exercises I haven't had a person show me how to do them, but I will come back to this. Do you mind answering, which "key body parts" does the current routine miss? I thought it had all of them, the lower body, upper body, and core.
I don't see really and back work. Push up is ok, but there are more effective chest exercises. Your shoulder exercises hit 2 out of 3 heads and are more endurance than strength.
If you want to get stronger, i would have a program that helps you get stronger. That is how i would focus your training.1 -
Your training frequency is, in my experience, one of the main reasons why you are sore. Every person i have trained who follows a system/program like yours suffer the same issues. Increase frequency with increased protein should help. Generally 3-4x a week is ideal. Also, what does your program look like? Its going to be difficult to see strength gains if you are going extended periods (like 7 days) between hitting the muscle groups.
Also, while DOMS is not uncommon, it also isn't a precursor for muscle growth. I never get DOMS in my upper body and always get it in my lower body and i hit some high volume programs. This has been the case and i have been lifting for awhile.
Thank you for your input! I hadn't considered that - I often waited because I was sore, so I didn't do eg. a workout the day after, although I would do a yoga class (I intended to do an aquafit class as well but never quite made it). I did have several weeks at 3 but then I had a couple at 1 and I missed a week doing essays so I averaged it out. 3 does seem basically doable, I'll try for that and see if it helps.
I don't think I have exactly the right language to describe my routine but I will do my best. Currently, I'm aiming for 10 repetitions, and 2 sets. Usually after about 15-20min on the treadmill, walking on the incline in a pyramid increase to warm up, cool down (now trying for some 1min jogs interspersed, currently I've managed only 3 of those).
I start with lower body and it's all bodyweight. Squats, lunges (I'm very wobbly on lunges, still working on balance & form), bridge with a resistance band - on the 10th I hold and push my thighs out against the band 10x as well, and a kickback on hands and knees.
Upper body - I have an exercise that is 3 parts, a bicep curl to 90 degrees to above my head then back to 90 and down. I use one weight to reach back and do triceps, trying to keep my elbows forward. Keeping arms straight, I lift to the side, then on the 10th do small circles for 10sec. Arms straight lift forwards, on the 10th hold for 10sec (this one kills me and is very very hard to do twice still). I'm doing "push ups" not on my knees, but still struggling to keep my body straight. She said that was better than doing them on my knees, because my form was almost there. This one is also a struggle, and I'm often pausing between repetitions to psych myself up to try again.
Core, again bodyweight: I do a 30 second plank. I was encouraged to do a pilates sit-up where you lower back down for 5 seconds, but other than once in the training session I haven't managed to recreate it and do the sit-up part correctly so unfortunately I do tend to skip it. I do the crunches and side crunches to knee. I added side planks as well because I also failed to do the Russian twists.
I end up being in the gym about 2 and a 1/2h doing this, with stretching and a shower. I'm not sure if I'm just not moving fast enough but it seems excessive.
I think you would benefit from a bit of additional structure. If anything, i would replace your routine with one of the ones on the list below. M&S full body being on the top of my list. Your program seems like a bunch of randomness and misses some of the key body parts.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
So a good 3-day full body routine + yoga on off days should help perform much better and over time, you should see more recovery.
Thank you for the input! I will look into that one specifically, I have looked at these programs before and generally found them to be beyond me, but that was a while ago and could use a revisit.
Edit: I looked at this one (glad it’s online and not a book) but it has a lot of different exercises I don’t know how to do yet, and I’m not exactly confident my form will be good if I’m not learning from a person. I also don’t think I can add weight to squats or lunges yet...
Any of the dumbbell training programs will be good.
Thank you. I am honestly quite nervous to try exercises I haven't had a person show me how to do them, but I will come back to this. Do you mind answering, which "key body parts" does the current routine miss? I thought it had all of them, the lower body, upper body, and core.
I don't see really and back work. Push up is ok, but there are more effective chest exercises. Your shoulder exercises hit 2 out of 3 heads and are more endurance than strength.
If you want to get stronger, i would have a program that helps you get stronger. That is how i would focus your training.
There does seem (to me) to be lots of back work, based on - my upper back/shoulder blades are sore when I do the one where I bend over and pull the weight back with my elbows close to my body. Thank you for the shoulder notes! Interesting. I will explore the programs more. I keep getting to "I can't do that" or "I don't know what that is" and nope-ing out, but maybe I'll find one that is simple enough, or I can try doing pieces of them (eg one new exercise) with my current routine and seeing how that goes to try to replace it as I learn how to do stuff. I'll look for back/shoulder stuff to start first.2
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