Soreness discouraging movement
kiela64
Posts: 1,447 Member
So basically I’ve barely moved for a year, lost all my fitness progress & regained most of the weight I lost a few years ago. I’ve finally started moving again, really light (3lb) and body weight interval stuff and walking. And everything hurts so much.
I realize soreness is normal, but it’s definitely in the way and discouraging me from doing more, especially when I end up with headaches. I know some basic stretches and use a heating pad, but maybe there’s more I can do that I just don’t know about?
I know from the past that this ends up resolving itself mostly once I’m in a bit of better shape. But after a 60min walk yesterday I’m basically limping 😬 so I thought I’d ask just in case.
I realize soreness is normal, but it’s definitely in the way and discouraging me from doing more, especially when I end up with headaches. I know some basic stretches and use a heating pad, but maybe there’s more I can do that I just don’t know about?
I know from the past that this ends up resolving itself mostly once I’m in a bit of better shape. But after a 60min walk yesterday I’m basically limping 😬 so I thought I’d ask just in case.
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Replies
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You're doing TOO MUCH for yourself to handle. Don't try to do what you USED TO before stopping. Drop that walk to 15-30 minutes. PATIENCE will take you about a month to just even start feeling okay with exericse. Many of my clients take 2 months to get even close to where they were when we left off.
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
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Oh yeah, if you went from being one with the couch to walking for a full hour all at once no wonder you're sore AF. Walking is an endurance sport, you gotta build that up over time. You didn't go into detail about the "really light (3lb) and body weight interval stuff" you're doing, that could be basically anything, but that you should probably also scale way back and build back up to what you were doing before.3
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You're doing TOO MUCH for yourself to handle. Don't try to do what you USED TO before stopping. Drop that walk to 15-30 minutes. PATIENCE will take you about a month to just even start feeling okay with exericse. Many of my clients take 2 months to get even close to where they were when we left off.
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 nutritiongoal06082021 wrote: »Oh yeah, if you went from being one with the couch to walking for a full hour all at once no wonder you're sore AF. Walking is an endurance sport, you gotta build that up over time. You didn't go into detail about the "really light (3lb) and body weight interval stuff" you're doing, that could be basically anything, but that you should probably also scale way back and build back up to what you were doing before.
Thank you! I'll clarify the specifics a little. I did try to start light (staying away from running or heavier weight or any moves my body is like "nope" to).
I walk to one of my jobs, so while I was basically one with the couch the rest of the time I'd get a 15min walk 2x a day 3 days a week. I would sometimes go for another 30min walk once or twice a week (sometimes to procure junk food with which to drown my sorrows lol). So it wasn't like, absolutely nothing, but it wasn't much.
I've recently started doing intentional exercise again, over the last 4 weeks. I started with just more 30min walks, not very consistently. I've been really struggling to get out there and do things again. This week I've been more successful and did a couple of callisthenics workouts. I've only done a couple prior, so that's probably the culprit. But I was also noticing previous weeks, either the day I did the 30min walk or the day after, I'd be very sore and basically regret working out and not really know how to deal with it other than a bit more stretching. Maybe the 60min was pushing it yesterday, it just felt like I was already there and I might as well.
Specifically what I did for the two intervals this week was an exercise for 30 seconds with a ten second break, and 3 rounds of 8 exercises. The exercises I did were: bodyweight squat, side lunge (very shallow), plank, bicycle (the core exercise on the floor, no real bicycle involved), pushup off of the wall, and this arm exercise I don't know the name of (but I was doing it before, it isn't new to me!).0 -
You also need to make sure you're properly hydrated - plenty of water, or better yet something with electrolytes. A rule of thumb is your urine should be straw to clear in color (absent a substance effecting color).
If you can tolerate them, NSAIDs (Aspirin, Ibuprofen) will help with the inflammation. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) will help with the pain, but not the inflammation. Because they have different mechanisms of action you can take both if you tolerate them well.1 -
If DOMS is setting in, that means the muscle ISN'T adapted to the workout you're doing. So scale back and increase little by little.You're doing TOO MUCH for yourself to handle. Don't try to do what you USED TO before stopping. Drop that walk to 15-30 minutes. PATIENCE will take you about a month to just even start feeling okay with exericse. Many of my clients take 2 months to get even close to where they were when we left off.
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 nutritiongoal06082021 wrote: »Oh yeah, if you went from being one with the couch to walking for a full hour all at once no wonder you're sore AF. Walking is an endurance sport, you gotta build that up over time. You didn't go into detail about the "really light (3lb) and body weight interval stuff" you're doing, that could be basically anything, but that you should probably also scale way back and build back up to what you were doing before.
Thank you! I'll clarify the specifics a little. I did try to start light (staying away from running or heavier weight or any moves my body is like "nope" to).
I walk to one of my jobs, so while I was basically one with the couch the rest of the time I'd get a 15min walk 2x a day 3 days a week. I would sometimes go for another 30min walk once or twice a week (sometimes to procure junk food with which to drown my sorrows lol). So it wasn't like, absolutely nothing, but it wasn't much.
I've recently started doing intentional exercise again, over the last 4 weeks. I started with just more 30min walks, not very consistently. I've been really struggling to get out there and do things again. This week I've been more successful and did a couple of callisthenics workouts. I've only done a couple prior, so that's probably the culprit. But I was also noticing previous weeks, either the day I did the 30min walk or the day after, I'd be very sore and basically regret working out and not really know how to deal with it other than a bit more stretching. Maybe the 60min was pushing it yesterday, it just felt like I was already there and I might as well.
Specifically what I did for the two intervals this week was an exercise for 30 seconds with a ten second break, and 3 rounds of 8 exercises. The exercises I did were: bodyweight squat, side lunge (very shallow), plank, bicycle (the core exercise on the floor, no real bicycle involved), pushup off of the wall, and this arm exercise I don't know the name of (but I was doing it before, it isn't new to me!).
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
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Totally agree with the others who have said you need to scale back.
To deal with the DOMS you might have now (or in the future) make sure you:
keep hydrated
stretch the muscle
foam roll or massage or both (it will feel uncomfortable but will help in the long run)
move as frequently as you can (it will feel uncomfortable but will help in the long run)
The more you can keep the blood flowing through the muscle the quicker the DOMS should ease so total rest for hours is not advisable (plus the DOMS will feel horrific when you do finally move - hence why DOMS is often at its most hideous when you wake up in the morning and get out of bed)2 -
Scale back and build up0
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Rather than make yourself sore and seek ways to treat it moderate your workouts to prevent soreness.
Start from where you are, not where you wish you were.
Interval training with very short recovery periods can wait a few weeks. Be a bit kinder to yourself, exercise really doesn't have to hurt to be beneficial. It's also unlikely that making your return to regular exercise a struggle and painful will actually progress you any quicker than progressing more gently.
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If you don't have a foam roller, try a tennis ball. Instead of a heating pad use an ice pack. If your feet are really sore, soak them in ice water. It hurts while doing it..I cant last long but it definitely helps. I agree about the advil/tylenol combo.
Keep moving, it gets easier.
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