Two questions.

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samanthanic0le
samanthanic0le Posts: 81 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm very new to anything to do with exercising. I worked out quite a bit yesterday/today. My ankles/calves are very sore. Is it good to let them heal before I got at it again? I've heard mixed answers so I'd like to hear from anyone who is knowledgeable about this, hopefully from personal experience.

A little background: I'm about 100 pounds over what I'd like to be. I'm 5'6" and weight 235. I'd love to get down to 140, but realistically I could look fine at 150. It's just going to have to depend on when I get there. I have a fairly girly/hourglass body type in the sense of my hips/chest. For example, a few years ago I weighed nearly 60 pounds less than I do right now, and my jeans size was only down ONE size. I wear a 16 right now, and when I was 170 lbs I wore a 14. Isn't that crazy?! Okay, anyway. Sorry!

Next question: Have you seen better results eating back your calories that you've worked off, or do you just leave them. I've been eating back most of them, because I think it's healthier for my body, but once again, I'm very uneducated on this and I'd like to know your opinions & experiences.


Thank you ahead of time!

xoxo

Replies

  • samanthanic0le
    samanthanic0le Posts: 81 Member
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    Anyone?
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    depends what you mean. If you walked today and your ankles are sore, you should be fine to walk tomorrow but take it easy. If you did something strenuous like jumping around then do something lighter like walking. You should NOT need to stay off your feet entirely or anything - just don't do the exact same thing you did to cause the strain yesterday.
  • yellowsubmarineinpepperland
    yellowsubmarineinpepperland Posts: 45
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    I had the same problem, but I found exercising to help, I think maybe the mussels just get stronger and stops the pain? good luck! :)
  • TDGee
    TDGee Posts: 2,209 Member
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    Stay well hydrated, take ibuprofen for the pain. Rest for a day or so, workout another area on leg rest day. Keep rotating workout zones.
  • Cold_Steel
    Cold_Steel Posts: 897 Member
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    1. Depends on your level of soreness... If you have shin splints - those pains in the front of your legs between knee and ankle I would rest a day or two. If it is just general muscle soreness you can keep going.

    2. Eating back your calories - This is a topic of much debate here.

    My suggestion and what has worked for me is - there is no absolute. Regardless of what you do you cannot accurately determine to the degree of exact calorie intake and energy burned so what I generally do is: eat back roughly half of my work out calories. Why do I do this ? The real calorie burn is not all that accurate and I would rather be at a deficit than over. I really don't work out every day so I am not going into the other debated topic of MFP and that is the dreaded "starvation mode"

    My food generally looks like this

    Daily intake is 1750 if I say burn 750 calories I will try to eat say 300 of those or so. Sometimes I don't eat any back sometimes I eat them all back.

    The key in my opinion is constantly making your body guess what it is doing next. Go up, go down, stay the same for a few days drop down drastically go up drastically. It works for me.
  • Danny_Boy13
    Danny_Boy13 Posts: 2,094 Member
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    It is always good to make sure and stretch or foam roll any sore parts of the body the next day or two after. If your legs are sore then you should give them a little rest but do not totally shut everything down. Go for a walk, use the elliptical, ect. You need to move around and make sure to get those muscles and tissue loosen up again. I use my legs a lot in my sport (inline speed skating) and our new members ALWAYS have this issue when first starting and the key to fast recovery and preventing it from happening again is it make sure that you are warmed up before training (dynamic stretches) fuel up before, during and after training and be sure to do some static stretches after you are finished. The next day or two should be focused on some stretching, but not to the point that you tear something (I have seen this first hand and it does not look fun) and or foam rolling along with some movement to stretch out that tissue. After a couple days you will still most likely be a little sore but range of motion should be almost at 100%.
  • HollyRutledge
    HollyRutledge Posts: 250 Member
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    Stay well hydrated, take ibuprofen for the pain. Rest for a day or so, workout another area on leg rest day. Keep rotating workout zones.
    I agree....and the ONE week I decided before to eat back the calories, I started gaining it back, so I do not eat them back, and as long as I don't I lose.
  • CallmeSbo
    CallmeSbo Posts: 611 Member
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    If i were you, i would workout the upper body the next day or/and go for a walk. To answer your question. I started around same weight as you. I was 108kg. I am now down to 91kg. Its still early days and No i did not eat my exercise calories. Its only now that i am eating 30% to 45% of them, only because i am trainin for a half marathon and i am hungry more. Thirdly do you have a HRM? DONOT rely one MFP to give you calories burned, they HIGHLY OVERESTIMATE calories burned. If you want to eat your calories back do not eat more than 50%.
  • twiztedgrl69
    twiztedgrl69 Posts: 191 Member
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    as far as your pants size, I'm the same way...I will lose it in that area but I can't shrink my hip bones....it's just how I am built

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