Hey guys,

After exam period - 3 or so months since I've lifted or done anything but study...

So I started lifting 5kg on each dumbell (I used to do 20kg before exams!) and I've been using them twice a day working on my pecs, biceps and triceps and to do situps...But my muscles are aching today.

Should I carry on working on them or should I wait for the ache to go? I've done stretches and used a massager on the aching parts.

Thanks

Noah.

I am no expert. I have heard and been taught that your muscles need a break so, don't train the same ones on back to back days. Right now I only train one muscle group once a week. Muscles need a break to recover.

I was really sore when I first started and my trainer suggested getting a rolling pin (a massager would work too) and rolling it over the muscle that is sore to help loosen some of the built up lactic acid that is inside it. It was kind of painful because I was really sore (my legs) but, it worked and helped the soreness go away.

-Sam

It could be DOMS- Delayed onset muscle soreness. I'd go by your comfort level. When I'm just sore and achey, lifting again the following scheduled day alleviates most of the acheyness. If it's pain, and not just soreness, then I skip the next scheduled day, but I haven't had to do that in a while. If soreness or pain increases with the next scheduled workout, then I know it's not DOMS and stop.

Well, of course it is always a good idea with weight training to take breaks between working specific body areas. Everyone will tell you that and the whole bodybuilding industry has been built around it. Good policy.

However, one thing I have learned recently is that my biggest problem in the past with reaching my goals has been stopping EVERYTIME something was sore or achey. After talking to so many weight loss winners and success stories, they all told me the exact same thing. No Pain, No Gain. Really. If a person expects weight loss and fitness to come painlessly they are in for a big suprise. It should be so easy..... But it aint.

The truly successful people I have seen here online and in real life all say pain is part of the process and you need to simply work past it and through it. When I first started out in earnest my back would KILL me after a 20 minute walk. The advice I got from my overweight friends and family, take a few days off. Then it would kill me again, and a few days off, pain again, time off, etc. Long story short I reduced the amount of overall pain, but I was NOT losing weight or getting closer to my goals. Then I started talking to people who told me pain and aching is part of the process, so I started pushing past the shin splints and backaches, and kept walking. Soon that 20 minute walk that had been hurting me for 3 months (on and off with the breaks) wasnt painful in the slightest, even though I had walked every day that week. Then I upped it to 30 minutes, then 40, then 2 hours, then running, etc. I did not stop everytime it hurt, I just pushed through it and kept going, and it went away. Magic! Now 61 pounds lighter (for the first time ever as an adult) I can run further than I ever thought I could walk, and it doesnt hurt at all!!

The same thing happens in the gym. After a long period of inactivity you can be damn sure that your first workout, even though much smaller than your previous accomplishments, IS GOING TO HURT!!! If it doesn't you aren't doing something right! 5kg is a lot of weight if the only thing you lifted for 3 months before that was a pencil, regardless of how much you used to lift. Part of the process. But you can bet your bottom dollar it wont hurt so much in a week.

But take it slow. The last thing you want to do is hurt yourself and cause an injury which will force you to take a break. But if it is just stiffness and soreness, get some muscle rub, try to get some sympathy massages (preferably from someone cute) and ride it out. Don't stop for a week because it is sore, otherwise the next week you will be sore again, and again, etc.

To me it is the same as when I worked on the contstruction site and I asked my boss if I needed gloves. He said its up to you. If you wear gloves you wont get big painful blisters and calluses on your hands. But every time you forget or lose your gloves, you will suffer the next day big time. Or, you can take the suffering up front, build the calluses and hardness in your hands for the first week. Your hands will hurt like hell the first week, but they will never hurt again, whether you bring your gloves or not. I tried both ways, and trust me, it was worth working through the pain first and not suffering later.

Running for me was the same way. I suffered at first driving my 260 pound frame to lengths it had never gone before. And it hurt like hell. But if I took time off everytime I was sore I would still be running only 1 day a week and whining the other 6 about how sore I was. Instead I run 5-6 days a week now and feel freaking great! Pushing past the discomfort made all the difference. It doesn't make me more manly, just stronger and fitter and ready for anything to come.

I hope that helps.

sirant

It could also be the fact that your body needs more protein.

Sirant - great post

As it's been said, this is pretty normal. I'm almost always a bit sore a day or two afterwards, which to be honest I enjoy, as it means that I'm doing enough, and after I had a 2 month break from the gym this year, when I started again I was very sore. You should work out til the point where your muscles are starting to be fatigued.

This article is quite good at explaining why it happens, and what DOMS is:
Sore Muscles? Don't Stop Exercising

EDIT: just like to add that if you're very very sore to the point where you cannot do things (it's normal to be in discomfort while trying to reach something if you did your arms, or when you laugh if you did your abs, but anuthing more isnt), and the pain doesn't go after 3 days or so, then this is not good - you might have strained yourself.

As it's been said, push yourself hard enough, get into a sweat, but don't push yourself so hard that you injure yourself. Listen to your body too - too sore = rest for a few days, as it's been said by sirant.

And pain during exercise is also different from pain afterward. A pulling sensation or pinching could also be a sign of an impinged nerve or tendon or a pulled ligament or tendon. Working past that pain is not a good idea. DOMS typically starts 2-24 hours post workout and can last 24-72 hours. An impingement may not even be painful, but could be serious and is likely only to hurt during the activity that causes the impingement. Impingements typically happen in the shoulder however because of the many tendons going through there and the limited space in the glenoid fossa (shoulder cavity). Pulls can happen pretty much anywhere.

Nerve impingement vs tendon or ligament impingement is that with nerves pain may run down the arm. With a tendon or ligament, the discomfort is typically local.

My experience with a pulled tendon is that it was not painful at all. It felt like a drop of water was falling on the same spot over and over every time I walked. I had no pain, which can also happen with impingements. It took weeks before I had pain and when I finally went to see my doctor, I think he wanted to smack me for not coming in sooner. But, it was only uncomfortable so at the time I didn't realize the damage I was doing. My achilles tendon still bothers me at times but now I know to back off right away.

Your DOMS should be gone within 7 days, assuming you are not straining yourself by lifting too much weight. If your muscles need more time to recover than that, you are probably lifiting too much weight, or doing too many reps.

When you can lift a certain amount of weight without soreness afterward, that's an indicator that you can start doing more reps or lift more weight. Just don't rush into it... I always have problems when I get too aggressive with doing added weight weight.

They usually say it takes between 48-72 hours for the muscles to fully recover. So it is generally a good idea to give the rest time. If you dont you will start to lose muscle. To help prevent soreness try doing your cardio after you lift it will help remove the lactic acid from the muscles.