View Full Version : Help: Weight Lifting Gurus
I use to work out on and off. The thing I hate the most is starting over and getting the soreness over with. What's a good way to start back up? Should I isolate some muscles first? I really want to get all the soreness away asap.
DD977GM2
10-11-2012, 18:58
Just grin and bear it. Drink shitloads of water and pedialyte is also a good thing.
Nothing you can do to really escape the soreness. [Weight]
you can either not work out, watch other people on TV work out, or workout and enjoy the pain[Tooth]
I was in the same boat 4-5 weeks ago...
DO NOT try to go big immediately!!!! I suggest doing a bit of circuit style lifting for your first few visits to get your muscles used to lifting again. After a few "light" workouts you can start in earnest.
I've gone the route of just going for it and OMG, the next day I couldn't even lift my arms over my head to wash my hair. I was so sore I wound up not going for 5 days....
I'm feeling pretty good and have the "typical" soreness from going big now. But its not "crippling"....
No sure fire way to prevent muscle soreness after a workout. There are a few ways to make it more tolerable:
- stretch before and after each workout as well as every day. 20 min of stretching per 1 hr of lifting is a good starting point.
- Hydration. Be adequately hydrated all the time. Remember, it takes 24+ hours to properly hydrate for a single event. Start a habit ot always drinking water now.
- Don't over do it. Stop before you start losing form and risk injuring yourself.
- Use ice/heat after your workout on affected muscles and a massage if you can afford it/ your other half can do it.
- Eat well, eat right. Foods with lots of Potassium will help ease the soreness (bananas, potatoes, etc...)
- did I mention STRETCH?!?
DSB OUTDOORS
10-11-2012, 20:28
In my case, No brain, no pain!! [Coffee] It's mind over matter! If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!
Sharpienads
10-11-2012, 20:38
Remember to drink lots of milk!
One Shot
10-11-2012, 20:41
No sure fire way to prevent muscle soreness after a workout. There are a few ways to make it more tolerable:
- stretch before and after each workout as well as every day. 20 min of stretching per 1 hr of lifting is a good starting point.
- Hydration. Be adequately hydrated all the time. Remember, it takes 24+ hours to properly hydrate for a single event. Start a habit ot always drinking water now.
- Don't over do it. Stop before you start losing form and risk injuring yourself.
- Use ice/heat after your workout on affected muscles and a massage if you can afford it/ your other half can do it.
- Eat well, eat right. Foods with lots of Potassium will help ease the soreness (bananas, potatoes, etc...)
- did I mention STRETCH?!?
I agree with all this above. Stay hydrated with water. Potassium really helps me. Protein shake right after a workout. Multi vitamin and I typically do a glutamine and arginine supplement. Stretch but dont over stretch.
If you're just getting back into the gym then I would start out slow and work you're way up to higher intensity workouts. Make each workout count but know when you're fatigued. You're gonna be sore regardless, maybe not as much though.
JM Ver. 2.0
10-11-2012, 20:59
Could have my problem.... I don't get sore any more.... :-( I miss it.
SQL Tracker
10-11-2012, 21:39
Start with the big muscles and they add smaller ones as you regain the stabilization muscles. You probably know how it should feel, stay with that. Don't worry about the weight for now.
Glutamine is great.
GNC makes a vitamin pack that has a couple glutamine pills in it.. There are also several post workout recovery options that have it.
Iirc the GNC pack was more effective/ higher glutamine but it's pricey.
I would honestly say don't over do it.. warm up. Stretch. Take it easy till you get used to it, don't try and get into it quick.. You'll do more damage than good if you do.
glutamine and/or arginine. work out for 2-4 weeks straight and you won't feel sore anymore even when busting your ass.
Don't forget your hands and wrist. Go to iron minds.com and look at the c.o.c. Grip tools and thorns hammer. Remember a strong back is important. Squats
And yes I am a fat man. But I can close the 2.5 any day, and the 3 on a good day. Working my way up slowly loosing the weight.
Start with high rep and low weight, randomize your workouts, and gradually add weight. You want to condition your muscles before you start tearing them down. If you push it in the first 10 workouts, you will be miserable.
Take care of your joints and don't destroy them like I did.
Delfuego
10-12-2012, 10:18
Lift with your legs... not your back[Poke]
tmleadr03
10-12-2012, 12:35
When ever I start up again with lifting I get sore for two weeks and then nothing till I stop again. When i say sore I mean when I do arms I have trouble washing my hair that night because I cant lift my arms.
Hydrate and eat some bananas.
When ever I start up again with lifting I get sore for two weeks and then nothing till I stop again. When i say sore I mean when I do arms I have trouble washing my hair that night because I cant lift my arms.
Shave your head....problem solved.
DavieD55
10-12-2012, 13:58
Like others have mentioned lift/eat/rest/water. Not much you can do about DOMS for the first few weeks.
You should hurt, it's workin out. I love it! My philosophy is the more you hurt, the better you did. After all, you don't grow more muscle without ripping and tearing up what you currently have
Sharpienads
10-12-2012, 15:17
When ever I start up again with lifting I get sore for two weeks and then nothing till I stop again. When i say sore I mean when I do arms I have trouble washing my hair that night because I cant lift my arms.
Hydrate and eat some bananas.
Same with me. I can't hardly squat to drop a deuce, and my arms feel like I can't reach the top of my head. Super soreness for about two weeks, and then I'm gtg.
tmleadr03
10-12-2012, 16:18
Same with me. I can't hardly squat to drop a deuce, and my arms feel like I can't reach the top of my head. Super soreness for about two weeks, and then I'm gtg.
You have not lived till you do legs in a gym that is on the second floor.
I hope this isn't OT, but does anybody here have any experience or opinions about the TRX system?
I went to GNC and picked up some Whey protein. The worker there gave me a sample of some pre-work out and I took it 20 minutes prior to lifting. I took a protein shake after my work out yesterday, now today I don't even feel sore but I can feel my muscles a little "tired". Is this normal? Should I skip a day or two to lift again?
DavieD55
10-13-2012, 09:40
Wait a day then go back but work out a different muscle group.
Are you doing a split workout routine or a full body workout?
I do split routines. But yesterday I worked my upper body lightly. I've done this plenty of times and got sore for 3-5 days. But this time I took the pre-work out and some Whey and I'm almost not sore at all.
DavieD55
10-13-2012, 10:00
Ok, so if you did chest, shoulders,and triceps, i would say wait a day and then do legs. wait another day then do back and biceps. Rest two days and start over. Even though you dont feel sore i wouldn't workout the same muscle group again for atleast 3 days.
Time for cardio then....go run a few miles at a moderate pace (yes it's raining outside...suck it up).
Go to bodybuilding.com and find a workout plan for yourself. It will take all of the guess work out of this that your doing. They have meal and supplement plans to go with the workout plan that you choose. You don't have to be a member, just go to the site, pick a plan and got to work!
As far as soreness goes, if you workout the same muscles with the same exercises all the time your body will get use to it. From my own personal experience, I so different exercises weekly for the muscle that I work. That way you keep your muscles confused and hit muscles in different ways! Have fun bud!
Your muscles get sore from a buildup of lactic acid that causes damage to your muscle cells. To minimize this you just need to put in as much cardio as you can after your strength training workout. This gets your blood flowing and flushes the lactic acid out of your muscles where your liver filters it out before it causes as much damage.
Plan your workout to accommodate a transition to focused strength training. Start with muscles that heal quickly, specifically core, calf and forearm muscle exercises. These muscle groups contain smaller muscles that are able to heal fast, but most importantly are required at some level or another for working out all other muscle groups and you want them to be strong and conditioned before you try larger muscle groups or risk injury to these smaller weaker muscles.
Interval training seems to provide the most benefit for me. You gain real power and endurance instead of puffy useless muscle. The muscle that I put on is much denser and stronger, and the overall level of pain is low compared to body building style muscle isolation workouts. I do sets based on time, not reps (though I keep the weight high enough to make it hard to keep lifting for the whole time) and have 30 second or less cool down periods between sets. I drink lots of water between sets. I always end lifting with combination exercises that work multiple muscle groups together including my focus group for the day. This improves balance and coordination. The last thing I do is run 2 miles as fast as I can, then slow down to about an 8 mph pace and run until I run out or either time or energy. This seems to flush out my muscles pretty good, and adds the endurance part to the workout.
Big picture:
-Warm up and stretch thoroughly
-Drink lots of water
-Work up to working out starting with core and support muscles first
-Finish with cardio so that you flush out the lactic acid
-No pain = you're not doing it right.
I went to GNC and picked up some Whey protein. The worker there gave me a sample of some pre-work out and I took it 20 minutes prior to lifting. I took a protein shake after my work out yesterday, now today I don't even feel sore but I can feel my muscles a little "tired". Is this normal? Should I skip a day or two to lift again?
Whey protein is all well and good, but the average American consumes 3 - 5 times as much protein as their body can process already. It has its place, but when you are starting out, I would not bother with protein. It is an extra expense and chances are you are just crapping it out.
Ok, so if you did chest, shoulders,and triceps, i would say wait a day and then do legs. wait another day then do back and biceps. Rest two days and start over. Even though you dont feel sore i wouldn't workout the same muscle group again for atleast 3 days.
This is the right idea. Combine your workouts into groups of muscles that work together. For example: Chest and Triceps (arm pushing day 1), leg pushing (day 2), Back and biceps(Arms pulling day 3), leg pulling (day 4) and combine shoulders, core, forearms and calf's into as many of the individual workouts as you can. This does not mean that you do them all back to back, but just that you have a balanced scheduled rotation that you keep so that you build equally all muscle groups. You should not start working out a muscle that is already sore. You increase your chance for an injury, and will not realize any strength gains until the muscle has healed so you can not progress. It is a waste of time.
There is no set amount of time between workouts, just that you wait long enough for the muscle to heal so that it is stronger the next time that you use it.
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