Muscular Pain Due to Uncommon Exertion

[Rasori]

So, I'm not a fit person. In nice terms, I'd call myself an overweight-bordering-on-obese lazy slug. But, the point of the matter is that I'm working to change that.

 

I go to the gym in the morning, and I'm working on a M-W-F schedule, eventually I'll probably mix a fourth day in.

 

My question is a simple one. Because of my overweight and lazy nature, going to the gym (when I actually work out a decent bit) causes muscle pains. No pain, no gain, right? The question then becomes, if I am still in pain 48 hours later when I go to the gym again, what is my best option? Is it to seek medical help because I should have recovered, to wait until I do recover to go again, to take it easier until I've recovered, or to push through it?

 

Just don't want to injure myself too badly. I'm not in any excruciating pain, it's just, y'know, the type of "well, if I can avoid that position, I certainly should," pain. Thanks!

[Phi for All]

From a strictly anecdotal standpoint, you probably overdid it a bit, but just a bit. It probably took you a long time to get in bad shape so don't try to fix it overnight.

 

The pain is normal, even after 48 hours, if you're not used to it. You will build up endurance and muscle tone and you'll have to work harder to "feel the burn".

 

Build up to it gradually if you're afraid of injuries. Stressing isn't supposed to be part of the program. And grats on thinking highly enough of yourself to take some action.

 

For the rest of us who need to exercise more, quid tu moraris?

[blike]

48 hours is definitely within the normal range of recovery period. Find a workout plan that works you hard enough to be sore, but not so hard that you're still sore 2 days later. Don't push through the pain just to workout again, your body needs that healing time. As Phi says, you'll start having to work harder and harder to get sore. In college when I worked out regularly, I really had to do something extraordinary to feel even a little bit sore the next day.

[Rasori]

Thanks. I kinda figured as much (definitely knew I'd work to the point of not getting so sore), but it's always good to check.

 

TBH, I don't think I'm too concerned about injuring myself, but there're always so many warnings around about not overdoing it that I want to confirm I'm not.

 

I've heard from some source before (possibly my cool but cooky health teacher) that the best course of action is to go when still sore, just not quite as sore as the day after. I think the reasoning behind this was that if you wait for the muscle to completely heal, then you're just going to wound it again when you go, whereas if you go while it is still somewhat wounded, you're not going to undo as much of the healing process. Something like that.

 

Is there any merit to that statement or is it just a load of crocks? Just out of curiousity.

[Realitycheck]

Thanks. I kinda figured as much (definitely knew I'd work to the point of not getting so sore), but it's always good to check.

 

TBH, I don't think I'm too concerned about injuring myself, but there're always so many warnings around about not overdoing it that I want to confirm I'm not.

 

I've heard from some source before (possibly my cool but cooky health teacher) that the best course of action is to go when still sore, just not quite as sore as the day after. I think the reasoning behind this was that if you wait for the muscle to completely heal, then you're just going to wound it again when you go, whereas if you go while it is still somewhat wounded, you're not going to undo as much of the healing process. Something like that.

 

Is there any merit to that statement or is it just a load of crocks? Just out of curiousity.

 

Actually, you want to be completely recovered when you lift again, otherwise scarring can set into your muscle fibers, more and more until it is very painful and takes a while to get it removed IF you even have a qualified therapist in your area. It's kind of a new specialty.

 

As noted, the more and more you condition yourself, the harder and harder it will be to get sore, but obviously that is a ways off for you. You can either lighten your workload, 3 times a week, or you can change your schedule. Recently, my schedule has been each body part once a week, focusing on hitting each body part extensively and from every angle. There are often a number of different muscles associated with a joint that are only used in a small number of exercises, plus hitting them from different angles also has an effect on filling them out completely. However, in the beginning stages, you want to be doing combination lifts instead of isolation exercises, in order to build core strength which will help you later on down the road.

 

It is very easy to make your muscles sore for a good 5 days, so don't overdo it. On a side note, if are extremely sore, very light aerobic exercise can help the blood flow to the muscles and flush the muscle of lactic acid buildup and promote quicker recovery, but this shouldn't be used on a regular basis.

 

Lastly, be sure that you are doing proper stretching and warm-up for your lifts, as this can greatly help you avoid injury, scarring, and unnecessary tightness and pain. The best way is to do the first set extremely light and then stretch the appropriate muscles for 10-12 seconds. Repeat this with slightly higher weight and then carry on with your workout. The older we get, the more important this becomes as we lose elasticity.

 

Actually, what you need to do is arrange your work out schedule accordingly. What I would do if I were you is something like this.

 

M Legs, Abs

W Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

F Back, Biceps, Cardio

 

It's always good to do as much cardio as possible. If you are overweight, it is important to lift weights, as this will increase your metabolic rate, but cardio is even more important, as it actually burns the fat, improves your circulation, enlarges your lung capacity, releases stress, the list goes on and on.

[Rasori]

At the moment I seem to be doing alright (I am a fat lazy slug, but there has always been the occasional physical activity, and I've done the gym thing before, so I seem to be taking to it pretty well). The way I've been doing it is what I believe is called "circuit training." Basically, spending a long time at the gym bores me, and spending any significant part of that time on a treadmill or similar also bores me, so instead I spend my time between sets with one muscle group on a different muscle group, and swap back and forth accordingly. This keeps my heart rate up and, if I remember correctly, makes my whole workout serve as a kind of cardio.

 

I also have a plus in that I'm only 17, so, as was mentioned before I'm a little more elastic (both as far as stretching before working out and recovering after a workout) than, say, my father.

[Realitycheck]

Yeah, I can see how you would run into this problem with circuit training. If you want to keep doing that, then I would maybe try to structure your workouts so that you're lifting with different muscles on different days. It's better to work one muscle group more intensely and be sore for longer than to work out with sore muscles. You could also get creative to make it work, use exercises that you wouldn't normally use in circuit training, just keeping it light. Stick to it and you'll be glad you did.

[Rasori]

Here's a curious thing to throw out there: after the first day (last Friday), I became sore late Friday night and remained sore until going to the gym Monday morning (barely sore by that point, but it was still there).

 

After going Monday, however, I came home with no actual muscle aches, and after developing midday Monday, they were gone that evening, and haven't resurfaced.

 

I did the same workout both days, it amazes me that I don't have similar pains.

[GutZ]

If your trying to lose weight....weightlifting isnt the way....You need to do the cardiovascular activities....

 

I've done weightlifting for one and a half years and only gained weight (excluding muscle mass gain). for the past few months I've been doing more cardio and lost 20 pounds, you need to do stuff like h.i.i.t training if jogging is boring to you....but I warn you it's not that fun in the beginning

 

Basically spirit as fast as you can for 45 sec, then jog for 2mins. repeat for like 10 -15mins or as much as you can.

 

look into it. Cardio is very important.

 

And for soreness what agentchange said is really good advice, because rest is very important.

 

M Legs, Abs

W Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

F Back, Biceps, Cardio

 

Group activities by action. Pull/Push, that way you are work one group one day, and the next day you don't over do that group and work out the other group, so there is a day rest between exercise, and have atleast 1 day rest with no weightlifting within a week.

 

and also look at what you eat and try to make it far more healthier...

 

At first it all sucks but you'll realize that later its because you body just is too good at adjusting to whatever you do, soon you' crave weightlifting lol.

[Mag]

as others have said, its definitely normal

 

when i first started working out, i would be sore anywhere from 1-3 days (or even 4 if it was a "hard" work out) afterwards.

now that I work out on a weekly basis, recovery time is much faster.

[iNow]

Try adding 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after your workout to stretch. Also, eat or drink protien within an hour of working out.

 

Working out tears down muscles, forces blood and energy through your body, and activates new parts of your brain. As you continue working out, your muscles rebuild stronger, your blood and energy flow more efficiently, and your brain has desensitized to the pain.

 

Like the first time you smoke a cigarette. You cough and choke and your eyes water... but then, you get used to it, and you become much better at it. The beauty here is that working out is good for your health, where smoking is not.

 

All in all.. stretch. Hydrate before, during, and after, then eat or drink protien so your muscles have the building blocks to rebuild. Enjoy.

[Wormwood]

I am torn on this one. I am currently in school for medicine, but I have trained in martial arts for 10 years. My medical training wants to tell you the same thing as everyone else; that you should go easy on your body and not work out when sore. However, the martial artist side wants to tell you to push through the pain. When weight lifting you are going to hit a ceiling every time. If you lift 50lbs 20 times and stop at 20 every time when your muscles are tired and hurting, you will never get stronger. If you push for say 25 one day and 30 a few weeks later, you are getting stronger but you will probably be sore if your max is usually 20. Don't get me wrong, there is a fine line between pushing yourself and over doing it, but if your muscles are still physically capable of doing work, let them. It becomes dangerous when you work to the point of mechanical failure (i.e. your arm collapses from under you during push ups). Don't push so hard that you are useless the next day, but stopping every time you are uncomfortable won't help much either. You have to find a balance that you can tolerate; but don't sell yourself short when determining your limits.

 

iNow gave some good advice also. Be sure to drink plenty of water and have lots of protein in your diet so your body can quickly repair the damaged muscle tissue (soreness usually results from minor tears in the muscle tissue). If you have issues with muscle cramping after a work out, just take in more electrolytes.

[iNow]

My medical training wants to tell you the same thing as everyone else; that you should go easy on your body and not work out when sore. However, the martial artist side wants to tell you to push through the pain.

When I was preparing for my blackbelt test (hehehe... I love saying that), we would engage in a form of training which translates roughly as "Iron shirt" training. Basically, it was a series of techniques to make the body more... well... more iron-like. In addition to some isometric techniques known as an active form of meditation called "I chin-chings," we would do things like finger tip pushups, jamming fingers into buckets of stones, punching rock bags, hitting each side of our forearms against wood posts, and rolling iron bars (30lbs to start, 150 to 200 lbs after years of training) across our shins.

 

This was a benefit in a number of ways (but I strongly suggest to all readers... very strongly... to find a teacher who earns your trust to walk through such things... doing this at home could... well... cause you some significantly increased hospital bills). The bones would become denser, the body would become more solid (I would always laugh when the other person would grimmace during a shin to shin sweep), and the mind more adept to accept the pain.

 

There's a neat little spot in the spine where the pain signal, on it's way to the brain, can actually be shot off consciously. However, I've derailed this thread enough.

 

 

Find someone who you trust.

Be patient with yourself. Don't expect to blow up overnight. Good results are earned, not requested.

Make it a lifestyle choice, not a hobby.

Take care of your body with fluids, protien, and rest.

 

 

Martial arts is not about fighting or warriorship. It's about realizing and nurturing your body, your mind, and your relation to the universe around you.

 

 

Now... if the pain continues for more than 3 or 4 days, you probably did something wrong and need some repair work.

[Wormwood]

^^^ Perfect synopsis.

 

BTW I also did some Iron body training; did you happen to use one of the sanchin forms? (Sorry to diverge, but it's rare that I meet people that even know what I'm talking about ) Besides, I think it is relevant when discussing pain from working out, since those were some of the most painful workouts I have ever had. The end result was worth every beating.

[iNow]

BTW I also did some Iron body training; did you happen to use one of the sanchin forms? (Sorry to diverge, but it's rare that I meet people that even know what I'm talking about )

A form of kung fu, rooted in the Shaolin, complete with animal forms and weapons.