[Altari]

I got my gym membership. I went on Friday and did some hard core weight lifting.

Then I walked like my grandma all weekend, lol.

So, I went again tonight, despite my body reminding me of the indignities I suffered over the weekend. I was still a bit sore, but nothing mind numbingly painful.

I had a gym membership back when my first daughter was just a baby, and I never went. I'm loving this, though. I get away from my kicks for 2 hours and feel all limber and sweaty and good-sore, like my body is using itself.

This is GOOD, right? I mean, muscle soreness [not pain] after a good workout is a sign that I'm doing it right?

[GatorgalstuckinGA]

muscle soreness is a sign of working out. You want to make sure you don't overdo it. but yes, muscle sorenesss is a sign of working out. Several things that will help take the soreness out includes, take cool shower after working out. Drink lots of water. take an antiinflammatory. Stretch, stretch and strecth..that night, the next day etc. Also, it helps if the next day you repeat your workout...but light...in otherwords do light easy reps of the same exercises. Sounds weird/funny, but it helps the muscles to work out some of the lactic acid...which is what makes the soreness.

[JayEll]

Hey! Good for you for going to the gym! I love the gym!

You can expect to feel some muscle soreness, given that you are doing activities that you haven't done in a long while. It should not be crippling bad pain, though--that is a sign of overdoing it. Many folks have a tendency to overdo, as though they have to get fit in one session, or they already are fit. Don't be one of them! I assume your trainer at the gym has given you a list of how many reps, sets, etc. to do--so follow that.

If you didn't have a training session--well, most gyms do offer them--take advantage of it.

Jay

[modkittn]

I second Jay. I joined a gym this month, and it came with free training sessions (about 1 every 3-4 months) and I took advantage of it first thing. I sometimes feel sore after working out with the weights, but never to the point you described. Again I agree with Jay here. If you are in pain and not just sore (i.e. walking hunched over, etc) then you should re-evaluate your workout. If you meet with a trainer, they should be able to start you off with the exercises, seat positions, and weights that are appropriate for you. From there, you will be able to increase the weight over time. Good luck!

[QuilterInVA]

I go along with those who say you have overdone it. Muscles should not be so painful they don't recover quickly. Dragging around all weekend is a sure sign you have not done it correctly or done too much too soon.

[baffled111]

It's completely normal to feel very stiff and sore after working out when you're first starting. When I first starting lifting weights I couldn't walk properly for days after a workout! It's a normal consequence of working muscles that aren't used to being worked. Light cardio can help, stretching can help, a hot bath can help. At any rate, your body will get used to it after a couple of weeks and you'll just get to be a 'good' sore after you workout. You just gotta push through the first few weeks.

But do give yourself plenty of time for recovery. At least 1 full day, 2 or 3 if you feel like you need it. You can do cardio on the other days.

[Altari]

Originally Posted by baffled111

It's completely normal to feel very stiff and sore after working out when you're first starting. When I first starting lifting weights I couldn't walk properly for days after a workout! It's a normal consequence of working muscles that aren't used to being worked.

That's what I had thought. I had always heard that the first weight-training workout was the worst.

I read through the other responses and got a bit worried. Although, I'm happy to report, that after 2 days off I did the same workout and didn't experience the same problems. The front of my legs twinge a little when I crouch, and my arms don't really want to lift anything over 20 pounds, lol. But I'm not walking like my grandma.

[baffled111]

That's good. You know you've had a good workout when you can barely hold up the hair dryer the next morning.



ETA: Now that you've started lifting weights, come join us in the Weight Training Forum. There's lots of info out there!

[denialisnthappiness]

um hope no one minds me popping onto the end of this. I go to the gym and do cardio and weights etc and whilst I was a bit sore at first I'm not really that sore now... I'll occasionally move a certain way and think 'ah ok lifting arms like that reminds me of those muscles I tried to work last night' but not really waking up on a regular basis feeling a 'soft' soreness or anything. Indicates I'm either doing it right and body is just getting better or not doing it right at all

[ennay]

Originally Posted by denialisnthappiness

um hope no one minds me popping onto the end of this. I go to the gym and do cardio and weights etc and whilst I was a bit sore at first I'm not really that sore now... I'll occasionally move a certain way and think 'ah ok lifting arms like that reminds me of those muscles I tried to work last night' but not really waking up on a regular basis feeling a 'soft' soreness or anything. Indicates I'm either doing it right and body is just getting better or not doing it right at all

You should be getting less sore. If you are super sore after starting a new workout type that is one thing, but if you continue, you will not continue to be that sore. You should be increasing something about your workout each time however to keep from over adapting

How sore you get is partly fitness, and partly genetic. Even if I have been totally sedentary it takes A LOT for me to get really sore, some muscles more than others. Like abs...one good ab workout and I can be crippled the next day, but most other activities, I have to really really do a lot to be sore. Like I went lap swimming the other day for the first time in almost 2 years and then lifted weights after and I was a little sore for a couple hours and fine by that night.

My friend however is a pretty active person, and if she does anything new she can barely move the next day...hardly matters what it is. If she misses 2 weeks of yoga and then goes back, she will be so sore she can barely move.

We have totally different rates of lactic acid production and removal.

It was so weird to me for awhile because we had been running together for a long time at work, so basically for a year we were doing the exact same workouts every day, and then one day we went and did a harder, faster, longer run, and I was fine after - even though I was struggling more during the run, and she couldnt walk. Just genetics

[denialisnthappiness]

thanks for the reply ennay I guess I was just a bit concerned I'm perhaps not doing it 'right' because I'm NOT in pain as it were. Just gotta remind myself we're all different and whilst some people may be sore some others may not

[BlueToBlue]

The first time I worked out, after literally 20 years of inactivity, I was so sore I could barely move for days. And all I did was walk/run on the treadmill for not very long, so I don't think I overdid it. But after a week or so of working out, I was fine and, although I will often get sore if I work a muscle harder than usual or do something new, I've never been that sore since. Even if I take a week off, I'll be a little sore when I start exercising again, but not as sore as I was that first time.

Generally, with the "good" kind of soreness, I find that most of the pain happens when I first start moving. Once I get going, the soreness usually goes away. Even that first time, when I was so sore I could barely walk, once I actually got going, I was mostly fine. It was when I first starting walking that the pain was at its worst.

I'm not a doctor or medical professional, so you should take this for the amateur advice that it is, but in my experience, here are some signs that you might have overdone it or that the soreness might be something more than just normal soreness from a new exercise:

• The pain is in a joint (like your elbow or your knee) rather than a muscle.
• The pain continues or gets worse while you are exercising. My trainer is always telling me that if something hurts while I'm exercising, I should stop what I am doing.
• You experience a sudden, sharp pain while doing an exercise.
• The pain is still severe or throbbing after you have been at rest for awhile.
• The soreness continues for more than a week (give or tak a few days--as ennay said, everyone is different, so the time period may vary--you'll get to know what is normal for your body). But if your left leg has been sore for weeks on end, it's time to see a doctor or at least give the leg a rest.

denialisnthappiness: you absolutely should not be constantly sore from weight lifting or cardio; that would definitely be a sign that you are overdoing it. Sore soreness now and then is normal, but not all the time. In terms of weight-lifting, if you are just about at the point of failure when you finish your reps (a 9 on an 10 point scale where 1 is "I could do this forever" and 10 is "I can't do another rep"), you're doing it right.

[JayEll]

BlueToBlue!

Jay