How long will I stay sore?
 

I've been working out fairly consistently for the past two weeks (today is the fifth day in a row). All of my muscles still ache, but especially my shoulder and thighs.

How long will they stay this sore? And should I be doing anything different?

FYI: I do a cardio/resistence machine circuit for 20 minutes, then 10 minutes on the treadmil at 2.3 mph and a 6.0 incline, 100 crunches, and 5 minutes of stretching. (Oh, and 5 minutes on the elliptical (because that is all I can stand right now!)

Hi Jen! :wave: Congrats on working out five days in a row! :cheer:

Question for you: Are you doing the same circuit of machines every day? Or are you doing different machines each time that you work out?

I only do the circuit every other day. On alternate days, I up the cardio instead by doing more treadmill, boxing, rebounding, etc. Today was an alternate day.

Phew! I thought you were working the same muscles every day. You probably already know they need at least 48 hours to recover before working them again. :)

Some people can get pretty sore for the first few weeks that they're working out because they're using their muscles in unfamiliar ways. It tends to go away and then you usually only feel the 'good sore' that means you worked out. But you might get mega-sore each time you try a new exercise!

Generally, if you're still sore 48 hours after your last workout, I think your body is telling you that it needs a little more recovery time. How about a rest day since you've worked out five days in a row? Or another cardio only day?

Have you considered splitting your workouts into muscle groups rather than doing a full body workout every time? If you did that, you could do something like an upper/lower body split. Or something like back and bi's on Day 1, chest and tri's on Day 3, and legs and shoulders on Day 5. There are lots of different ways to split up workouts and they give your muscles a little more recovery time.

Hmmm...I think the last suggestion is probably too complicated for me right now. Am I doing the circuit too much in a week, do you think? Also, am I working out too many days a week if I stick to five?

In my opinion, it's OK to do cardio as many days a week that you want to -- you don't need rest days from cardio because you're not damaging muscle fibers. Some people do cardio every day (like me :) ).

As for the weight machines you do on your circuit, I think three times a week should be plenty if you're doing full-body workouts because your muscles DO need recovery time from them.

I don't think that five workouts a week are too many if you stick with three days of your weight circuit and add in two more cardio-only days. The latest US government recommendation for exercise for weight loss is 60 - 90 minutes 'on most days' so your plan is right on track. It sounds like good plan and I'm sure you're going to be seeing some great results!

I already am!! I dropped 9 lbs the first week after I started doing this! Amazing!

Drink a lot of water, about, stretch before the workout and immediately after drink some more water. Take some vitamin C and some E
The soreness if not extremely painful is probably from muscle growth and improvement.
You can also try gatorade half hour before and immediately after the workout