After you work out hard, come home, relax - and then try to get up and you are soooo stiff and sooooo sore - when do you go back to the gym? Is it better to push through it and keep working on on schedule or wait until all the soreness and stiffness goes away THEN go back to the gym (possibly several days later)?

To be clear, I don't mean real pain, not like "omg i think i may have sprained something or pulled a muscle", which would feel like an injury.

Part of me thinks that I should just stay on schedule because once i'm up and moving for a while, the stiffness kind of goes away, but I want to make sure I'm working out to make the maximum weight loss benefits. I also don't want to let "fat me" take over and take breaks from the gym routine and convince myself that couch time is what I should be doing.

Advice?

The very next day (or whenever I'd planned to go back). Like you mentioned, once you start working out, the soreness isn't too bad. Getting yourself moving again actually helps with the soreness. The only time I've ever taken a break is when I had an actual injury and the one time I (stupidly) did like 100 walking lunges and could barely stand the next day.

Keep moving.

Now if you are sore it doesnt mean that you should necessarily kill it at the gym again. Workouts do not have to be all or nothing. Alternate easy and hard days and you will probably reap the most benefit. Easy days help you recover faster than rest AND still burn more calories than rest AND usually allow you to work harder on hard days.

Maybe hold off on the "relaxing" after the workout and go for a walk or do some light housework or something to keep your body moving. Also be sure you are stretching enough after your workouts.

Stick to your schedule. Once you start your workout you'll slowly feel better. You might be a little stiff during, but it's not nearly as bad as you think it'll be. Getting the blood flowing is important to removing the metabolic waste that builds up in your muscles after a hard workout (and makes you sore).

So yeah, keep moving and reign back a little if you have to.

Definitely keep going, the soreness is good it means you've pushed yourself. Listen to your body though of course, its very possible to overtrain which is actually counter-productive. Look for the warning signs like inability to sleep, regular headaches, etc. and rest for a couple days if you really think you've been overtraining. If after a couple days your muscles are much firmer and the symptoms disappear it means you were probably overtraining. However, if its just general muscle soreness from working out don't let it keep you from sticking to your workout schedule. I would be more concerned if I didn't have any soreness at all after a workout.

Thanks Guys!!!!!

Question about "over training"? At what point do you over train? How is it counter productive?

overtraining is a condition, not an event, if that makes sense. You cant "overtrain" from one hard day at the gym. Overtraining results from weeks and months of working out hard, NOT allowing for rest and recovery, and not taking in adequate nutrition, both to fuel the workouts AND to aid recovery. Overtraining will completely stall any fat loss efforts, because it causes your body/hormones to be completely stressed out and outta whack. Your muscles and joints will be stiffer/weaker, you wont be able to push your self as hard, you will STOP seeing gains in fitness and strength, and maybe even progress backwards.Your resting heartrate will become more elevated, you might lose your pleasure from training, and stop losing weight. The irony is that alot of people dont recognize/understand the sysmptoms of overtraining, and will instead push HARDER because theyve stopped seeing *good* results, and think they have to step it up MORE, and cut calories more. This is an endless cycle that will get you know where, leave you frustrated, and possibly injured.
To avoid overtraining, make sur eyou do stretching/foam rolling/mobility work, take REST DAYSevery week, and one day off(at least) inbetween body parts when doing hard strenth training. Strength gains are made during recovery, not during the actual exercise. For every month to 6 weeks (depending on the individual and volume of training) do a "deload" or recovery week, where you back way WAY off the training, or stop completely to allow your body and extended break. Make sure you get enough sleep, and make sure you are taking adequate PWO nutrition (pre and/or post workout) which includes carbs and protein, and a little fat. Omega Fatty Acids (Fish/Flax oil) supplements are CRUCIAL to helping your body recover.

Again, this is just info pertaining to overtraining. I have no idea how often you train or how hard, or for how long youve been doing it. Im not saying you or anyone else here is necessarily overtrained, with the exception of a few of us (you guys know who you are!)