This time around I am very aware of excuses I often make for myself. One that I used to make in the past is "I can't workout today because I'm too sore from yesterday's workout and my body needs time to heal". Well, I count that as an excuse for myself because I don't know how honest I was really being about my ability to workout in the past, but what is your opinion on the subject?

I've been working out only for a little over a week, strength training, and running, a few walks with the kids thrown in there as a bonus. I'm SO sore. I can't even remember ever in my life being so sore, and I know it's because I'm so deconditioned and out of shape. I've been just working through it and doing my workouts anyway, which then have made me even more sore.

Is there really any harm in working out while sore? I wanna say no! Whadaya think?

No.

Just don't over do it because when you're new to working out you want to do it all at once (which is why you're so sore) and that is the fastest way to get injured.

When new to any exercise one should focus on proper technique so they can ramp up duration and intensity as their body adapts and stay injury free.

Goodluck

Thanks! I definitely haven't been overdoing it. Slow run, 20 minutes. My husband is a former personal trainer and I have him train me so I make sure the form is correct (and also to push me). They really are very mild workouts, I'm just so darn out of shape just about anything makes me sore. I appreciate your feedback!

When I'm sore I don't do the exact same activity the next day. Like the other day, I added about 50% to my squats and lunges from my usual routine, as I felt it had become too easy and I wasn't noticing any benefits anymore. But MAN OH MAN did I feel it the next day! And the next! And even a bit the next! (I think I really overdid it, actually..)

So for the next 2 days I did other things. The day after was cardio anyway, so it wasn't an issue - different muscles. And the day afrer I did a combo of cardio plus a concentration on abs and arms. Not because I thought I was going to damage something if I used the quads and hamstrings.. just because they hurt too much!

It'll get easier - stick with it!

Muscle soreness is an indication of muscle fibers being torn. This is a good thing, because it means when it heals, it will be stronger. But those are the key words-when it heals. Exercise is catabolic, and rest is anabolic. Your body cannot get stronger when you are working out when you should be resting. If I am slightly sore, I might still work out. But your soreness sounds pretty intense, and should be a signal to slow down. Get good nutrition and sleep, and be sure to stretch after working out. Branched chain amino acids have been reported to be good for delayed onset muscle soreness. I bet you could have your hubby design a plan that makes sure that you never work the same groups back to back, and that way you can do almost full intensity to maximize your training. If you break it up, you can work all groups twice a week and do plenty of cardio with adequate rest. But you gotta rest! Take care of yourself.

Don't overtrain, obviously, but soreness for a few days or even a week after beginning a new routine is very normal and a GOOD thing. Pain is a bad thing that's your red light to stop, but a little burning or soreness? That means you're activating the stuff you're supposed to

That whole muscle fiber tearing bit is a bit oversimplified. Yea... there's some damage that occurs to eccentric loading. Call it cellular microtrauma if you want to be technically correct. But the truth is, we (science) doesn't really know why/how this damage specifically occurs.

Applicable to this thread... due to what's referred to the repeated bout effect, microtrauma doesn't seem to get worse with repeated exposures to exercise. Of course if you're using a jackhammer approach (volume and/or intensities that far exceed your current capabilities), you can run into issues. But the soreness that most people are experiencing in response to novel exercise isn't cause for concern.

In fact, most people find that additional exercise helps manage the pain.

Someone mentioned above that the "tears in the muscle cause the muscle to rebuild" or something along those lines.

That's definitely the going "story" in the gym circles but if we look at the research, it's not really what's going on. There's still a ton of research to be done... so no answers are engraved in stone. But muscle soreness doesn't seem to be causative of muscle growth.

There's actual data on humans showing that muscle growth can occur without markers of muscle damage.

None of this matters in relation to the original question asked. Just know you're not going to "blow up" if you exercise through some soreness. For those who care about the research side of things, drop me a message and I'll point you toward some papers that are worth reading.

so long's you give it 72hrs between workouts of the same bodypart, it's fine - you'll know *right away* if it's not fine.

believe me.

For what it's worth, I'll go through phases of programming with my clients and in my own programming where I'll train the same muscle group 5-6 days per week.

Something a lot of people get hung up on is the idea that our bodies adapt to everything except training frequency. The body certainly can though. Generally speaking, I'm a fan of beginners training 2-4 days per week using full body routines. But the point is... there are no blanket training frequencies that are correct for everyone.

And your body's ability to handle frequency can be trained just as any other nuance of our biologies.

Wowie, I love all the information!!! It's very useful and helpful!

I'm definitely not overdoing it/doing things beyond my capability, so I will press on and if I feel that it just "isn't right" when I'm doing an exercise, I'll back off a little and do something else!

I want to echo whoever said to rotate weight training and cardio. You can even switch up your cardio. For instance sometimes instead of powerwalking it choose a route (or a treadmill level) with a higher incline level. Walk those hills!

Also, I am just discovering after over a month of working out that the proper shoes and clothes (especially a bra and sneakers!) are essentially to not hurting yourself. Do you need to spend money on expensive sneakers, no, but finding really well fitting supportive sneakers (crosstrainers) inexpensively is difficult. I've been using a pair of cheap Walmart sneaks and actually have blisters on the soles of my feet. A definate deterrant to working out.

Sometimes if I'm sore and I do a light workout the next day it tends to heal faster. Getting into it sucks but one you begin and your body gets stretched out it doesn't really hurt anymore. If you're not over doing it like you said you're not I wouldn't worry too much. Just don't burn yourself out and listen to your body. If you're really sore and you think you're going to rip something don't continue to do that exercise.

I find light exercise the day after an intense workout session is helpful to loosen up tight muscles and reduce some of that 'delayed onset muscle soreness'. I like to go on gentle/slow but longish walks after a particularly hard plyometric/jump training cardio session. It really makes me feel better afterwards. I don't push too hard though.

You should never be sore after a workout. That is a sign you are not doing it properly and you could injure yourself. You should also never exercise the same muscles every day. Leave at least a day in between or again you are setting yourself up for injury. It sounds like you need some time with a trainer.

This. Also, it's a fast way to get yourself de-motivated and stop doing it.