YAGQ: Yet Another Gym Question

SZLiao214

Diamond Member
Sep 9, 2003
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Recently the freshmen 15 has been hitting me and a few friends way to hard. So together we have all decided to start hitting the gym and activities building at our university. I was wondering what you guys from your own experiances think is the quickest way of getting rid of soreness in the muscles.
 

SZLiao214

Diamond Member
Sep 9, 2003
3,270
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Ah, stretching is something we already do. We also warmup before we start. Keep the tips coming!
 

Koing

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator<br> Health and F
Oct 11, 2000
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Muscle soreness is something you really can't 'get' rid of by much.

Stuff that will help:

DO DYNAMIC streches before and then WARM UP to lift at your TRAINING WEIGHTS properly. Meaning don't go from 1 or 2 'warm up' sets and train at XX weight. Take steps in about 15 or 20% to 'build' up to it. YOU DON'T NEED TO DO LOADS OF REPS just say 3-4 for 'warming up'.

Drink plenty of water.

Eat oranges. The Vitamin C aids recovery.

MASSAGE YOURSELF. Massage your MUSCLES. They will thank you later.

HOT BATH always helps.

The muscle soreness is a product of you not being 'use to training'

Btw 'cardio' will help get rid of the fat fastert but won't build up as much muscle mass as weight training. Do both and CLEAN up your diet as much as you can.

Drink ONLY WATER and cut back on the beer as much as you can :p

Koing
 

TechnoPro

Golden Member
Jul 10, 2003
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Plenty of sleep, ample hydration and good eating are some of the basics. If you don't sleep enough, then you won't rebuild, you will elevate cortisol levels (the hormonal arch-enemy of fitness), and you will negate the progress you are striving for.. Don't eat well and drink water and you are depriving the body of the building blocks it needs.

Some people swear by certain supplements to aid in muscle recovery. Antioxidants are good anyways. I find ZMA to work wonders, but then my body gets used to it, so I have to stop it for a few weeks and then resume.

Finally, lets say you train your legs. Conventional wisdom used to say to avoid any working of the legs until fully recovered. This is wrong. Light excerise, like jogging or biking will bring blood to the damaged tissue, clear out waste byproducts and faciliate nutrient delivery. The key here is light work.

Happy training!
 

TechnoPro

Golden Member
Jul 10, 2003
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Originally posted by: Koing
Muscle soreness is something you really can't 'get' rid of by much.

Stuff that will help:

DO DYNAMIC streches before and then WARM UP to lift at your TRAINING WEIGHTS properly. Meaning don't go from 1 or 2 'warm up' sets and train at XX weight. Take steps in about 15 or 20% to 'build' up to it. YOU DON'T NEED TO DO LOADS OF REPS just say 3-4 for 'warming up'.

Drink plenty of water.

Eat oranges. The Vitamin C aids recovery.

MASSAGE YOURSELF. Massage your MUSCLES. They will thank you later.

HOT BATH always helps.

The muscle soreness is a product of you not being 'use to training'

Btw 'cardio' will help get rid of the fat fastert but won't build up as much muscle mass as weight training. Do both and CLEAN up your diet as much as you can.

Drink ONLY WATER and cut back on the beer as much as you can :p

Koing

Good point about the self-massage. It really does help.
 

Nutdotnet

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2000
7,721
3
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Actually, there have been a number of reports that stretching does may be more of a hinderance as opposed to helping when working out...in weight-lifting anyway. For cardio type exercise I would recommend light stretching so you don't pull anything. For weight-lifting, a slow, concentrated warm-up set is all you need.

But for SORENESS after the gym, it really depends on what you're talking about. Are you talking about just general soreness and tiredness that you get that same day? Or are you talking about severe soreness that you get two days after working out (commonly called DOMS, Delayed-Onset-Muscule-Soreness). Some people say take glutamine, I don't buy it. I say...you're lifting too much too soon.

Working yourself to complete exhaustion is great, fun, I love it (when I used to work out), BUT it sounds like you're just starting to get into the gym. You're body isn't use to what you're doing (even if you've worked out in the past).

So my advice, gradually build up the intensity of your workouts.
 

SacrosanctFiend

Diamond Member
Oct 2, 2004
4,269
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Originally posted by: Koing
Muscle soreness is something you really can't 'get' rid of by much.

Stuff that will help:

DO DYNAMIC streches before and then WARM UP to lift at your TRAINING WEIGHTS properly. Meaning don't go from 1 or 2 'warm up' sets and train at XX weight. Take steps in about 15 or 20% to 'build' up to it. YOU DON'T NEED TO DO LOADS OF REPS just say 3-4 for 'warming up'.

Drink plenty of water.

Eat oranges. The Vitamin C aids recovery.

MASSAGE YOURSELF. Massage your MUSCLES. They will thank you later.

HOT BATH always helps.

The muscle soreness is a product of you not being 'use to training'

Btw 'cardio' will help get rid of the fat fastert but won't build up as much muscle mass as weight training. Do both and CLEAN up your diet as much as you can.

Drink ONLY WATER and cut back on the beer as much as you can :p

Koing

Good tips, but Vitamin C does NOT aid in muscle recovery, nor improvement in soreness, after a demanding workout.
 

Koing

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator<br> Health and F
Oct 11, 2000
16,843
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0
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
Actually, there have been a number of reports that stretching does may be more of a hinderance as opposed to helping when working out...in weight-lifting anyway. For cardio type exercise I would recommend light stretching so you don't pull anything. For weight-lifting, a slow, concentrated warm-up set is all you need.

Well stretching statically 'intensively' before weight training will lower your 'strength' by about 2-3% for 20minutes after stretching. THIS IS precisely why I said 'dynamic' stretching. The dynamic stretches do not do this.

GREAT to stretch statically AFTER THE WORK OUT but never before.

The only time I stretch statically is before Gymnastics. But this is because you 'have to' unless you want to injured in the session :p

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend
Originally posted by: Koing
Muscle soreness is something you really can't 'get' rid of by much.

Stuff that will help:

DO DYNAMIC streches before and then WARM UP to lift at your TRAINING WEIGHTS properly. Meaning don't go from 1 or 2 'warm up' sets and train at XX weight. Take steps in about 15 or 20% to 'build' up to it. YOU DON'T NEED TO DO LOADS OF REPS just say 3-4 for 'warming up'.

Drink plenty of water.

Eat oranges. The Vitamin C aids recovery.

MASSAGE YOURSELF. Massage your MUSCLES. They will thank you later.

HOT BATH always helps.

The muscle soreness is a product of you not being 'use to training'

Btw 'cardio' will help get rid of the fat fastert but won't build up as much muscle mass as weight training. Do both and CLEAN up your diet as much as you can.

Drink ONLY WATER and cut back on the beer as much as you can :p

Koing

Good tips, but Vitamin C does NOT aid in muscle recovery, nor improvement in soreness, after a demanding workout.

I'll check with my coach to confirm. I'm sure vitamin C aids recovery though.

Koing
 

SZLiao214

Diamond Member
Sep 9, 2003
3,270
2
81
All of us seem to be to poor to afford the supplements. Good nutrition is kinda hard to come by here. We all eat from a school meal plan and all the veggies are steamed for so long all the vitamens leech out. We usually dont do much cardio but we will start doing that. We walk to the activities building so its 15 minutes there and 15 mins back.
 

TechnoPro

Golden Member
Jul 10, 2003
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Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend
Originally posted by: Koing
I'll check with my coach to confirm. I'm sure vitamin C aids recovery though.

Koing

Here's the summary of the paper.

While I do not doubt the legitimacy if the findings, several things stick out:

[1] An "unaccustomed bout of exercise" is not the same as regualr training. And it is well known that someone who trains reguallrly and consistently has different nutritional needs that someone who trains regularly. And the body of the athlete will respond differently to supplements than that of a non-athlete.

[2] The administration of the Vitamin C was immediately post-excercise. Different supplements work best under very precise times.

[3] For an untrained athlete, 90 minutes of practically anything strenuous will produce a catabolic state. Most trainers say to cap your weight session at 1 hour for good reason.

[4] Finally, the whole testing methodology is a bit odd to me. Many - but certainly not all - supplements require that you take them for weeks, if not months before their maximal effect is evident. The premise being that you continually provide your body with top nutrition and when your old cells die out, the new ones have the benefit of these chemical and mineral building blocks. Over time, your older cells that did not have the benefit of your supplementing will die otu and your new cells will be healthier.

I'm probably no good at explaining this, but the principle is simple: one healthy meal won;t make you healthy. Months of healthy eating will...
 

yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,409
39
91
Soreness happens when your muscles are tearing. This usually happens when your muscles are not accustomed to the heavy workout you just did. What you have to do to prevent soreness is to start off light weight. Then after you've done them consistenly for twice a week, go heavy weight, and you will not experience the soreness.
If you keep going consistently, then the soreness will not be as strong.
 

SZLiao214

Diamond Member
Sep 9, 2003
3,270
2
81
Ah, in high school i lifted for about an 40 minutes (20 min cardio) a day. I alsoused to walk for about an hour and a half just for relaxation. The lifting occured from freshmen to junior year while the walking all happened senior year. During those 3 years of weight lifting i was able to get myself really sore if i pushed myself, but normally it wasnt to bad. Soreness never really stopped happening though.
 

iamme

Lifer
Jul 21, 2001
21,058
3
0
in general, how sore should you be after a good workout (24 hours later)?

int he very beginning when i started lifting, i was sore as hell....but later on, there was only mild soreness later. sometimes, i wouldn't be sore at all, and i assumed i didn't work hard enough the day before.
 

TipsyMcStagger

Senior member
Sep 19, 2003
661
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0
if this is your first few weeks of weights, every day your gonna be sore, no real way to get around that. After working out for a month or so you shouldnt be as sore after workouts
 

gflores

Senior member
Jul 10, 2003
999
0
0
I would start out gradually and work your way up. Some stuff may seem easy but if you do more, you'll feel it big time the next day. I know I did. I hadn't worked out in a while and just started last week doing more than I should've and my arms are still sore. :( But then again, it could be because I am weak :p
 

TheLonelyPhoenix

Diamond Member
Feb 15, 2004
5,594
1
0
When I started lifting in college (after not having done so in years), I got increible muscle inflamation and soreness and had to quit for 2 weeks, until I could straighten my arms again without pain. It was pretty bad.

All you can do about the usual lactic acid soreness is just wait it out. Drink lots of fluids and stretch to keep the blood moving... but there's no way to "speed it up".
 

gflores

Senior member
Jul 10, 2003
999
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Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
When I started lifting in college (after not having done so in years), I got increible muscle inflamation and soreness and had to quit for 2 weeks, until I could straighten my arms again without pain. It was pretty bad.

Hehe, that's how it was for me about 3 days ago. Pain in the ass. Or should I see arms. Whatever.