When I havn’t lifted weights for a long time, I get sore the day after even when lifting relatively low amounts. If I continue to work out the same muscles every 48 hours as a routine, I stop feeling the soreness. Does soreness equate to muscle building or am I still building muscle even when not feeling anything the day after?
I’m no expert, but I think feeling sore is part of the muscle building process. Just be sure not to wear out that muscle too much in a short amount of time.
Ask ATLAS!
Such a joy to have relevant illustrations.
no, soreness does not indicate muscle building. soreness can be caused from things like lactic acid buildup as well as othe things. but soreness is not necessary for muscle growth.
yes, the soreness is no indicator of muscle growth; you may not get sore but still be able to move up in weight. As long as you can lift the weight, with good form, you have built strength. Delayed onset muscle soreness can be attributed to numerous things, such as a reduction in normal blood flow to muscles, or a build up of metabolic byproducts (ie; lactic acid or hydrogen ions).
As far as I know, if you want to build strength, it is also good to try different exercises for the same muscle groups.
Me, my workout routine is 3 different 6 day workouts for (alternating each to create a 3 week cycle) -
Mon: legs
Tues: Chest, bicep
Wed: Cardio
Thurs: Shoulders
Fri: Tricep, back
Sat: Abs
Sun: Recovery
Biologically speaking, you’re sore because you have damaged the fibers in your muscles.
It’s not a bad thing. The process of building muscle is basically rupturing your muscle fibers (within reason) and allowing those muscle groups 72 hours of rest to rebuild. When your body rebuilds broken fibers, it builds them stronger. Hence, you grow. That also means that you don’t HAVE to be sore to ‘grow’. I mean, every training program is better than nothing. If you don’t feel sore at all, but still have worked out, you can be sure that something is happening anyway 
It’s when you really push yourself and wake up feeling like a truck hit you that you know you might have overdone it
My routine is a bit different, but it’s all good I guess;
Mon: 30 min run, Shoulders + Triceps
Tue: 30 min bike, Chest + Back
Wed: 30 min run, Abs
Thur: REST
Fri: 30 min bike, Biceps + Forearms
Sat: Pure cardio
Sun: REST
No matter how you set it up, it’s important you warm up at least 15-20 minutes before you start lifting anything to make sure your body has an active blood flow. Once you tire yourself out anywhere, allow that musclegroup to rest for at least 2 days. If you don’t allow your muscles to rest, they can’t rebuild properly and you won’t gain much results. Resting properly is a fundamental part of gaining strength
Have fun!
[QUOTE=sekasi;2354198]Biologically speaking, you’re sore because you have damaged the fibers in your muscles.
It’s not a bad thing. The process of building muscle is basically rupturing your muscle fibers (within reason) and allowing those muscle groups 72 hours of rest to rebuild. When your body rebuilds broken fibers, it builds them stronger. Hence, you grow. That also means that you don’t HAVE to be sore to ‘grow’. I mean, every training program is better than nothing. If you don’t feel sore at all, but still have worked out, you can be sure that something is happening anyway It’s when you really push yourself and wake up feeling like a truck hit you that you know you might have overdone it
[/QUOTE]
What he said. hence, the saying “no pain no gain”
There is the risk of over training. Just use your head. It’s your body, you will know when you strain yourself.
My high school gym teachers said to wait 48 hours before working out the same muscle. However, only 24 hours are needed for abs because they heal faster. Is this correct? I didn’t feel my abs heal any faster than other muscles.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Factoring-In-Individual-Muscle-Recovery-Times
Although you do have to remember that it’s your body, not the school gym teacher’s. I personally think even a 48 hour rest would be pushing it :x I guess it depends person to person though; my minimum workout cycle would be 1 or 2 workouts doing sets of 1 or 2 DIFFERENT muscle groups in one day; over 3 days with one recovery in between, thus there would be a minimum of 96 hours between working the same muscle group.
Be sure to not focus only on your upper body, as personal trainers see a lot. People go to the gym and deprive their legs of a good workout. And remember to work your back as well, another commonly avoided workout.
Given the sheer number of muscle groups in your body, you will be pushing it to work your entire body evenly and properly, and have only 48 hours rest in between.
I think everyone will give you a different answer…
What I’ve heard is MINIMUM 48 hours for smaller muscle groups and MINIMUM 72 hours for larger ones.
There is no MINIMUM to anything nor an AT LEAST. These issues are highly subjective and depend solely on an individual’s physical tendencies. I have always had a higher blood pressure than average. I never needed to warm up for than 5 minutes (max) and I was all set up to gittin-er-dun.
I would definitely rest for 72 hours and sometimes more for major parts and riskier muscles such as lower back and thighs but 24-36 hours seemed to always be more than enough for my arms.
Hence, this is highly subjective. You will need to learn how your body behaves and reacts to changes. And that comes with time and experience. You need to be able to control and feel each and every movement and change that takes place within your system. So all in all… Good luck! And keep at it foo! :thumb:
You should definitely NEVER work out sore muscle groups, even if you’re feeling alright but when you start lifting you start feeling sore, stop. Might seem common sense, but you can really mess up your muscles and I’ve seen people do it. Give it a rest for another 24 hours and go back at it. I’ve never heard of any agreed upon amount of time to rest, but generally wait 24 hours until after you’ve stopped feeling sore. Eventually you won’t get sore after workouts (takes a long while), and you can generally lift the same muscle group in 48 hours without worry.
Usually when you stop feeling sore from you workouts you need to switch it up.
I switch my workout every two months. Sometimes you get a great workout and not be sore. So it isn’t always bad. And remember there is a huge different from being sore and being strained.
Must soreness is the feeling when your muscle tissue tears during resistance training. And that takes protein, nutrients, stretching, and rest to repair effectively. You muscles get larger due to your muscle tissues growing (through protein and supplements + water) back from having a tear after workouts. If your muscle tissue tears and you do not provide the resources for it to build it will just repair back to its original size, if not smaller.
This is a really useful thread.
Just started working out for the first time ever, and have no idea what I’m doing.
i have been lifting seriously for about 8 years now. i started out as a powerlifter when i played football in high school, now i play rugby. this past year my routine changes week to week. i basically never repeat the same workout. i noticed that when i was doing a routine, i became in shape for that particular routine. but if you constantly switch your routine week to week, you become very functionally strong and fit.
rant: my theory: no pain, no pain. don’t work out, seriously, it’s a waste of your time. it’s extremely superficial and stereotypically “american” to sit in some sterile room and lift dead weight repeatedly or ride a fake bike in front of a mirror. there are so many opportunities to get exercise doing something truly meaningful and helpful to society. go outside and get some real world exercise attached to an experience (such as volunteering for habitat for humanity building houses or a like type org) that will build both character and [U]actual and practical[/U] strength. the muscles you build from working out will go away and turn into fat if you don’t continue doing your routine for the rest of your life. lifting weights isn’t going to make you healthier, or even stronger really, it’ll just give the appearance of such. if your goal is being attractive, focus on who you are; no one that is worth a s**t is going to care whether you are totally buff or not, and most likely, you will meet someone who is really great during one of the above mentioned meaningful activities. so…exercise = yes, work out = no. just my 2 cents worth.
Working out, as you have above, should be meant for people who require it for their job. If you play pro sports, most of the time it is required you work out to gain muscle so you can compete.
I agree, exercising is better than just working out, but working out is greater than nothing.
P.S. Australia is the most overweight country now, not America. Stop calling Americans fat, it’s Australia’s turn.
Who called American’s fat? I am American, and !fat, though I am working pretty hard on fixing that… I was simply saying that America’s [our] issue here is being superficial, stty houses that look nice (facades), stty cars that look expensive (thank you Chrysler), i.e. we are more concerned with appearances than substance.
I agree, exercising is better than just working out, but working out is greater than nothing.
agreed.
Professional sports is an entirely different rant.
btw, Australians should do the truffle shuffle.
You work in web design bud, appearance matters a whole lot. 8)
I work out because I sit on my *** in front of the computer every day.
If I don’t go the gym in the morning I feel like crap.
