[Rocky]

Is it just me or does anyone else seem to spend the majority of their life sore?
I don't mean in a bad way but training every other day, I'm still sore from the previous session (especially after legs!) and although I don't train the same muscles, when the next day comes, those muscles are aching instead!!
Not saying it's a bad thing, cos it means I worked hard, just seems that from doing something that's so "healthy" I spend a lot of time feeling like a walking injury!

[Uriel]

Not realy. I'm feeling fine today, like I feel most days. A good cardiovascular system and proper stretching can help a lot in preventing soreness.

[Rocky]

Admittedly I don't do much cardio - I find it hard enough to put weight on without doing cardio to slim me down anymore ( I know it's good for me though so I do brisk walking). As for stretching - to be honest I only do some light cardio and very little in the way of stretching. I've read some articles that state that stretching can actually inhibit your lifting sessions and don't necessarily offer any injury preventing benefits. I still do a little and do warm up sets to all exercises to minimise risk of injury, and so far so good.

Uriel - don't you get any muscle soreness? Surely it's a good sign you overloaded the muscle? I know it's not the be all and end all, but surely you want soreness most of the time!

[Uriel]

Originally Posted by Rocky

Uriel - don't you get any muscle soreness? Surely it's a good sign you overloaded the muscle? I know it's not the be all and end all, but surely you want soreness most of the time!

Not necessarily a good sign. Like I've said before, I could beat your biceps with a stick and it'd get sore, but I doubt it would grow out of it (except for a little swelling the next day).

I get sore when I do something the first time (new program, new exercise, new rep range, different reps (explosive, slow, etc)) and when I work maximal effort (westside) and that's it. Every now and then my long triceps is sore, ocasionaly my middle chest, and that's it, no realy frequent soreness. This is probably because 1) I stretch 2) I have a decent cardiovascular system 3) I never realy do very high reps.

[DaeguDave]

Hey Rocky,

I used to get really sore after leg day. The day after I'd be OK, but days 2 and 3 it would hurt to walk up stairs and stuff. The extreme stretching thing in DC training has helped me get rid of muscle soreness a lot faster. For quads you get into a sissy squat stance with a bar in front of you at about hip level. You then lean back while pushing your thighs forward , to the point where your torso and thighs are lined up at about a 30 degee angle to the floor. Hold this for as long as possible, which does hurt like hell, but afterwards the muscle fatigue clears up faster. You can google DC extreme stretching to find articles that explain it better than I can. In any case, it helped me and perhaps it can help you. Best of luck.

[Rocky]

Cheers for the tips both of you. Perhaps I need to start more post-workout stretching - I'll check that link out aswell!

Was gonna try beating my arms with a stick too, but looks like that won't work either! Damn!

[MaKaVeLi]

I've been sore everyday for almost the past 2 years!! Here's a breakdown of my routine with the average length of soreness for each muscle group.

Mon: Chest - sore for 4-5 days, biceps - sore for 2-3 days
Tues: Legs - sore for 2-3 days
Wed: Rest
Thurs: Shoulders - sore for 2-3 days
Fri: Back - sore for 3-4 days, triceps - sore for 2-3 days
Sat: Cardio
Sun: Rest

When I'm sore, I mean sore!! I doubt I'm overtraining because I usually avoid doing any more than 10-14 sets for large muscle groups and 8-10 sets for the smaller ones. I do spend a good amount of time stretching before and after a workout, I guess I'll have to give that extreme stretching a try...

[Rocky]

^^^ At least I'm not the only one then!

[slyizlegend]

Originally Posted by MaKaVeLi2005

I've been sore everyday for almost the past 2 years!! Here's a breakdown of my routine with the average length of soreness for each muscle group.

Mon: Chest - sore for 4-5 days, biceps - sore for 2-3 days
Tues: Legs - sore for 2-3 days
Wed: Rest
Thurs: Shoulders - sore for 2-3 days
Fri: Back - sore for 3-4 days, triceps - sore for 2-3 days
Sat: Cardio
Sun: Rest

When I'm sore, I mean sore!! I doubt I'm overtraining because I usually avoid doing any more than 10-14 sets for large muscle groups and 8-10 sets for the smaller ones. I do spend a good amount of time stretching before and after a workout, I guess I'll have to give that extreme stretching a try...

That is what I call overtraining bro...

[MaKaVeLi]

Originally Posted by slyizlegend

That is what I call overtraining bro...

10-16 sets is recommended for larger muscle groups, and 6-8 for the smaller muscle groups. Even though I'm doing around 8-10 sets for biceps, triceps, calves etc, I don't have much of a problem with excessive soreness. It's really only Chest and Back that are sore for longer than I'd like, and a lot of the time I may only do 8 sets but still be sore for 4-5 days. So, I'm not too sure if in fact I am overtraining.

[Nothin' but a peanut!!]

you really gotta start stretching rocky even if you believe those reports or whatever just try it and see it should make a big difference to your soreness and improve sessions the muscle isnt stretched after a while it gets stuck kind of in a way andthe more often it is stretched the rom for hte muscle stays the same so u can add more mass if that makese sesne.
tho legs usually dont get sore for me until half way thru the enxt day u can actualyl feel it comming on but after good quad and no matter how much soreness glutes kill me i hate that soreness lol
people can think of u weird for saying u have a sore ass when its from squats and not from taking it up the batty

[Rocky]

^^^ I hear you on the sore glutes and peoples reactions. People keep their arse firmly pressed against the wall near me when I'm walking funny after a good leg session!
Have started doing a little light static stretching for the muscles I'm working and am stretching more after I've finished my session so I'll see how it goes.
Thanks for the tips guys!