So, I am getting back into excersising. My muscles are so sore as I went to an aerobics class last Fri and I hadn't so much as taken a walk since probably October. Is there anything I can do to ease the pain or just keep excersising? My legs hurt so bad-is it just because I am using muscles that I don't normally use in that fashion? What can I do?
How do I keep it up? I seem to go in waves and let other things get in the way of excersising and taking that time out for me.
What have you done Mamas? I would love to hear some success stories on this subject as well...
So, I feel like you are all my support group! I have kept on moving since the day I went to the aerobics class and the soreness has begun to go away. I am going on my second week of excercising 3-4 times a week. I do Zumba twice a week and aerobics one day a week then usually go walking w/someone-friend, neighborhood, family once a week. I have decided that this is time that I have to give to myself because I will feel better, look better and I'm sure be a better Mother, Wife and Friend, Co-Worker etc. Thanks for the advice and support Mamas! YOU are great...
Homeopathic arnica right after working out.....magnesium to loosen muscles....epsom salt bath....stretching.
Congrats on exercising!!
J.
The soreness is caused by lactic acid building up in your muscles. It sounds contradictory but the best thing you can do is take a brisk walk for about 20 minutes. It gets the LA flushed out some and you will feel much better.
I'm just starting back after a long break too. Good luck! Best tip I ever heard was, if you workout in the AM, sleep in you workout clothes. You'll feel like a loser if you actually have to take them off without working out.
well you know how they say the best cure for a hangover is to have a bloody mary?
same for exercise soreness. you KEEP MOVING!
if you have a good workout and you're sore, then you need to hit the gym or get outside for a run or walk. the more sedentary you are, the more sore you'll get.
also be sure to stretch before and after!
If you haven't been exercizing in a while, your muscles are going to be sore when you start back up again. Here's a couple of tips that have helped me in the past:
1. Begin each work out with a brisk walk for about 5 minutes to warm up the muscles and then stretch out your muscles before beginning your regular workout routine. This helps me to feel limber during and after my workout.
2. Soak in an espom salt bath when you can. This really helps soothe tired, sore muscles. Plus, since you are doing something healthy for your body, you should reward yourself with a quiet candlelit bath whenever possible for doing such a good job.
3. Respect what your body is telling you. Yes, you can expect to be sore when you begin a new workout routine but exercize is not a one-size-fits all for everyone. Your routine needs to be tailored to you and sometimes that means starting out slow and low and then build upon that as you go along. Make modifications where necessary and just remember that a vital part of this new routine is building up your endurance so give yourself time to do so.
Good for you for starting a new healthy routine. Hope your muscles feel better soon and that you start seeing some real positive results from all of your effort.
You probably overdid it. Give yourself a few days to feel better (use ibuprofin and ice), then start more slowly.
Be aware, though, that some muscle pain is normal if you're actually making progress. From lactic acid buildup. Prevent it by stretching well after exercise and drinking plenty of fluids. And making sure you're not shorting yourself on carbs. And with resistance training (very important part of a healthy body, and great for weight loss and tightening everything up), you need to give a muscle group at least a day to rest before working it again (the abs are an exception, as long as they don't hurt too much you can work them every day); muscle builds when you push it to its limit, so there is a bit of soreness involved. For both, ibuprofin can help, but it should really be fairly mild and not interfere too much with your daily routine. If it hurts too much to do your normal daily household stuff, you're probably overdoing it. Start slow, and increase as your body gets stronger.
the more you move the less you hurt, really.
slather on some ben gay and take a virogous walk.
keep on exercising.... dont stop..... why put your self thru the pain for no reason?
One thing I have been told many times ... keep moving! You do your high impact day one and low day two (take a walk for at least 20 min as soon as you can in the am), med impact day three high, low, med, high, low med or if you can not take a class that often then do low daily and your high once a week. I had a great sucess story and then I stopped working ... for me my office had a gym in it with a discounted rate (15/mo) and I went on my lunch ... 30 min a day of eliptical 3 days/week and two days 10 min elip 10 strength 10 min bike... got rid of 60lbs in 3months (plus eating right) then got laid off became SAHM again and FOUND IT BACK! Grrr becuase I have a lot more than just 60 to lose.
Drink plenty of water and keep up with your workouts :) You'll learn to love that sore feeling and miss it when it's harder to get.
Stretching before and after helps me out a great deal.
Yes, your muscles are complaining! "Why are you doing this to us? You haven't done this in so long and we don't want to work so hard!" Whine, whine, whine.
Don't neglect yourself. I know you have more to do every day than you can fit into a 24-hour period, but (I repeat) don't neglect yourself. Taking care of your own health is an important part of taking care of your family!
Do some stretching every day, even when you don't have time to work out. I don't know if there are any stretching videos available, but they might be worth looking into if you think it'll help you get it done. Make those muscles move; wake 'em up. Don't let them enjoy the couch too much. Even when you're sore, do a little bit of stretching off and on during the day - whatever your body will let you do while it recovers.
When you do work out, do the warmup and the cooldown. They're not a waste of time. The warmup helps you not to get an injury, and the cooldown can help you not to be so sore afterwards.
I'm trying to get in shape for some 5Ks and maybe some 10Ks, and I do those things, in addition to trying to get exercise in every other day at the minimum. (My goal is five days a week.) However, exercise isn't restricted to going to class; it's also loading the baby into the stroller and walking briskly for a half hour, and it's parking at the far end of the lot and carrying the baby (think weight training!) all the way to the door of the supermarket. It's going up and down the stairs in your home. It's doing anything that keeps your body moving. The more your muscles get used to working, the less sore they'll be - well, less excruciatingly sore, anyhow.
Oh, and the people who invented BenGay should get extra stars in their crowns. It smells bad but it works GOOOD!
WATER lots of WATER! Keep moving otherwise it'll be worse and you won't want to work-out again.I would have personally started slow with something like walking. Good luck!
I grew up playing competitive soccer, until college. The BEST thing to do the day after a workout if you are very sore...is to walk. A slow steady walk, until your muscles are warmed and stretched a bit. Basically, until you feel better! It can hurt like crazy at the beginning of the walk, but feels so much better at the end. If you are working out you need to drink extra water. If you aren't drinking adequate water, your muscles will dehydrate badly. Get a calcium/magnesium supplement. Magnesium helps sore/restless muscles, but your body needs calcium to absorb it. You need to make sure you aren't doing too much, too soon. I think you should build up your endurance and muscle tone by walking, biking, or using a step machine first. Diving straight into aerobics, is probably not a wise thing.
Drink plenty of water, Aspercream, Tylenol, Epsom bath soaks, heat patches and heating pads will all help. Take some time to stretch before exercising and stretch again afterward as a cool down routine. Keep mildly active in between aerobic classes (walk) and gradually you'll build up some endurance and the pains won't be so bad.
if you do a warm up walk which for me is 20 to 30 minutes of the treadmill then i do weights and crunches and then i do a 5 to 10 minute cool down walk before i leavet the gym..one of the trainers at the gym i go to said the reason you feel sore is because you have a lactic acid build up in the muscles and that if you do a cool down walk at the end it will help you not have that sore feeling
Take arnica montana PRIOR to working out (follow the instructions). It is a natural supplement that is amazing in keeping the lactic acid from building in your muscles so you do not have the soreness. Your muscles will still fee fatigued. I used this after not exercising for year and started off pushing myself hard. I never once got sore. It was amazing.
good luck.
