Help! Muscle soreness

[twhTami]

I did BFL 3 years ago. I was looking damn good! At 41 I still look very young and working out only made me look younger . . . .but I quit because I was always so sore. My husband could barely touch my chest and it hurt. Walking up steps was terribly painful. I don't want to do that again. Is it possible to work out and not be in so darn much pain?

So I am ready to start again but want to do it right. I can't find my darn book so am looking to you all for help. My first goal is not to be so darn sore. How do I figure out where I start and how much I weight I do for each exercise? Which exercises do I start with?

Excited to be toned again!!

[WannaBsexy]

I haven't begun the challenge yet but I am interested in the answers you'll receive.

I don't want no darn sore muscles either!

[Chris]

Sore muscles = progress
Don't be afraid of a little pain. No pain, no gain...

But okay so you don't want to be too sore, that's fine. The trick will be for you to find your limits. You may want to take a week or two to ease into your challenge. Or go all out and get the worst of it over. After about 2 weeks or so, it won't be so bad.
You'll need to drink a lot of water and possibly consider a recovery drink. Ibuprofein can help on really bad days too.
Basically sore muscles come from lactic acid. You can train your body to deal with lactic acid by the way you do your cardio. This is not BFL, but a way I recommend doing cardio... You'll start targeting your heart rate at around 60% of max hr. There are a lot of ways to calculate this, but start with 120-age = max HR. Target 55-65% max HR for the first 2-4 weeks (increasing time by 5-10 each week, up to ca.45 mins). Then add a day where you push yourself into the 70-80% range for 20-30 mins (once per week). This is lactic threshold training and it helps your body to remove this anaerobic by product (lactic acid) of respiration (breathing). After another 2 weeks training like this, add in a day of BFL HITT style training where you ramp up your anaerobic respiration to max HR then slow back down and allow your body to have more oxygen.
With time (and water) you can teach your body to deal with the soreness better.
Good luck!

[lillyo]

I have also heard that repeating the same workout for a few weeks in a row (IE always the same UBWO and same LBWO) are helpful in "training" your muscles. I would be careful with this, however, as it can lead to MAJOR boredom by the end of 12 weeks.

I now switch my WO every time I ask my muscles to go up in weight (which is about once every 2 weeks).

[twhTami]

I understand the no pain no gain thing but it never got better when I did it before. I was working out for a year solid and it never got better. It hurt to touch my chest muscles right above my breasts. I'm ok with a little pain but it was ridiculous - I was always hurting. TNot just there but all over. Thats why it got so hard to stay on it and pretty soon I quit.

It's not the cardio that gets me at all-its the weight training. But if I understand what you are saying, I need to use the cardio to get rid of the lactic--I did know that it was lactic acid build up but had no idea of what to do about it.

I have always been a heart monitored exerciser. It is awesome. It never ceases to amaze me that my work out will tell me if I am getting sick. Last week I was going the same speed I usually do but I my heart rate was too high. Two days later I was sick-that has happened before. I have a heart monitor that I wear for cardio. I am 41 so the formula would put me at about 80 for max HR. Which would mean I should be at about 60. Now I don't know how that equates to my heart monitor because I usually try and stay between 135 and 140 on the read out. I just ran up and weighed myself and I am at 156. I don't like to use weight as a scale because muscle weighs so much more than fat. I found when I pulled it off before, I was better off picking a pair of jeans I wanted to fit in and watching how my clothes felt on me.

So my question is--how do I figure out what is too much weight?

I don't know if this info will help with the monitor but right now I am on the treadmil. Have been on for about 35 minutes. Speed is 3.2 it says pace is 18:45 ( have no idea what that means) It says I have burned 20.9 carbs and 169 calories. I have went a distance of 1.77 miles. My heart rate is showing at 139. Where does that put me in the target heart rate--am confused.

And how do I use this cardio to get rid of the lactic? I also think I need to get the lactic down with my weight workout--not do so much,

If I used the scale as a measure, when I was looking good and more importantly felt great I would bounce between 125 and 130. Which means I have about 25 lbs to loose. I am not in awful shape, I am very active so resting rate is very low. I used to know how to do target rate with resting rate but I don't remember how. Which is another reason I am doing this--my memory was much better when I worked out.

Wow its kinda nice to have the lap top to have something to do while I am walking!

[gnash]

Originally Posted by twhTami

I did BFL 3 years ago. I was looking damn good! At 41 I still look very young and working out only made me look younger . . . .but I quit because I was always so sore. My husband could barely touch my chest and it hurt. Walking up steps was terribly painful. I don't want to do that again. Is it possible to work out and not be in so darn much pain?

So I am ready to start again but want to do it right. I can't find my darn book so am looking to you all for help. My first goal is not to be so darn sore. How do I figure out where I start and how much I weight I do for each exercise? Which exercises do I start with?

Excited to be toned again!!

Hi Tami..

To determine a program, check out ExRx (Exercise Prescription) on the Net click on weight training from the main menu page..research exercises that fit the equipment you have available...study the form for each...post up a proposed w/o and we will help tweak it...

Typo in Chris's post....Max HR is 220-age x target 60 %...do that for 2-3 weeks and let us know how it goes...take your time in building up..

You don't have to get all sore if you go "progressive weight training"..It is bases on numbers and working weights that build up max over time...experiment for 2-3 weeks with weights you can lift 12-15 reps easily.. for 2-3 sets.. and we will explain progression later..if you get real sore at first back the weights off..log all weight,reps,and sets...


Welcome,

gnash

Edit: 60% HR for you at age 41 is HR 108....75% is 135..that should be Max until you build up ...

[twhTami]

Thanks gnash!!

I must be in better shape because at 135 it is way easy for me and I just started again--I spend plenty of time chasing horses around a round pen. Am going to go find out what resting is and look into your link. I really apprecaite it! I really want to make my work outs part of my life. I have so much more stamina, I feel so much better, I look so much better. I was just thinking about it and when I was in really good shape, I could go to bed at 12 and wake up on my own at 5 to work out. I just didn't need near as much sleep.

Going to go eat something nutricious (okay maybe I will eat that pumpkin once piecs of pumpkin bread) and cozy up with my body for life book. I remember reading somewhere that you downloaded charts from BFL--where do I get those?

[Chris]

So I just wrote out a big reply to you and it vanished.. here goes a shorter version....

Yes, Gnash is correct. 220-age = max HR. (sorry, gimp finger today)
It's great that 60% of max HR is easy for you! As challenging as it may be for now, it's important to stay right around 60% for a strong aerobic base. You'll need this as you progress. Eventually you will be able to run/jog, do more strenuous activities at this pace, but it takes time. You'll find that near the end of your workout you'll have harder time keeping HR down.

Don't worry about HR while lifting weights. Just do as Gnash suggested and do exercises that you can comfortably do 12-15 reps for 3 sets. By the end of the 3rd set you should be pretty sick of lifting the weight, feeling tired, but that you could go on if forced. We can't tell you how much weight this is, but play around with it as needed. After a few workouts we'll explain how to increase the intensity.

I think your machine was telling you your pace. You are walking about 18 minute mile. That's a nice walking pace. Can you do a light jog and keep your HR down?

Good luck.

[gnash]

Tami..

Chris is giving you some good advise here to take your time and build stamina..

Frankly, walking 3.2 mph on a treadmill for 35 minutes and HR 137 indicates a poor to very poor CV fitness level...Your heart,lungs,and muscle are not delivering oxygen efficiently...You should be about 90-92 max after 1 hour..

The proper thing to do is slow the treadmill to 2.5 and monitor your HR..do that speed as long as it takes to build up the CV..then increase it..You can't rush CV fitness...it take time and consistent training...when you are not overtaxing muscle you don't build lactic acid...

Make sense?

[twhTami]

Well bummer--I am in worse shape than I thought I was. Because just sitting here checking my resting I can only get down to 82. I know it used to be 65.

Oh well I knew I should be working out and that only proves it. Been working way to much. Instead of me having control of my job, it had control of me. I'm a realtor in the worst market in the United States--doesn't that stink. But I am doing very well--too well--haven't had time to work out. But am making time now!

[jonredbird]

..I just wanna know how you can type on a laptop---much less where do you put it----when you are doing cardio?? I'll be darned!!

[jonredbird]

tami,

...Amazing advise you've just recieved---great post by Chris on how to cardio to lower Lactic acid.

In another post, you mentioned you had a personal trainer---I've only worked out with a trainer on a few occasions, but my opinion was that he pushed me too hard. And I don't mind being pushed or anything, but I found it counterproductive. Always doing negative reps, etc.

My understanding/interpretation of BFL resistance training is that you gradually work down to your highpoint---and then superset it with another exercise. I do this, and only push to failure---I don't go beyond doing negatives, slow releases, etc. And I make it a "comfortable" failure.....not pushing so hard I get bloody noses or vomit or anything.

Another thought---perhaps the exercises you were doing weren't comfortable for you. That was another problem I had with a trainer. I'd do an exercise that hurt my shoulder worse than it burned my chest, etc. This is often a problem I have found with using machines too much.

You definitely shouldn't be that sore....much less for a full year. Last thought---check out some supplements--there are things out there to help w/ recovery and reduce lactic acid build up. Good luck!!

[twhTami]

Originally Posted by jonredbird

..I just wanna know how you can type on a laptop---much less where do you put it----when you are doing cardio?? I'll be darned!!

I have the leaf of my table over the handles--well they aren't really handles but don't know how else to describe them. Then I put the lap top on my little table. Every morning my my riding friends meet on instant message at 8 am. It's great for that because most of it is just reading and they chat every morning so I tell myself if I want to participate, I got to be on the tread mill! I am a multi tasker big time--I have to be.

[Chris]

Good for you Tami, that's the right attitude!

[gnash]

Originally Posted by twhTami

Well bummer--I am in worse shape than I thought I was. Because just sitting here checking my resting I can only get down to 82. I know it used to be 65.

Oh well I knew I should be working out and that only proves it. Been working way to much. Instead of me having control of my job, it had control of me. I'm a realtor in the worst market in the United States--doesn't that stink. But I am doing very well--too well--haven't had time to work out. But am making time now!

Once you've been in shape, muscle memory will assist in getting you back in shape much faster, if you take your time..

When you stop exercising, lactate threshold decreases..so you get sore when you get back to it..resting HR 65 is good...so you can get back to that if you stay with it..

The muscles that were sore last time were your upper pecs..We can avoid that this time around...Lifting to failure is not required in progressive weight training and is the major cause of intense soreness--called DOMS..delayed onset miseries...

For now, it would be good to stick with the cardio up to 5 days a week,moderate pace,monitor HR,and get fit again..If you have a trainer,he/she can suggest a w/o..routine..

gnash