workout problem

Hi there. I suppose workout questions are the same no matter male or female so I guess I could probably get some help from the guys ;)
I've been working out without using AAS although I did ran a cycle of var at low dose for some time(better quality muscle, no sides) but I'm going back to natural cause I think I can still go far without the help of AAS :) . I don't usually use machines except for training my back I use free weights cause balancing is HARD I like the gains from free weights. So I do exercises for my arms, shoulders etc using dumbells and I do squats, deadlifts, lunges and bench press. Without AAS I went to the following numbers in 1.5 months...(not the smith machine, all free) I do heavy 5 reps 6 sets@ so my gains are purely strength, no mass gains.
deadlift - 50kg
bench press - 25kg (poor upper body strength...)
squat - 60kg
I did supplement with protein and nitric oxide supps to increase vascularity but since I had been increasing weight for every workout my muscle were soar everyday and it affects me when doing sports(that's the reason I started training, for sports) I stopped lifting weights 6 months ago I focused on sports but I started again last week, the numbers are still the same so no muscle loss since I last lifted. If I don't want much soarness what should I do? should I increase them slowly? will I still get strong using the same weights every workout or they just stay the same? anything I can do to prevent them from getting too soar?

Soreness is part of the game. If you don't increase the weight you won't make any gains.

You are right is supposing that you will be less sore if you take smaller steps in increasing your weight and/or staying at a given weight for a longer time.

What is it that you don't like about the soreness? Is it excessive, ie hard to walk, limping, etc. or just a good healthy "been to the gym feeling"?

Soreness will become less and less and actually harder to acheive as you work out for years. Your body is an amazing thing and adapts well to load given it.

If you are experiencing "bad" soreness (limping, etc.) drop back on the weight, if it is good soreness... enjoy it while you can, you will have to really go to extremes to get it a year or two from now.

I didn't know the soarness will go away after a year or two. does the soarness stop when I hit my genetic plateau or it just stops no matter how much weight I increase after a few years?

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Originally Posted by znak

What is it that you don't like about the soreness? Is it excessive, ie hard to walk, limping, etc. or just a good healthy "been to the gym feeling"?

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I don't like the soarness cuz I'm very active at work, I'm active about 8 hours a day burning about 300cal/hr so the soarness is affecting my work. If I stop working becuz my legs hurt I get fired.

The soreness DOMS is perfectly normal particularily after a layoff. Just like znak said it does deminish the longer you do train(years). The only way I still get sore(and I do) is mostly after a high volume workout. Take the soreness as a way of believing you had a good workout that was productive in nature. As long as it is not a chronic pain. If you wish to have less soreness ease up on your training just a tad or incorporate more machines in your routine. Do not neglect post nutrition following a workout because that is part of recovery process. Maybe you are sore because you are doing sport specific type training only on certain body parts?? Good luck

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Originally Posted by liltae86

I didn't know the soarness will go away after a year or two. does the soarness stop when I hit my genetic plateau or it just stops no matter how much weight I increase after a few years?

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Soreness will actually go away in a few weeks if you don't increase your work load and continue to work out regularly.

Soreness is caused by two things DOMS and lactic acid. DOMS means that you recruited new muscle to something and are supporting growth by having used muscle fiber you had not recruited before. Lactic acid means that you ran out of glucose and oxygen during your exercise and build up a waste byproduct.

If you get in good general physical shape and do high rep low weight exercises generally prescribed for women, you will not get sore after a month (two max) if you keep the time, reps and weight the same. You also will not change your body anymore since it has adapted to the work load and is at homeostasis.

Now let's say you want to take a tad off your butt, arms, waist whatever. You will need to either change the weight or the reps or the time that you do the reps in to tax your body to make changes. When you do this with reps, you normally build up lactic acid and are sore. When you do it by making the weight heavier and recruiting new muscle fiber, you are typically a little sore the next day and very sore the second day. This is DOMS.

Unlike Bluethunder, my body only gets sore with heavier weights (within reason... if I do a hundred curls with 10 pounds I will be sore also).

Bluethunder is also right on with nutrition. Eating correctly will vastly speed up the recovery and can often do it while you sleep.

I go to great lengths to make sure I get sore-- I absolutely love the feeling.

But to each their own.