sorness

[raymondjj19]

ok guys... any idea how long after your workout the muslce should stay sore? e.g. i do my chest on a monday and its still sore on wednesdays... is the longer the better?, or am i over training it?
thanks

[KeyMastur]

all depends on you. there is no certain amount of time a muscle should be sore to determine whether or not you worked it hard enough. the soreness comes from a lactic acid build up. it goes away when it's "flushed" out of the muscle cells. sometimes i'm sore for 3 days after a strenuous leg workout, other times it's only for a few, and sometimes it's not at all.

[Psycoswole]

This has come up a lot in the past, i grabbed these articles from physsportsmed.com (DOMS is delayed-onset muscle soreness)

Causes of DOMS
DOMS is thought to be a result of microscopic tearing of the muscle fibers. The amount of tearing depends on how hard and how long you exercise and what type of exercise you do. For example, activities in which muscles forcefully contract while they are lengthening tend to cause the most soreness. These "eccentric" contractions, as they are called, provide a braking action; they occur in activities such as descending stairs, running downhill, lowering weights, and performing the downward movements of squats and push-ups.

In addition to microscopic tearing, swelling may take place in and around a muscle, which can also contribute to delayed soreness. Such swelling increases pressure on the neighboring structures, resulting in greater muscle pain and stiffness. Eccentric muscle contractions tend to cause both microtearing and swelling.

Preventing DOMS
Certain tactics may enable you to avoid delayed soreness altogether, or at least keep it to a minimum. One step is to warm up thoroughly before activity and cool down completely afterward. This can be done by stretching the muscles that you will be using and by doing a few minutes of light, low-impact aerobic activity, such as walking or biking.

It's also important to give your muscles time to adapt to your activity. For instance, if you have been inactive and your goal is to walk 3 miles in 45 minutes, start by simply walking a mile or so, and then add another quarter- to half-mile at each workout until you can comfortably walk 3 miles. Then you can begin to increase your walking pace to achieve your goal.

These principles to avoid DOMS can apply to any activity, especially weight training. Begin with a weight that you can comfortably use to perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions for an exercise. Continue to use this weight until you can perform 3 sets of 15 repetitions. At the next workout, increase the weight to one that will allow 3 sets of 10 repetitions, and increase the repetitions to 15 as with the first weight. This process should continue until you reach the level of resistance that is appropriate for your training goals.

Even if you're exercising regularly, any unaccustomed activity may cause delayed soreness, so, if possible, avoid making sudden major changes in the type of exercise you do or how long you do it.

[Eddyflash]

dude.. I love feeling sore... I would never try to prevent it... makes me feel like I accomplished something.

[Psycoswole]

I agree with you edd but not fully lol. I remember coming back after a few months off and working legs. The next morning i was in an enormous amount of pain bro. I was walking around all day stiff as hell looking like i was walking on stilts lol. So sometimes it helps to be precatious about it.

[raymondjj19]

i love the sorness to bro, its just sometimes, i never knoiw if i have done to much or to littel at the gym? how do u know if u have worked the mucle hard enough?

[clockworks]

i worked out legs on sunday and i was debilitatingly sore mon-weds. finally on thurs, it turned into that good kinda sore that doesn't make me wince in pain whenever i move...=)

like someone else said, soreness makes me feel like i'm making progress...

-- clocky baby

P.S. it took me months to refine my workout to the point where each muscle group is consistently sore after each workout...

[Alfred]

lol, when i saw the how to prevent part i thought what u guys thought, i work out just so i get sore

[brad fuel]

it sux working out your legs making them really sore and then having to work 8 hrs the next day on your feet