Why am I always sore?

[shotochem]

Hi Beka,

 

IMO, working out 3-4 times a week is not overdoing it. I do the same and get slightly sore. I used to be in PAIN when I trained 4x a week on CONSECUTIVE days. Now, I train every other day and I feel pretty good.

 

The body needs time to recover, just wait till you get older.

[SevenStar]

eh...not EVERYONE can do strength training every day. I actually advise against that. There's too much possibility for overtraining and injury.

 

No there's not. look into "Power to the People" by Pavel Tsatsouline.

[SevenStar]

There's nothing like trying to help someone, then having someone else quote you word for word, scrutinising and disagreeing with everything you say!!

 

my bad I was just trying to shed some light on some things.

 

I guess I include aching, soreness and feeling a bit tight all in the same category, which is a big generalisation but I can't see how you can train hard and not suffer from one or the other?!?

 

As we know, the soreness comes from lactic acid buildup. that is the result of an overly worked muscle - it's the result of anaerobic glycolysis. When you don't have sufficient oxygen pumping through you, lactic acid begins to build up in your muscles. When you are doing strength training - neuromuscular type training - you are doing only two to three sets on an extremely heavy weight, with 2-3 mins rest between sets. There will be no soreness.

 

As for other activities, it's what you get used to. Like I said, I train 2-3 hours per night. If I only trained one hour per night, then trained for three hours some random night, yes, I'd be sore. I'm used to 2-3 hour sessions, so there is no soreness.

 

After a hard workout, stretch and cool down fully. Perhaps that will help a little.

[Rich67]

The most important thing was not discussed: WHAT KIND of pain is it?? If it is a deep, intramuscular pain, this is the result of working the muscle very hard. When you lift heavy or use your muscles beyond their capacity, you cause miniscule tears in the muscle. This is actually microscopic damage to the tissue. In order to make the pain subside you have to do several things:

 

1) REST. Muscles recuperate during rest, and grow during same.Without the appropriate rest and recovery, the muscle cannot repair, may actually become weaker, and will continually be sore.

 

2) NUTRIENTS. You MUST drink water. Water is essential for recovery. Potassium. Helps prevent cramping and helps muscular function...also helps the absorption of water into the muscle cell. Of course, you must have protein in order for the damaged muscle to rebuild and strengthen.

 

3) STRETCH. Stretch before, during, and after your workout. This helps prevent excess lactic acid buildup.You have to work it out of the muscle.

 

If the pain is joint soreness, you have other problems.

 

MY DIAGNOSIS:

 

you are working out too frequently, probably not drinking enough water, and not getting adequate rest between workouts. If you MUST work out 5 times a week, then you must get 8-10 hours of sleep a night, drink gallons of water, and eat lots of protein. The "average" person should not work out more than 4-5 times a week...that's assuming you have a strenuous one hour or more session. Light workouts can be done more frequently. Don't overdo it. Take it from an old man, it can catch up to you. Furthermore, overtraining-what you sound like you are doing- is detrimental to your health. You'll get sicker more often, more "free radicals" will be released into your circulatory system, and you make yourself susceptible to heart disease and cancer as you get older.

[SevenStar]

There's really not enough info given by her to determine that she's overtraining. Also, recent studies are showing that you don't HAVE to have 8 hours of sleep - it will vary from individual to individual.