Hi All,

If my muscles still hurt on the day I'm supposed to work them again do I need to give them a rest?

I worked my armes on Monday by tomorrow it would have been over 48 hrs...but I think they may still be sore tomorrow.

Do I have to rest them until they feel normal again, or can I still lift weights even though they're still a bit stiff?

Thanks for any advice.

I workout on my legs mwf and cardio mwthf. They are always sore but I workout on them anyway. I rest on the weekends. Be sure to do a lot of stretching.. that kind of helps with the soreness.

If your giving 48 hrs then you should be fine. Give your muscles time to adjust if you just started working out. They will be sore for a good week and then they adjust and 48 hrs should be plenty of rest. Make sure you are eating a good diet and enough sleep to give your body what it needs to repair and rebuild the muscles you worked.

In my case I've found that working each bodypart once a week has given me the best growth. Before I was working out maybe 5 - 6 times a week and at first I experienced growth but then it slagged. I've now dropped to monday, wednesday, and friday.

Mon = chest, shoulders, forearms

Wed = legs, abs, litte forearm exercise

Fri = biceps, triceps, back

One downside though is that I get bored on the days that I don't workout http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif so I might do some cardio in the morning of off days (never more than twice a week). Just something to think about. Good luck.

The amount of rest depends on how you train. Powerlifters need many days of rest whereas bodybuikders need very little rest, due to how they train. Each individual is different based on their training regime.

C.J.W...

So does that mean that I don't need more than 48 hours per muscle group if I can do 3 sets of 8 in each excercise? I mean, I find the weight challanging, but it's nothing like a power lifter.

PS: thanks to everyone who gave their input...N2Deep, thanks for always replying to my posts, I appreciate it.

gym_girl you may not need 48 hrs of rest- maybe only 24 but I would suggest working each muscle group every other day. I work my upper body on Mon and Friday-so I get 3 days rest between those workouts. But I also lift a little heavy and to the point of failure. My muscles seem to respone better with that extra rest. Lower body/back/bi's get worked on Wed only plus a little cardio 3-5 days a week. So they have a week to rest. You need to adjust your workouts based on how you feel.

I like to bring the physiology of exercise into discussion, so let me bring it in.

When you're sore, it's basically that lactic(sp?) acid build up in your muscles from not being able to handle a change in routine (or beginning one). Basically, working on muscular endurance is the best way to get rid of this and make your workouts much better, and build musclemass and strength quickly and powerfully!

Now, after 48 hours is about the time your muscles will start to degrade. No need to wait any longer than that. Also, if you're sore, don't let that stop you from working out. Working out is the only way to get the soreness gone!! (pump the acid out). The best way to deal with this is after working out so that you will become sore is to do a lighter workout to cool off. Nothing straining, but just to get that acid moved out and then stretch (flexability and elongating(sp?) the muscles is a big help to building muscle size, definition, etc).

Now, as it's been said before, your workout plan will be different from everyone elses, and really it comes down to what you're doing it for and what advancements you're going for.

Also to note, you say youre muscles may still feel stiff. Dont' try and stretch them right away, It should be common knowledge i'd think, but DON'T stretch cold muscles. Always work them out lightly before stretching, and stretch often! throughout your routine! This is a great help and addition to a workout.

Anyway, back to working out. Depending on what you're going for, you may only need to work a muscle out once a week, maybe twice. I agree though, i can't stand not to work them out though! So i still do on my off days a lil workout, light weight, just to keep the muscles stimulated and it helps make my working out of the other muscles (the focus of the workout) last longer by having more to do. Although now i'm working on cardio i cut back my weight training to mainly my off cardio days, so i mainly just do light weight training to keep the muscles stimulated and keep working on the tone (especialy as i make my fat burn off!)

Hope this all helps.