Tired Of Being Sore

I always read that soreness just go away with time, but its not the case with me so far. I’m only lifting since 1.5years, I tried alot of programs, and so far I like the push pull idea thats TC talked not long ago. But, one thing never changed, soreness on big compound lift, even on low volume like 5x5

squat = sore quad glutes ass and little abdo
deadlift = sore glutes lower back upper back and little abdo

chins/Pull up/row= sore bicep and lats
wide grip dips and bench press = sore pecs and shoulder, very little triceps

they are my main exercise, I do them at least 1x week each, then a variation,

day 1, squat, dips(before bench because weak) bench and push up
day 2 deadlift, pull-up and rows
day 4 overhead squat, close grip dips, bench and shoulder press
day 5 single leg deadlift, chin up, and rows

I made progress, and still make progress, but I’m very tired of being sore all week long.If I take a 3-4days rest, the soreness will be worst.

right now I’m on the anabolic diet (since 2months), eating 3500-4000 cals a day (6meals), but even when I was eating alot of carbs it was the same, and I find it very strange that I still gain strengh with the AD, I thought I would lose some…

eating more? I can’t afford 200$ of food per week, its already around 150 and I’m always broken because of that, I’m a student.

I also tried in the past stretching after working out without sucess… so I need T-help.

How is your PWO nutrition, and how much protein are you consuming a day?

How much do you sleep?

Welcome to Hell!:slight_smile:
I am in this game around 20 years.
Soreness does not go away completely for me. For instance, my legs are always sore the most. Of course, pain is not that bad as it is after 10 day + break from working out, but it is always there.

Everyone in my office knows when I hit my legs because I walk like a penguin next two days. I guess, it’s not that pretty, but I don’t care. I have to admit that I sleep enough only on weekends since I am in Programming business (comes with territory).

However, BCAA seams to help reducing this condition. Try to hit it hard (like 6-8 tabs X 4-5 times a day).

PWO is a protein shake for now,no carbs, anabolic diet, but I used to drink/eat prot and carbs post workout, like chocolate milk and prot etc. I get 6-7 hours of sleep, and for protein intake, it is around ~200. 6feet, 200pounds, dunno about %bf, id say something between 10-15

I can’t really afford alot of supps, I am already broken only buying enough foods, mostly meat and veggies.

but yeah, I do have problems getting full 8hours of consistent sleep, thats MIGHT be the problem…

Being sore is part of the game, however the way you describe it sounds like more than normal. Excessive soreness is usually a sign of insufficient recovery methodology.

The very first question that comes to my mind is to wonder if you’re taking fish oil. You should also read a number of the excellent articles on this site dealing with advanced recovery methods like contrast showers, ice, aggressive stretching, etc.

What I want to know is what in the world you are buying to eat 150$ worth of food a week as a student?

For me really loading the BCAAs(which might not be in the budget for you) and waxy maize around workouts and very aggressive strething each time has helped tremendously with recovery. But if you are training reasonably hard being at least a little sore is unavoidable.

Yeah, I trained for three years last time and was sore after every workout. Like 20 months so far this time and I still get plenty sore and I eat a lot of good food and get plenty of rest. at least for me.

I should qualify my “tremendous help with recovery” it’s gone from I can’t get out of bed and putting my shirt on is a circus act to more along the lines of alright I can walk but I sure as hell can’t make it up anymore than 2 stairs. Good for me at least ha

First, to be honest with you, if you plan on making this a lifestyle, then you should learn to live with (and enjoy) soreness as a part of life.

Sure, there are things that you can do to minimize soreness and some people have naturally better recovery abilities than others. But, chances are that if you’re working hard enough you’ll have (at least some) soreness as the result of your workouts for the rest of you lifting career.

Now, if you’re still getting crippling levels of soreness even after doing the same (as in same exercise format) workout for an extended period of time, then I agree with others that something may be off in the diet/recovery areas.

[quote]FatMom wrote:
PWO is a protein shake for now,no carbs, anabolic diet, but I used to drink/eat prot and carbs post workout, like chocolate milk and prot etc. I get 6-7 hours of sleep, and for protein intake, it is around ~200. 6feet, 200pounds, dunno about %bf, id say something between 10-15
[/quote]

That’s probably a big part of the answer to your question right there. You may be on the anabolic diet, but I’d strongly suggest adding some carbs to your PWO shake. That’s when your body really needs carbs (along with during the actual workout) and when it is best able to tolerate them.

I’d also strongly suggest getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night. 6-7 isn’t enough for most people, especially if they’re working out. I recall reading one of the authors say something like “just one night of insufficient sleep can throw off hormonal levels and lead to a decrease in performance/recovery” (paraphrased).

[quote]
I can’t really afford alot of supps, I am already broken only buying enough foods, mostly meat and veggies.

but yeah, I do have problems getting full 8hours of consistent sleep, thats MIGHT be the problem…[/quote]

Might? More like probably is a big part of it. Also as far as supps, they are mostly frosting on the cake. They can and do work, but if you don’t have your training, diet and recovery in order, than supplements will not give you the results they promise.

Personally, supplements that I have tried and found good results with are whey protein/recovery shakes, glutamine (actually really has helped me in the past with recovering from extremely intense workouts and is great for reducing soreness), and fish oil. I’ve never personally tried BCAA’s, but I’ve heard a lot of good testimonials about them.

Once again though, get the diet and recovery (sleep) stuff in order and then if you still need additional aids, that’s where supplements should come in.

Good training,

Sentoguy

Sentoguy, gave you some good advice. But if I was to pinpoint one thing, as to why you’re experiencing extreme soreness, is the lack of carbs in your Post-Workout nutrition. In your situation, your carbohydrate intake around post-workout time is more important than getting an extra one hour of sleep.

Another reason, why you could be constantly sore is that you change your movements frequently. Stick to one movement for a few months and the next day you wouldn’t even know that you did them. But to challenge and transform your body you need to switch up the rep ranges or exercises at least every 4 weeks. As the others said, suck it up! You’re in this for life.

By the way, if you’re getting in a lot of carbs post-workout you’re probably not on the anabolic diet anymore, haha :wink:

Take care. Keep your training fun.

Also, if you’re not already, start stretching the muscles you’ve just worked after the workout is over.

2 things diet and recovery.

Diet
EFA’s…they made the difference in me

Recovery
As soon as you finish training hit the showers and for 15min hot/cold. After get some good sleep.

I don’t recommend this, but whenever I get real sore I train the muscle or exercise again . The pain goes away. If I train squats and the next day I am sore; I will do squats as warmup the next day. Takes the soreness away. Same for bench, deads, chins etc.

yes I do take fish oil, that with prot shakes are my only supps.

150$ of food is not gard to reach, especially with lot of meat, at least here.

If I cant get more than 6-7hours of sleep, its because I need to wake up at 7:45am, and I never really feel asleep before ~11h-12h, even If i want to sleep around 10-10h30pm.

I dont think my diet is that bad, like I said, i’m sitll making progress, even on a diet that most dont. I used to have carbs post workout and it was the same. Soreness is bad when I woke up, or after I was sitting or not moving for period of time.

I find that when you continue to push yourself in the gym. you will get sore. Suck it up, and keep pushing

Here’s an update. Last evening I worked abs, back and bi’s. I ate probably 1000 calories total before going to bed and getting plenty of sleep. Guess what? My abs, back and bi’s are sore today and they will get still sorer as the day progresses.

You can’t get rid of all sorenes but a lot is caused by lack of conditioning. Doing exercises once a week is what’s causing the problem. Most muscles are fully recovered in 3-5 days.

See dr. Squat’s ABC article for specifics. Add a light day with a few sets at about 70-80% of what you do on your heavy day to maintain your conditioning between workouts. It may take a couple of weeks to see a difference. Try 4 days after your heavy workout.

I don’t do them once a week, but 2, the second time is a variation, like overhead squat replacing squat, and I can’t really go heavy on these. day3 and 4 are not heavy days.

I really thought soreness was normal, not a problem.

And i actually get off on it, makes me feel like i did something.

But if the soreness is in the back and legs, stretching will do amazing things. Most people have no idea how to stretch. If you want stretching to help, spend 15-20 minutes after the workout stretching those muscles you just trained.

15-20 minutes??? yeah, you got to hold each stretch for a minute if you really want it to do anything. And its not boring either, because just like in lifting, you should be pushing yourself, the stretches should be fucking painful. Real stretching is a mind game. But afterwards you will feel amazing and I guarantee less soreness.

I’m really glad I caught this thread. I whined about constant soreness in my thread, but I think the older guys are nicer to me. Sometimes it helps just to hear…“Hey, it means you’re muscles are growing, dumbass!”

I will say upping my fish oils to 15g a day and using hot/cold showers has helped some, and after reading this thread I will up my BCAA's also.

[quote]Dr.PowerClean wrote:
I’m really glad I caught this thread. I whined about constant soreness in my thread, but I think the older guys are nicer to me. Sometimes it helps just to hear…“Hey, it means you’re muscles are growing, dumbass!”

I will say upping my fish oils to 15g a day and using hot/cold showers has helped some, and after reading this thread I will up my BCAA's also.[/quote]

There are those who I have every reason to believe who swear that soreness has no bearing on their progress, I am not one of those people. DOMS is a definite indicator of how effective my previous days training went, though I already know the previous day.

It goes like this:

I can absolutely feel the target muscles during a set and can thus also tell how well they’re being worked and subsequently how sore they will be the next day or even more the next evening. If I disrupt that chain at any point I do not grow. That doesn’t mean I train towards soreness, meaning I don’t simply try to get as sore as possible. There’s plenty of ways of bringing on soreness that aren’t going to help my goals, however if I’ve worked in such a way as to stimulate growth I WILL be sore.

Again, there are guys here who’s knowledge and experience is indisputable who swear this is not true for them so it may or may not be for somebody else.