Hey, everyone! I'm pretty much new here - just look at my post count.

I haven't lifted since November, and last Sunday I started up again, when I did pecs at a moderate weight. Then on Thursday I got to biceps. In the past, I've never really worked my biceps (my triceps are about three times their size) and have never hammer curled in the past (which also, a little more than coincidently, I think, describes the motion most painful to my arms at the moment - thus explained:)

My right arm, since Thursday, still feels very sore, while my left has gone down to a dull ache at either extreme (bent arm, and straight arm). The right arm remains so sore that it doesn't bend easily in more than a 150-160 degree angle (where's my protractor?). The soreness is centered at the brachioradialis muscle -- pretty much the forearm -- but continues up to the very bottom of my bicep on the outside and inside of my arm. (Diagram (http://www.metu.edu.tr/~guney/bb/images/upper-arm-muscles.jpg), heh.)

I'm starting to get worried since there is such a difference in how my arms feels, and it is very annoying to not be able to extend my right arm fully.

Should I be worried? Has this ever happened to you? Will ice help? How about an extremely light weight to attempt to loosen the arm?

I mentioned pecs in the first paragraph because I worked them again on Thursday at a heavy weight and they aren't sore at all, whereas they were very sore up until Thursday at a moderate weight. Maybe I should expect the same from my right arm: a few more days of bad soreness?

You might have actually pulled that muscle. I've never had soreness last more than 2 days, not even after a killer set of squats.

I would leave it perfectly alone for a few days. Don't keep doing the movement that hurts. If the pain persists you might even talk to your doctor...

Hope it heals fine. :)

Sometimes after a really, heavy intense workout I've felt soreness for up to 4 days. Give it a rest for at least week and see how it feels. If its still sore you may want to get some treatment from a doc or a physio. Dont ignore the pain and work it out again though because you could injure it seriously and be out of action for months.

My guess is youve probably been really enthusiastic about getting back into the gym and you might have strained the muscle. Just make sure you rest in and when you train it again do so cautionly. Dont take my advice though, if your unsure get professional help.

Marcus :tucool:

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll just delay my restart another week, hopefully, and get some quality running in during the meantime. :tu:

Any exercise that causes movement across a joint, activates every muscle that crosses that joint. In your case, the elbow, when you perform hammer curls, you have your forearm partially pronated, so biceps is being utilised poorly. In this situaion, Brachioradialis is called upon especially, as it sits in front of the joint in this position, and is the most appropiate muscle to act across the joint. It's only a small muscle in the grand scheme of things, so will recover slower than your biceps for instance. Regular curls in your next workout will take the strain away from Brachioradialis, allowing it to recover.

Andrew.