I've been lifting for a couple months now. I havent been doing my legs as much as I should. About once every two weeks. :( I know....pathetic. Anyway last Wednesday I decided to commit myself to working my lower body as much as my upper and not skip it. I was doing squats and worked them pretty hard. Its Sat. night and there still sore and I grunt a little to get up off a chair or climb up or down stairs hurts pretty good.

My question is, is it ok to work them again on Monday since that is what my workout schedule calls for even if they're a little sore yet? Or should I let them recoop %100?
Thanks
Troy

I've been lifting for a couple months now. I havent been doing my legs as much as I should. About once every two weeks. :( I know....pathetic. Anyway last Wednesday I decided to commit myself to working my lower body as much as my upper and not skip it. I was doing squats and worked them pretty hard. Its Sat. night and there still sore and I grunt a little to get up off a chair or climb up or down stairs hurts pretty good.

My question is, is it ok to work them again on Monday since that is what my workout schedule calls for even if they're a little sore yet? Or should I let them recoop %100?
Thanks
Troy

You will get different answers and opinions on this. My policy is that if they are sore at all, not to work them. The reason is that soreness is an indication that the muscles haven't fully recovered/healed. Given that recovery is when muscles grow and strengthen, I believe it is best to wait until they are fully recovered before blasting them again. Lifting while sore is counterproductive IMO.

My question is, is it ok to work them again on Monday since that is what my workout schedule calls for even if they're a little sore yet? Or should I let them recoop %100?

You're just starting legs, so you can cut them a little recovery slack this time to find out more about what you're working with.

But if you want to cut down on DOMS, apply cardio liberally. And next time you hammer your legs (as well you should) then try cooling down with some low level cardio. That ups the circulation and helps clean up after the massacre.

Blood circulating cardio to clear the lactic acid and waste products from your legs is a definite recommendation.

Thorough stretching to improve flexibility is also good, as PWO, while your legs are warm, is a great time for it and stretching helps with DOMs. I also always take a very hot shower and then spend a half minute or so massaging the muscles under ice cold water.

I'd say based on what I've read lately, you need to ask yourself how sore you really are....you could treat the next workout as active recovery....but I wouldn't necessarily skip it altogether. If you say could barely walk then you'd likely leave you legs or go really light (don't go for 1rm's when you're not 100%, that sort of thing)....but if it's just underlying aches and light pain....I'd say work through it. There's some caveats with this:

you have to trust your own judgement.
be fairly in tune with your soreness and understand your level of recovery and fitness level

course if you are asking, then you're not quite sure so you may want to lay off or rotate the leg workout out a few more days (move things around) because over the 'net, no one is really going to be to assess your current level of soreness. Some people could be bleeding profusely and call it a mere flesh wound ;)

In the future, more stretching, icing and massage will help

Thanks for the replies guys. Sunday I feel alot better. I think I will do my legs on monday again. I generally heal rather quick. BTW.. what do all the abbr. mean. Sorry, Im a noob.

Thanks for the replies guys. Sunday I feel alot better. I think I will do my legs on monday again. I generally heal rather quick. BTW.. what do all the abbr. mean. Sorry, Im a noob.

DOMS =Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
PWO = Post Workout
RM = Rep Max
IMO= In My Opinion ( ;) )

If you want to reduce DOMS of your legs, Hit them 2 to 3x a week using different excercises and avoid failure until the last rep of the last set.

Work through soreness - use common sense don't use heavy loads if your REAL sore - if you don't your progress with be slower. You have to work up your recovery and conditioning levels to improve your physique.

everytime i workout my chest, it is really really sore.i workout my chest once a week on wed. why does it get sore everytime?, am i overtraining?? my routine is:

incline flies - 3 sets
incline bench press - 3 sets (superset)
flat bench flies - 4 sets
flat bench press - 5 sets (superset)