Safe to work out while sore?

[BrodyB]

Yeah, so I'm experiencing that whole sore-all-over-my-body thing going on. I had this to a lesser degree during my first meet-up with some of the South Bay'ers the previous weekend, and to a much greater extent this weekend. The thing that worries me isn't that I'm injuring myself so much as the feeling that I shouldn't work out or run much until I'm recovered, leading to a slow and somewhat painful conditioning routine week in and week out. I'm worried that I'm not conditioning progressively so much as doing too much too soon. But if the routine turns into 'train, wait a week, then train', I'll just be repeating this loop.

So what I ask is this: if I'm waking up the mornings after a group meet very sore, am I pushing myself too far? And if I'm sore, is it safe or healthy to continue work outs like push-ups, squats, or jogging? Or should I rest until it's diminished greatly?

[Philosofist]

Not safe to work out while sore. Damages your muscles..well mine at least....

[Kirill]

Depends how you "work out" and what you do. Im pretty sure that a light stretch wont do any damage, but i cannot be so sure because i have no medical experience.

Pretty much trust yourself! Develop "Body Armor" (You know what that means)!

[pyz.particle]

Soreness is inevitable when you suddenly participate in strenuous physical activity after a long period of inactivity. Stretching helps a little with the physical discomfort, and I recommend it because i think it reduces recovery time. Also, keep your activity levels low, especially with the sore portions, that reduces recovery time too... Otherwise yeah, nothing really to worry about, heck i'm pretty sure its not that bad to exercise thru it, I do that all the time... Either way, don't expect it to completely go away for at least 3-4 days... :)

[Fyrel]

Stretch a lot and take it easy if you really feel the need to work out. I find sleeping a little extra goes a long way to healing you up. IMO, you probably don't need to work out until you can move normally without wincing.

[Anthony]

ya i agree with giorgio
i think stretching is my main way of lessening soreness and definatly when u have doubts on whether you can do a certain movement you can maybe step back and reconsider/rest or instead go back to "working up to it"
also don't hesitate to stop and rest cause injury will probably take longer

[SafeNSure]

...mah!
I dunno that anybody here is a physiologist or an MD, but in my experience (thus: no presumption of medical advise!), I would say that the #1 issue is being able to distinguish soreness from pain.

Pain pretty much stops all sorts of all-round and specific training to the affected area, that is not medically prescribed, controlled or advised (i.e.: swimming for certain injuries recovery, a.s.o.).
But a certain amount of generic soreness comes with the territory.

Nevertheless a couple of very generic things can be said:
- serious warm-up reduces soreness (and the chance of injuries): 12/15' of low impact high frequency exercise will do; you have to be a bit out of breath, start sweating quite profusely, and feel your heart progressively pounding;
- rhythm, and body temperature must be kept at a certain level throughout, hydration must be continuous (I go through half a gl. per 3h. training, more than a pint per hour in SF/mid-season weather, double in a "real" summer);
- most people stretch only before, I stretch before and throughout, especially when doing power "moves" (the majority of what we do...); before I'm mainly interested in warming up the engine (mine is a diesel...);
- when you start feeling exhausted, it's time to quit (one can quit when he's starts being tired, but one MUST quit if feeling exhausted);
- cooling down, includes a gentle stretch and no "final attempts" (70% of injuries happen at that point... 20% after warming up -while 'getting at it'- and only 10% when "in the zone"... not a scientific statistic!)
- hydration should continue for a couple of hours, with gentle calories replenishing;
- hydration should be generous before laying down at night;
- 3 hours training take AT least 7/8 hours sleep, better 9 (while, otherwise, I don't sleep more that 6 hours...so to each one his own);
- gently stretching in the morning helps;

Now: how much break to take depend from a variety of things, but if the above guidelines have been followed 36hours should do, and rarely more than 48 are going to be beneficial... I believe that it's more about listening what your body tells you, and how well it's recovering.
IMHO, 3 sessions a week of varied, serious, yet not overdone work out should assure constant physical progress w/o too much backslashes, aside of unrelated circumstances... the problem is identifying what works for you, what tend to harm you or bother you, what works you out w/o wearing you down.

It can take years to learn it.
=)

[technique]

It's like that for the first 2-4 weeks. Wait till Wednesday or Thursday to work out. If you really want to get back into it, get a sports massage Monday or Tuesday. Eventually, you'll be fine Tuesday, and even the Monday after, if you come out often enough.