sore-muscles-after-working-out

Hi Alfonso!

First of all, congratulations on your recent partnership with Discovery Fit & Health! Glad to see this website is spreading the word and busting fitness myths on a larger scale.

I’ve been following Body Rock TV for quite a while now, though I only started “bodyrocking” a few days ago. The way it works is that they put up a schedule and do HIIT for about 5 days a week. I’m sure someone already in good shape can jump into this routine, but I’m not sure if I should start out doing these workouts every day. Up till now I was living a very sedentary life.

I did two days in a row and the third, my bottom half was so sore that I could barely walk/squat/get up/etc. Should I start out doing a few days a week and then slowly working it up?

I would like a different professional opinion.

Thanks,

Janett


Hey Janet!

First of all, congratulations on starting an exercise program- awesome. As you know I’m a fan of Zuzana’s but no, I don’t think you should do it everyday, especially if you’re so sore that you have discomfort moving around.

Now back in my bodybuilding days I may have said that feeling of pain was a highly sought after prize; one that shows how hard you punished your body. Nowadays, after growing up and leaving the testosterone behind, my common sense has led me to a different point of view. Usually I recommend no more than 3 days per week of exercise for new trainees. And it’s partly due to what you’re experiencing. Mentally you also need to adjust and acclimate to a new program as well. One of the Top Ten Beginner Mistakes I list is doing too much, too soon. When it comes to exercise, a slow progression always is a better choice than just jumping in head first. You can always do more later on.

Also, you must remember that exercise is trauma and your body gets stronger when it recovers. As a newbie you just don’t have the endurance, strength or stamina to do those types of workout everyday. Will it kill you if you try? Of course not, but I don’t believe it to be productive or give you any benefits so why bother. Your idea of slowly working up to any workout that at first is too difficult is a great strategy.

I would suggest maybe try Body Rock workouts 2 time a week for the first few weeks. Now that doesn’t mean you can’t do other things on other days. A great idea would be to vary your workouts, so maybe try yoga one day, a walk or jog another, and then the in home HIIT training two other days. As time goes on, you can simply bump up to 3 days of Zuzana, then 4, and finally 5. Plus you can combine whatever other exercises you like into your program. Especially with exercise, variety is the key to success and helps avoid boredom.

Some trainers will say push through the pain and tough it out. That’s not my way of doing things.

For now since you’re so sore you could try some upper body exercises like pushups, rows, shoulder press, biceps curls and triceps extensions. I’d leave legs alone to they feel all healed up.

It’s a common phenomenon to get extremely sore in the legs and butt. They carry so much weight and are such large muscle groups, that when they haven’t been used in an exercise like capacity with movements like squats, lunges, and jumps, they get ridiculously sore. The good news is that this subsides with time and generally will never be as painful as it feels right now. So take it slow and remember time is on your side.

I’m thrilled that you took the first step towards becoming a healthier, more-fit version of yourself. Please keep me updated!

Let me know how it goes and if any of you out there would like to book a more in-depth consultation with me – just drop me a line via the How To Book button in the sidebar.

And if you have a question – please just click here. I’d love to help you!

 

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