Muscle pain

[Colbaker]

Hi, I have not trained for a while and started again monday, Today i want to do weights again but my chest muscles are hurting, Should i still train and push through the pain barrier or would that damage them?

Thanks

 

[Bakedgoods]

Hi, I have not trained for a while and started again monday, Today i want to do weights again but my chest muscles are hurting, Should i still train and push through the pain barrier or would that damage them?

Thanks

Have you got a routine sorted? You shouldn't be training the same muscle groups more than once a week imo.

 

[Colbaker]

Yep, I will train everyday, 3 Days just cardio and 2 days weights, Not wanting to build at the moment just looking at losing fat, also is that correct about not training the muscle groups more than once a week as i have read differant on some bodybuilding sites?

 

[Depth]

Have you got a routine sorted? You shouldn't be training the same muscle groups more than once a week.

Who says? I train my whole body three times a week, plus keg and sand bag lifting / farmers walk etc....

Why shouldn't he train the same muscle group more than once a week?

 

[Zefan]

I train mine when they don't hurt

Can be up to three days rest though as I can go a bit overboard

 

[Colbaker]

Thats what i thought, Anyway should i train my chest muscles today even though they hurt at the moment, shall i just puch through the pain?

 

[Zefan]

No, they hurt for a reason. They're repairing. Go eat lots of eggs and milk etc

Well, I definitely wouldn't want to use my muscles if they hurt.

 

[Colbaker]

O.k. cool, I will do some cardio and maybe some bicep training as they feel fine.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Depth]

Thats what i thought, Anyway should i train my chest muscles today even though they hurt at the moment, shall i just puch through the pain?

You can weight train three times a week if you want, and yeah you can push through the pain, check this link out: http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/310/

 

[noob]

You can weight train three times a week if you want, and yeah you can push through the pain, check this link out: http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/310/

Depth you probably train like what I want to do I posted this link in the other thread what do you think

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hitworkout.htm

I go down the gym 3 times a week. What you say and the link seems to make sense.

 

[Colbaker]

The only problem is i cannot find anything on those links that say wether it is good or not to train on muscles that are hurt, *** painfull muscles are only painfull because the fibres are trying to stitch back together and wouldnt training them now just rip them more, I have done a few google searches on the muscle pain and it looks like giving the weights a rest until the pain has gone and only concentrating on cardio, i might be wrong though.

 

[Depth]

Depth you probably train like what I want to do I posted this link in the other thread what do you think

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hitworkout.htm

I go down the gym 3 times a week. What you say and the link seems to make sense.

Looks interesting, though to be honest the only lifts I are the deadlift, squat, bench press, overhead press and occasionally, the clean and jerk.

I do a lot of functional strength work, like Tyre flipping and farmers walks as well.

 

[Zefan]

AFAIK rest is key. This is what's been told to me by EVERY person I've asked about it. Without rest your muscles will not grow, simple as.

 

[Depth]

AFAIK rest is key. This is what's been told to me by EVERY person I've asked about it. Without rest your muscles will not grow, simple as.

Yep, rest is very important, but not to the extent some people make out. I train my whole body three times a week, do loads of plyometrics and functional strength work on top of that, and I have grown loads over the last few years.

So where is all this "only train one body part a week" rubbish coming from? Why have I still grown? Granted, everyone has different genetics, but still...

 

[Bakedgoods]

Who says? I train my whole body three times a week, plus keg and sand bag lifting / farmers walk etc....

Why shouldn't he train the same muscle group more than once a week?

He didn't state his goals till a later post, I assumed he was looking at bulking/building muscle and stated my opinion.

 

[Shamrock]

I stopped getting DOMS after I switched from annihilating one body part per week to 3 full body workouts a week.

 

[Depth]

He didn't state his goals till a later post, I assumed he was looking at bulking/building muscle and stated my opinion.

I would think that doing your whole body 3 times a week with big compound lifts will make you grow much more (and make you a lot stronger) than a split up routine, seeing as not only are your working much harder, but the amount of hormones released in your body will be much, much greater after hitting every muscle group.

This article seems to agree with me, that split routines (back and shoulder days etc) are nonsense: http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/310/

 

[GordyR]

This always comes up...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with training a muscle group more than once per week... As long as the volume is adjusted accordingly.

If you simply took the chest portion of a typical "once-per-week" split routine and performed that three times a week then yes you would more than likely quickly overtrain. The difference is that those of us who do train each muscle group more frequently than once per week don't obliterate our CNS's with set after set of pointless isolation exercises. Instead we stick to the compound lifts and up the frequency.

Basically the fatigue is accumulated over the week instead. Take Bill Starr's 5x5 for example. This routine has put on more lean mass on atheltes than any other over the last 30 years. On it you squat, bench and row three times per week and do very little isolation work. The volume for each muscle group is far less per day but the fatigue is accumulated over the week. Rather than blasting a muscle once per week we hit it three times, but with less volume per day. Most people respond extremely well to this type of training.

Having said all this I disagree that splits are nonsense. They have their place and some people do respond fantastically to them. I personally think they are fantastic for beginners (though that is just a matter of opinion) as they are easy to fit in around peoples schedules and sort of "ween" the trainee in to training. For pure mass gains though nothing beats something along the lines of Bill Starr's 5x5 or DFHT.

 

[Depth]

This always comes up...

There is absolutely nothin wrong with training a muscle group more than once per week... As long as the volume is adjusted accordingly.

If you simply took the chest portion of a typical "once-per-week" split routine and performed that three times a week then yes you would more than likely quickly overtrain. The difference is that those of us who do train each muscle group more frequently than once per week don't obliterate our CNS's with set after set of pointless isolation exercises. Instead we stick to the compound lifts and up the frequency.

Basically the fatigue is accumulated over the week instead. Take Bill Starr's 5x5 for example. This routine has put on more lean mass on atheltes than any other over the last 30 years. On it you squat, bench and row three times per week and do very little isolation work. The volume for each muscle group is far less per day but the fatigue is accumulated over the week. Rather than blasting a muscle once per week we hit it three times, but with less volume per day. Most people respond extremely well to this type of training.

Having said all this I disagree that splits are nonsense. They have their place and some people do respond fantastically to them. I personally think they are fantastic for beginners (though that is just a matter of opinion) as they are easy to fit in around peoples schedules and sort of "ween" the trainee in to training. For pure mass gains though nothing beats something along the lines of Bill Starr's 5x5 or DFHT.

Good post. Do you train for mass, or strength?

 

[GordyR]

Good post. Do you train for mass, or strength?

I mostly do maintenance work now. I achieved the "look" I wanted a while ago now and have no desire to be any bigger so most of my training is a mixture of strength training and maintenance work. To be honest though the only thing I have really changed is my diet, my training is pretty much the same. I am just no longer eating to gain mass.

Anyway.... As for the training while your muscles are sore thing. Well what you are experiencing is called DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). When training an untrained muscle group it is always pretty nasty at first. However the more frequently you train said muscle group the less severe the DOMS will become. Contrary to popular belief, in general there is nothing wrong with training through DOMS. However if you have just started training I certainly wouldn't recommend you do so right away.

Back to the frequency thing, in my opinion you should take a look at your workout. If you performed a bunch of sets of a variety of different exercises (Flyes, inclines, declines, flat etc.) all for your chest then your CNS is likely fried. In which case then yes, you should probably wait a week before blasting your chest again. On the other hand if you stuck to the compounds and did 3x8, 5x5 or whatever of flat bench then feel free to hit your chest again this week. I hope this is making some sense.