Should you train muscles when they're still sore??

[PinkPanther]

I trained calves really hard this week, but I wanted to start my training them twice a week this week. I trained them on Monday and they were still sore on Wednesday, but I trained them again anyways. Today they are SUPER sore!!! Should I have not trained them being that they were really sore, or should I have just moved training them again to like today or tomorrow??

Thanks,
PinkPanther

 

[bigdho]

I have always been under the impression that if your muscle is sore than you shouldnt train them.

 

[bran987]

DOMS is not an indicator of whether or not you should train again, just as not an indicator or whether you had a good workout or not!

unless it is so uncomfortable that your movements are hindered, it shouldn't factor into your decision. but what should factor in is that if you are training a muscle group "super hard" 2 times in 3 days, you might not get the gains you're looking for. I wouldn't recommend going to total failure multiple times per workout, multiple times per week, on one muscle group!

It doesn't mean you can't train a group twice/week though, just keep the volume/intensity/overtraining issues in mind. if you are training a group twice per week soon your soreness will be little to nothing as the muscle adapts.

 

[anthrax]

Sometines it is even better to train while your muscle is still sore.....

 

[Deleted member 33117]

I would advise continuting to train the muscle even when sore. It might become more sore as a result, but evenutally it will adapt.

 

[SoreArms]

The calves are fast heaing muscles so you should be fine training them twice a week, however, specailly if you are working them 'till failure, I would spread the days a little further apart. Like say mondays and Fridays or something like that.

 

[casualbb]

Soreness means nothing; train through it.

 

[PinkPanther]

Oh good...I was hoping that it was ok to still have trained them again. I guess it's just like anything else when you start in lifting - the soreness will go away once you get used to doing it...

Thanks Everyone!!

 

[du Chaneaux17]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe when you train and then you are sore the next day, you should still train, because your muscles should be healed up by the time you start your next workout regime, it's just the nerves "catching up" from the last work out.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

I thought it was just leftover lactic acid build-up. Sore or not, you should train.

 

[WalkingBeast]

I try to space my training days and muscle groups so that most of the soreness is gone by the time I reach a muscle group. I dont like to have sore triceps on chest day since Ive noticed its effect on my strength. If the muscle is still sore, Ill either take a day off or train right through it. I go by how my body feels. I dont purposely retrain sore muscles, but sometimes its inevitable when Im hitting everything so intensely. Calves,traps,abs,and forearms can take some abuse IMO and can be trained almost daily if so desired.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

Biceps and triceps, too. Your limbs in general seem to be able to take a nice pounding. I noticed higher reps works best for forearms, calves, biceps, triceps, hamstrings and quads. Only my chest, lats, and back has really gotten nice results off of the lower rep ranges. Not that it's the only way to train, but it just seems more effecient to me, and makes more sense. In my head, anyway.

 

[du Chaneaux17]

I've read somewhere that Franco Columbo did chest, calves, and shoulders three times a week, and back, arms, and legs twice a week. this was all done in a 6 day training split. And look how big he was. Now it would seem to me that he is overtraining, but obviously he had to of know what he was doing, or else he wouldn't be as big as he was. Any insight on this, guys?

 

[zxe003]

I've read somewhere that Franco Columbo did chest, calves, and shoulders three times a week, and back, arms, and legs twice a week. this was all done in a 6 day training split. And look how big he was. Now it would seem to me that he is overtraining, but obviously he had to of know what he was doing, or else he wouldn't be as big as he was. Any insight on this, guys?

I think a lot boils down to genetics. Personally, I'm an advocate of training for feeling. I hear endless warnings about overtraining your muscles, but I've seen some of the best results in my arms and chest when doubling and sometimes tripling my sessions per week on these muscle groups. On the flip side...I've also known (primarily ectomorphs) that would shrink down when following my routines. These guys had to have good recovery time between workouts in order to keep the gains consistent.

 

[WalkingBeast]

Genetics, and even a small amount of steroids will boost recovery significantly. For me atleast, overtraining is very hard to do. Not sure Ive every truly done it. A strong mind can blast right through that tired feeling. I dont repeat any of my sessions more then once a week however, since I usually hit the muscles sufficiently. Chest I train twice, spread apart by 4 days. One day is focused on incline/upper chest and the other is flat.

 

[anthrax]

I've read somewhere that Franco Columbo did chest, calves, and shoulders three times a week, and back, arms, and legs twice a week. this was all done in a 6 day training split. And look how big he was. Now it would seem to me that he is overtraining, but obviously he had to of know what he was doing, or else he wouldn't be as big as he was. Any insight on this, guys?

Juiced guys can do things that "natural men" will never achieve

 

[du Chaneaux17]

Juiced guys can do things that "natural men" will never achieve

Can you prove of uses with juice by these men back in those days?

 

[Sebass67]

DOMS is not an indicator of whether or not you should train again, just as not an indicator or whether you had a good workout or not!

Not necassarily...i have had tons of workouts that were effective and i wasn't all that sore from them either...

 

[PoonRaider]

Contrary to popular belief (In EF at least)
Most experts agree that you should rest when you feel excessively sore. Check out webmd.com
How much protein are you getting?

 

[casualbb]

If soreness is preventing you from working out, try stretching. Also, suck it up and pound out your first set. The soreness should be gone within minutes.

 

[Dorian'sDisciple]

I've read somewhere that Franco Columbo did chest, calves, and shoulders three times a week, and back, arms, and legs twice a week. this was all done in a 6 day training split. And look how big he was. Now it would seem to me that he is overtraining, but obviously he had to of know what he was doing, or else he wouldn't be as big as he was. Any insight on this, guys?

elite genetics(top percentile in the world) + deca = franco,arnie,robbie,ken,mike,lou etc.etc


in answer to your other point,no one needs to prove anything regarding this generation and roids. they weren't illegal or frowned upon in those days and they all freely admit to using them,even king arnold

 

[Deleted member 33117]

dorian's, the point that because the old school guys used steroids and had good genetics makes thier methods ineffective is a poor one. Half the guys on this board have access to much stronger drugs than Franco or Arnold did, and many use much higher doses. Anyone with a background in excersize science knows that the research indicates that their routines are more effective than the routines generally found in magazines (16 sets per body part once a week) or hit training. High frequincy training has been show in study after study to yield faster gains, and many SERIOUS atheletes will actually loose both size and strength if they cut back their frequincy.

 

[Dorian'sDisciple]

People are so quick to jump to conclusions about what I think.I didn't say old school was ineffective,you erroneously concluded that.what I did say is that their elite genetics and steroids allowed them to train twice a day ,six days a week with high volume. A modified routine using some old School philosophy is an excellent route,but like ALL elite athletes they did far more than the average man can tolerate.

BTW many would not class that era as true 'old school'. Most commonly old school refers to Reeves,Pearl,Park (early days),Scott,Ross,Eiferman et al.