can someone define muscle soreness??

[forcd]

so when i hear dont hit the gym and smash the same muscle group if still sore, are we talking sore to touch, sore when flexing, or with me i reckon 10 days later if i stretch hard i can still feel something???

 

[shibs]

That's a myth, soreness has nothing to do with how often you can work that muscle out again. It's just a buildup of lactic acid in the muscles (so my highschool bio teacher once told me).

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Shibs is somewhat correct.

Muscle soreness is not necessarily a good indicator that you shouldn't train a muscle especially if it's mild or less.

Intense soreness is a good indicator though. This should be real obvious. Say you trained bench hard one day and then 2 days later you're still feeling sore to a certain extent. If you can drop down and do pushups no problem and feel good then the soreness doesn't mean much. IF you start quivering while pressing or feel weak that's usually a good sign your muscles are not ready to be worked hard yet.

Same deal for legs etc.

 

[CODEBLUE0000]

Yeah. It is just built up lactic acid. But DO NOT work out the same muscle back to back days. Muscles need to have recover time. It is just like a wound, you have to let it heal. Once it is healed you will have to work harder at it to open up again. The same goes for muscles.

 

[forcd]

sweet cos i'm sometimes still sore 10 days later but its just if i hold a flex or stretch and i wonder if should re train and when i do i'm just as strong if not stronger then it all starts again