Sore .... with a capital S!!!

[soresaurus]

Hey everyone,

I'm sore...and I'm new here, btw. Some facts about me:

- male, 38 years old

- married, 2 kids (4 & 7, both girls)

- 190 cm (metric is a bitch, ain't it? )

- 98 kg

- have been doing no sports whatsoever...or does playing drums in Hardcore and Thrash Metal bands count?

- deskjob

- nutrition: typical German food (literally meat'n'potatoes plus veggies), some fast food, quite a bit of beer and the odd whisky, so not too bad, but not clean, either. I'm gonna try to stay away from the grains, see what happens.

- sore

What brought me here:

Playing with my girls and running around with our dog leaves me winded in no time, which really sucks...and is kind of embarassing, too. I look a lot fitter than I actually am, the relatively big frame hides excess kilograms fairly well. Of course, I'm talking dressed, once the shirt comes off - different story.

I'm not going to go the Gym route in the near future, too many people in one spot drive me nuts, so I was looking for something I could do at home, without having to shell out a whole bunch of money for equipment. That brought me to the Beginner Body Weight Workout Routine. It looked easy enough, so I decided to give it a try. Turns out: it wasn't easy at all (as you might have guessed)! Did I mention I'm sore...?

First experience with the Beginner Body Weight Workout Routine:

I nearly killed myself. I guess, one could call it hubris, what made me go beyond my natural limits. After all, a workout without even touching any weights can't be so hard, right? And we all know bodyweight squats and pushups from back-when, and they weren't hard...or were they? Wait...how much younger was I then? And how much more active? Skateboarding, pick-up basketball and soccer, having to ride my bike everywhere (due to the legal driving age in Germany being 18 then), no alcohol...? Compared to sitting in front of a computer screen for 8-10 hours a day? Oh man...I'm sore....

My ego took several hits: struggling with the last couple of squats, having to resort to the girly type of pushups (on my knees), loosing my balance while doing the lunges, you name it. The only things working as intended were the planks and the jumping jacks, no problems here. So I finished my first circuit with quite a bit of struggling, took a short break and went for the second circuit, in which I had to make some compromises. Less squats, less lunges. A third circuit was out of the question, I had little stars flash before my eyes and felt like throwing up. I should have known then what was in store for me the next day....

Since then:

This all took place the day before yesterday. For yesterday I had planned to go running, something I have always hated back in school and have always successfully avoided since then. Waking up yesterday morning feeling the way I did (think falling-down-a-flight-of-stairs minus the scabs and broken bones) made me seriously question my plan. I still went through with it, my wife being a great support...and running circles around me, by the way. Another ego hit for ya...

So, after 20 minutes I knew I was done. No air, wheezing like crazy (I don't smoke, which makes this even more embarassing), drenched in sweat...not pretty. Luckily, we had planned a route that took us back to our house right about that time, so I could just collapse on our doorstep and was spared the embarassement of being picked up and taken home by an ambulance.

Where does all this babbling lead:

Today is the day...the second day I planned to do the dreaded bodyweight workout....my whole body is still aching like crazy, I can hardly climb stairs, sitting down and getting off the can is a challenge in itself, lifting my arms to rub my hair after getting out of the shower a feat that got fits of laughter out of the best wife in the world. I'm scared...only about 5 hours to go...maybe the pain is gone by then...just maybe... ... ...

[esteel]

Maybe you should try to go slower today.. there is no need to get even more sore Just do the workout lighter then last time to get the blood flowing, that helps recovering without giving too much stress but still keeps you on your plan. Next time you should be fine again. And be glad, usually you no longer get sore after 3-5 sessions, the body adapts really quick. Oh and welcome

[D_chelyst]

Welcome! I also had trouble when I started with the full circuit earlier this year. Not sure that I'm up to doing the complete circuit for all of the exercises yet, but here's what helped me get from a 15-second plank to a 55-sec plank, etc: start off doing less, like only half or less of the number of squats, push-ups, etc. for your 3 circuits. Do the number you think you can do with perfect form--even if it's modified exercises like knee push-ups or lunges with a chair--for 3 circuits without passing out. Even if it's 1 of something, start there! After 3-4 workouts in a week, raise the amount of exercise by 1 (1 more lunge, 1 more push-up, etc.). If a particular exercise still isn't strong enough to go up by one, then maintain what you were doing and raise it up the next week. Keep track of your progress through an Excel spreadsheet or some other written way, and you'll see be able to see the progress easier.

A few more thoughts: make sure to warm-up and cool-down properly. This should help your soreness. Do dynamic stretches for warm-ups (about 5 minutes) and stretches along these lines for a cool-down (about 10 minutes). I don't do warm-ups/cool-down exactly as Steve writes on his blog, but what I do works for me.

Another thought: make sure you're eating enough of the good stuff and enough protein/calories/etc. for your situation. This can also help.

Good luck! Let us know how your next workouts go!

[Tinessael]

Hey, also new and also from germany! No need to over do it at first...