Concept2 Forum

hello all! I've been working out for over a month now, and it is wonderful. I've also started a yoga practice. I had been quite out of shape, ill actually, for a few years. Now I'm in the swing of moving my body and it feels just great. However. For a week now I've been stiff the next day, not all day but when I stand up after gardening or something. Why is this? Am I missing a vitamin? Has anyone heard of this? I'm not stiff after rowing or after yoga, and I've been doing both for about a month or more and the stiffness just began about a week ago. Hormonal? Any ideas? thanks so much for any information or suggestions!

You must be young to question stiffness. Those of us with old joints ask, "why am I <b>not</b> stiff today?"! I find stretching <i>after</i> every exercise session (including gardening) is even more important than before. Yoga is great for flexibility and combatting stiffness. Keep that up. I also resort to ibuoprofen at times - it's a great anti-inflammatory. Inflamation exacerbates stiffness. <br /><br />Good luck!<br />

Juliet,<br /><br />I completely agree with Linda. I'm converting a weedy, clay soil backyard into an English cottage garden...by hand. I learned the hard way that if I didn't stretch out before and after (especially focusing on my lower back and shoulders), I was a dead duck the next day. 'Child's pose' is a gentle place to start.<br /><br />Whatever you do to relieve the stiffness (including massage and/or manipulation for chronic problems), always make sure you're well hydrated in order to help flush all the lactic acid and other toxins out of your system. Good hydration may help you from feeling stiff right from the start...<br /><br />Deb

Next-day stiffness isn't due to lactic acid or "toxins" in the system. This is a myth. The soreness is actually due to tiny tears in your muscles. It sounds like you've been out of shape and inactive for a long time, and over the past month you've significantly increased your activity level, you'll be a bit sore.<br /><br />For recovery, the key is to make sure that you get enough protein to repair the damage and build new muscle tissue. As an athlete, you need to consume at least 1 g per lb of body weight per day. <br /><br />And despite your enthusiasm, make sure you include rest days in your workout schedule. Don't take on too much at once - build up your endurance gradually.<br /><br />

<!--QuoteBegin-RowedandRode+Aug 9 2005, 12:15 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(RowedandRode @ Aug 9 2005, 12:15 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Next-day stiffness isn't due to lactic acid or "toxins" in the system. This is a myth. The soreness is actually due to tiny tears in your muscles. It sounds like you've been out of shape and inactive for a long time, and over the past month you've significantly increased your activity level, you'll be a bit sore.<br /><br />For recovery, the key is to make sure that you get enough protein to repair the damage and build new muscle tissue. As an athlete, you need to consume at least 1 g per lb of body weight per day. <br /><br />And despite your enthusiasm, make sure you include rest days in your workout schedule. Don't take on too much at once - build up your endurance gradually. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /> This is very helpful. I didn't think it was normal. I have been inactive for awhile and now this new exercize is feeling so great. But then to start up having stiffness all of a sudden didn't make sense to me. So it's protein..and acceptance. Got it. And why the rest days? I did take two days off, well, I did less, well, I did different. It was hard to really take the days off, mymuscles are itching to work. But I walked fast on a treadmill and did lighter yoga. Is that rest enough? and seriously, why do I need to rest my body? thanks very much for the information. It's very helpful.

The rest is so the tiny tears in your muscles that cause the stiffness can heal and then your muscles are stronger. At least that’s my basic understanding.

Juliet:<br /><br />Why rest?<br /><br />All physical conditioning is based on applying stress, followed by recovery and repair. During your workouts, you want to push your body just a little beyond what it's accustomed to, then allow it to build itself back up. Every time you work out, you cause a little bit of damage. If you don't let your body fix itself, you'll eventually wind up injured - and that's a lot worse, because it means that you will be forced to take extended time off! Beginning athletes are particularly at risk because they are enthusiastic - and it doesn't take much work to stress your muscle fibres. This is part of the reason why you see gains so quickly when you first start out.<br /><br />Remember this:<br />Stress = exercise<br />Recovery = rest <br />Repair = food. <br /><br />Regarding food, be sure to put only the highest-quality protein and complex carbohydrates into your body. Avoid consuming empty, useless calories.<br /><br />Arnold Schwarzenegger said it well: "It's the last few reps that make the muscles grow". Each time you work out, those stressed muscle fibres repair themselves and become a little bit stronger - but it only happens while you're resting and well-fed! Remember to be patient; it takes a lot of time to get in shape.

Ok, but what about doing different exercize? forinstance on days that I'm resting from yoga and the rowing machine, doing the treadmill? or is it just better to curl up and read a book and forget altogether about moving my body ?

<!--QuoteBegin-juliet+Aug 11 2005, 06:29 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(juliet @ Aug 11 2005, 06:29 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Ok, but what about doing different exercize? forinstance on days that I'm resting from yoga and the rowing machine, doing the treadmill? or is it just better to curl up and read a book and forget  altogether about moving my body ? <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />There's no need to be a couch potato on the rest days. Recovery can include "active rest". You can cross-train, which is in effect what you're doing when you alternate between yoga, rowing and treadmill. It's much better to do several different activities and use different muscles rather than the same thing over and over. Just don't put very intense workouts back to back - for instance, if you did really ferocious intervals on the rower today, you wouldn't want to do a hugely long endurance run tomorrow! But on the day between those workouts, you might have an easy bike ride...or go for a walk...etc.<br /><br />Having said that, there's nothing wrong with curling up and reading a book either, as long as you don't also raid the fridge while you're at it!!!

got it. thanks! very helpful. <br />take care all!