Re: When Does It Really Hurt?

[Guest guest]

Harmless muscle twinges just twinge, sometimes for days and sometimes to a

fairly excruciating degree. With an actual injury, there's no " progressing

to something else. " You do it and you know it immediately because of

the sharp pain or swelling.

The one exception might be overuse injuries to a joint, like a shoulder,

knee or wrist. Those can develop more gradually due to improper form. But on

those, the pain is very clearly coming from inside the joint itself. Dull,

achy, painful muscles are normal. Being barely able to lift your sore arms

high enough to shampoo your hair is normal. Wishing your toilet had

handrails the day after a heavy leg workout is normal. Sharp shooting joint

pain that wakes you up in the middle of the night is not.

>

> Those of you who have been at this for a while will probably be able

> to better tell me how you discern what are good hurts, and what are

> bad hurts.

>

> How do you tell the difference between a harmless twinge and

> something that is going to progress to something else?

>

> Are there any guidelines for when to take a second look at what's

> going on, and when to say " Forget it, it's normal. " ?

>

> A friend of mine who is a BFLer (who got me into this!) teases me

> about being a hyperchondriac, but I just don't want to make foolish

> decisions that will make me unable to do weight lifting later on in

> life. My dad has a terrible back problem and I'm afraid I'll inherit

> the same problems.

>

>

> Bonnie

>

[Guest guest]

What if I never feel any of the aches & pains you describe? Or just barely

feel them. Does that mean I'm not working hard enough? I'm still having a

tough time gauging the intensity of my workouts. At the time they seem

really tough, but later, I think I could've worked harder.

>

> Harmless muscle twinges just twinge, sometimes for days and sometimes to

> a

> fairly excruciating degree. With an actual injury, there's no " progressing

> to something else. " You do it and you know it immediately because of

> the sharp pain or swelling.

>

> The one exception might be overuse injuries to a joint, like a shoulder,

> knee or wrist. Those can develop more gradually due to improper form. But

> on

> those, the pain is very clearly coming from inside the joint itself. Dull,

> achy, painful muscles are normal. Being barely able to lift your sore arms

> high enough to shampoo your hair is normal. Wishing your toilet had

> handrails the day after a heavy leg workout is normal. Sharp shooting

> joint

> pain that wakes you up in the middle of the night is not.

>

>

>

> On 7/17/07, bonbontrumpeter <bonniej@... <bonniej%40gmail.com>>

> wrote:

> >

> > Those of you who have been at this for a while will probably be able

> > to better tell me how you discern what are good hurts, and what are

> > bad hurts.

> >

> > How do you tell the difference between a harmless twinge and

> > something that is going to progress to something else?

> >

> > Are there any guidelines for when to take a second look at what's

> > going on, and when to say " Forget it, it's normal. " ?

> >

> > A friend of mine who is a BFLer (who got me into this!) teases me

> > about being a hyperchondriac, but I just don't want to make foolish

> > decisions that will make me unable to do weight lifting later on in

> > life. My dad has a terrible back problem and I'm afraid I'll inherit

> > the same problems.

> >

> >

> > Bonnie

> >

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sometimes it just means your body has become used to what you are doing. I have

been doing some really heavy leg presses and lunges with heavy weights. This

past Saturday I did squats & lunges on a machine, just the bar. I thought

it was an easy workout -- until my glutes started getting sore on the way home.

My body just wasn't used to the angle from the machine.

Kirby wrote: What if I never feel any

of the aches & pains you describe? Or just barely

feel them. Does that mean I'm not working hard enough? I'm still having a

tough time gauging the intensity of my workouts. At the time they seem

really tough, but later, I think I could've worked harder.

>

> Harmless muscle twinges just twinge, sometimes for days and sometimes to

> a

> fairly excruciating degree. With an actual injury, there's no " progressing

> to something else. " You do it and you know it immediately because of

> the sharp pain or swelling.

>

> The one exception might be overuse injuries to a joint, like a shoulder,

> knee or wrist. Those can develop more gradually due to improper form. But

> on

> those, the pain is very clearly coming from inside the joint itself. Dull,

> achy, painful muscles are normal. Being barely able to lift your sore arms

> high enough to shampoo your hair is normal. Wishing your toilet had

> handrails the day after a heavy leg workout is normal. Sharp shooting

> joint

> pain that wakes you up in the middle of the night is not.

>

>

>

> On 7/17/07, bonbontrumpeter <bonniej@... <bonniej%40gmail.com>>

> wrote:

> >

> > Those of you who have been at this for a while will probably be able

> > to better tell me how you discern what are good hurts, and what are

> > bad hurts.

> >

> > How do you tell the difference between a harmless twinge and

> > something that is going to progress to something else?

> >

> > Are there any guidelines for when to take a second look at what's

> > going on, and when to say " Forget it, it's normal. " ?

> >

> > A friend of mine who is a BFLer (who got me into this!) teases me

> > about being a hyperchondriac, but I just don't want to make foolish

> > decisions that will make me unable to do weight lifting later on in

> > life. My dad has a terrible back problem and I'm afraid I'll inherit

> > the same problems.

> >

> >

> > Bonnie

> >

>

>

[Guest guest]

Soreness comes from doing an exercise you're not used to at an intensity

you're not used to. Increasing your weights is important, but it's usually

not what makes you sore. If you always do machine leg curls and leg

extensions, and then one day you get up and do heavy walking lunges and

single leg squats with dumbbells, your legs will be screaming.

BFL recommends changing exercises at least every 4 weeks, but more often is

fine if you're not feeling challenged. Check out the exercise and muscle

directory for some ideas. Click on a muscle group to the right:

http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Most people are never going to be as excruciatingly sore as they are the

first week. If you have some lifting experience and you use only familiar

exercises, maybe you're not going to be sore at all. Or maybe you'll only

sort of feel one or two muscle groups. Just because you're not crippled

doesn't mean it's not working. As long as you're changing up your exercises

at least every 4 weeks and you're using enough weight to make the last few

reps of each set challenging, you're good.

>

> What if I never feel any of the aches & pains you describe? Or just

> barely

> feel them. Does that mean I'm not working hard enough? I'm still having

> a

> tough time gauging the intensity of my workouts. At the time they seem

> really tough, but later, I think I could've worked harder.

>

[Guest guest]

Ah, that's good to know. I sprang for a trainer, and I've been working with

her for almost 2 months. She never has me do the same exercise twice in a

row, and she's pretty brutal. That's why I'm always a bit puzzled that I'm

not very sore later.

>

> Sometimes it just means your body has become used to what you are doing.

> I have been doing some really heavy leg presses and lunges with heavy

> weights. This past Saturday I did squats & lunges on a machine, just

> the bar. I thought it was an easy workout -- until my glutes started getting

> sore on the way home. My body just wasn't used to the angle from the

> machine.

>

> Kirby <rachel.kirby@... <rachel.kirby%40gmail.com>> wrote:

> What if I never feel any of the aches & pains you describe? Or just barely

> feel them. Does that mean I'm not working hard enough? I'm still having a

> tough time gauging the intensity of my workouts. At the time they seem

> really tough, but later, I think I could've worked harder.

>

>

> >

> > Harmless muscle twinges just twinge, sometimes for days and sometimes to

> > a

> > fairly excruciating degree. With an actual injury, there's no

> " progressing

> > to something else. " You do it and you know it immediately because of

> > the sharp pain or swelling.

> >

> > The one exception might be overuse injuries to a joint, like a shoulder,

> > knee or wrist. Those can develop more gradually due to improper form.

> But

> > on

> > those, the pain is very clearly coming from inside the joint itself.

> Dull,

> > achy, painful muscles are normal. Being barely able to lift your sore

> arms

> > high enough to shampoo your hair is normal. Wishing your toilet had

> > handrails the day after a heavy leg workout is normal. Sharp shooting

> > joint

> > pain that wakes you up in the middle of the night is not.

> >

> >

> >

> > On 7/17/07, bonbontrumpeter <bonniej@...

<bonniej%40gmail.com><bonniej%40gmail.com>>

> > wrote:

> > >

> > > Those of you who have been at this for a while will probably be able

> > > to better tell me how you discern what are good hurts, and what are

> > > bad hurts.

> > >

> > > How do you tell the difference between a harmless twinge and

> > > something that is going to progress to something else?

> > >

> > > Are there any guidelines for when to take a second look at what's

> > > going on, and when to say " Forget it, it's normal. " ?

> > >

> > > A friend of mine who is a BFLer (who got me into this!) teases me

> > > about being a hyperchondriac, but I just don't want to make foolish

> > > decisions that will make me unable to do weight lifting later on in

> > > life. My dad has a terrible back problem and I'm afraid I'll inherit

> > > the same problems.

> > >

> > >

> > > Bonnie

> > >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I'd say, if in doubt go to a doctor. Just incase it is something

that you can prevent from aggravating further. I've got problems

with my wrists now from the strain of doing tricep dips and although

I was hoping for the best, and just wishing the problem would go

away, I'm inclined to think that this is gonna be a high risk and

recurrent area of concern for me now. Since I started my fitness

course a couple of days ago, I've been reading up on osteoarthritis

and it's made me super paranoid or at least really thinking about

the potential problems that we may encounter later on down the track.

I've decided now that I'm gonna go and actually talk to my doctor

about active measures I can take to preserve the health of my bones

and joints.

all the best

dea xx

>

> Those of you who have been at this for a while will probably be

able

> to better tell me how you discern what are good hurts, and what

are

> bad hurts.

>

> How do you tell the difference between a harmless twinge and

> something that is going to progress to something else?

>

> Are there any guidelines for when to take a second look at what's

> going on, and when to say " Forget it, it's normal. " ?

>

> A friend of mine who is a BFLer (who got me into this!) teases me

> about being a hyperchondriac, but I just don't want to make

foolish

> decisions that will make me unable to do weight lifting later on

in

> life. My dad has a terrible back problem and I'm afraid I'll

inherit

> the same problems.

>

>

> Bonnie

>

[Guest guest]

This has nothing to do with anything, but you mentioned arthritis and it

reminded me. I was sitting at work yesterday and noticed my hands were kind

of stiff and painful, especially at the base of my thumbs. I started

thinking, " Oh no, I have arthritis! Oh, god, I'm GETTING OLD! " And then I

thought, " Oh wait, that's from texting. " :-D

>

> I'd say, if in doubt go to a doctor. Just incase it is something

> that you can prevent from aggravating further. I've got problems

> with my wrists now from the strain of doing tricep dips and although

> I was hoping for the best, and just wishing the problem would go

> away, I'm inclined to think that this is gonna be a high risk and

> recurrent area of concern for me now. Since I started my fitness

> course a couple of days ago, I've been reading up on osteoarthritis

> and it's made me super paranoid or at least really thinking about

> the potential problems that we may encounter later on down the track.

> I've decided now that I'm gonna go and actually talk to my doctor

> about active measures I can take to preserve the health of my bones

> and joints.

> all the best

> dea xx

>

[Guest guest]

LOL .. as if I wasn't paranoid enough, now your ancedote has

got me paranoid about the kids. Those playstations can't be good for

the thumbs!! :S

> >

> > I'd say, if in doubt go to a doctor. Just incase it is something

> > that you can prevent from aggravating further. I've got problems

> > with my wrists now from the strain of doing tricep dips and

although

> > I was hoping for the best, and just wishing the problem would go

> > away, I'm inclined to think that this is gonna be a high risk and

> > recurrent area of concern for me now. Since I started my fitness

> > course a couple of days ago, I've been reading up on

osteoarthritis

> > and it's made me super paranoid or at least really thinking about

> > the potential problems that we may encounter later on down the

track.

> > I've decided now that I'm gonna go and actually talk to my doctor

> > about active measures I can take to preserve the health of my

bones

> > and joints.

> > all the best

> > dea xx

> >

>

>

>