quote:

ORIGINAL: Konstantinos

i cant believe im still sore.

since monday.. now friday im just now able to actually lock out my knees. my quads are STILL sore. haha. anyway, tomorrow i bet they'll still be sore somewhat but im going anyway.

quote:

Extreme degrees of muscular soreness can be -- and should be -- avoided by following a carefully outlined "break-in" program of training for at least a week; and in some cases, as much as ninety days of break-in training may be required. Although, in such cases, prolonged break-in training will not be required because of any considerations due to muscular soreness.

During the first week of training -- if at all possible -- a trainee should exercise daily for a period of about thirty minutes; during that first week of training, only one set of one exercise should be performed for each of the major muscle masses of the body -- and these sets should be terminated before reaching a point of muscular failure. However, it is necessary to work the muscles fairly hard -- no amount of light movements will prepare the muscles for the heavy workloads that will follow in the normal course of training.

At least some degree of muscular soreness is almost unavoidable, but it is neither necessary nor desirable to work a new trainee so hard that he will become extremely sore; but should extreme soreness result, then it is absolutely necessary to work the muscles quite hard until such a time that a normal condition returns. If a muscle is worked hard enough to produce an extreme degree of soreness within twenty-four hours, then that muscle should be worked heavily every day until no traces of soreness remain; if not, then the subject will probably be crippled for at least a week.

But while that is certainly true, it is almost impossible to convince a new trainee that he should heavily work a muscle that is already extremely sore; he will tend to feel, rather naturally, that hard work got him into that condition -- and when you suggest even harder work as a cure, it may appear that you are suggesting pouring gasoline on a fire as a means of extinguishing it.

But if extreme muscular soreness results within twenty-four hours after a workout -- and if no exercise is performed on the second day -- then a literally crippling degree of soreness will result on the third day, and the fourth day will usually be far worse.

The worst form of muscular soreness involves the attachments of the tendons and ligaments, and in extreme cases it may be literally impossible to straighten the arms or stand in a normal manner with your heels flat on the floor; in such cases, more exercise -- heavy exercise -- is the only possible solution. Without additional exercise, normal activity may be impossible for as much as ten days or two weeks. But such a situation can be -- and should be -- avoided; if a new trainee suffers that sort of results from his first workout, you have probably seen the last of him -- although he might be tempted to come around a month or so later and burn your house down, with some possible justification.

Some years ago, a man I knew suffered such a degree of muscular soreness as a result of one hard workout that he spent the next five days in the hospital -- and was unable to resume his normal activities as a flight instructor for a period of more than a week after he got out of the hospital; and this man was in fairly hard muscular condition at the time of his first workout -- or at least thought he was.

But, if he had returned for a second hard workout on the following day, then most of the prolonged effects would have been avoided -- and his degree of soreness would never have approached the point that it actually reached. But trying to tell him that had no slightest effect -- with the results mentioned above.

Thus -- since new trainees usually cannot, or will not believe that heavy exercise is capable of reversing the effects that were caused by previous heavy exercise -- it is best to avoid any sort of training that might produce extreme soreness.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Konstantinos
the grunting lets you be stronger, keeps you from getting nauseous(sp?) and tightens your abs. all of which help to be stronger, and from being injured.

quote:

ORIGINAL: csl7037

This is the problem my husband has. He'd love to be set up to work out at home. There's just no way to have what he needs in a hom gym. He could do some things but, like you, not squats. Is that what you want to be able to do? Have something for when you can't get to the gym? But you also need to ask whether it's wise to do that alone (without spotters or at least people aroud).