Topic: Weight lifting recovery time

[MikeHz]

I don't know. I've been doing it for over thirty years, and never get muscle pains.

I've had people tell me if you ain't hurting you ain't working hard enough.

I've maxed most of the machines out at my gym, and do five sets. After an hour and a half, I'm wiped. But then, I'm old, so there's that.

[vociferous]

Usually the only time I get bad soreness/pain is when I am first starting out with that muscle group, coming back to it after letting it atrophy for too long, or overdo it.

Once you work it out regularly (at least once every 7-10 days), you probably should have a little bit of soreness a day or two later, but it should go away quickly and not be too severe. 

I busted my knee and did virtually no leg exercises of any kind for over a month.  It is starting to feel better and I did 40 squats with only 135 pounds and I was feeling pretty sore for five days afterward.  The same thing happens with my calves when I stop running regularly and start up again, or with my upper thighs after being away from biking for too long. 

[khendar]

I started weights again last week. On Monday I did bench and lat pull downs, as well as intervals on the bike and a short swim. On Tuesday I couldn't lift my arms above my head, and my quads were aching. On Wednesday I went back and did a 40 minute light interval session on the bike, and my legs felt good afterwards.

Yesterday I hit the weights again: bench, wide lat pull downs and added underhand pull downs, in addition to the bike intervals and 500m in the pool. Today I feel great, no pain, no stiffness, no worries.

So yeh, it will hurt for a few days after you first start, then it should subside as you adjust.