Topic: Myth busters

[Bruce Darley]

Is one of the classic signs of over training always feeling like you have a slight cold.
Should you train when you are sore, not injured, just sore muscles?
This is not a test, I honestly want to know. Thanks, I have other questions but lets start here for now.

[Matt Rupiper]

Bruce,

I have found through trial and error on myself, that when i am really training hard and start pushing too much, i get a sore throat, but only on one side.  The times i tried to push through, i tended to get pretty sick, and my body eventually forced me to give it the rest it needed.  I have been told to take a heart rate every morning right after waking up and if it shows a significant increase then the athlete may be in an overtrained state or is beginning to overtrain.

[Matt Erdman]

You can train through soreness, but you also need to back off later. Some squat programs will have you train through soreness for 3-4 weeks, then taper and hit a PR. You can also do a light training day in between heavy/high volume days.

I tend towards the old school approach of 3 days per week. You can get very strong with that, and then mess around with daily and multi-daily training.

[Bruce Darley]

Thanks for the input guys. Do you think training sore makes you more likely to get injured?

[Tom Sherwood]

I think training while sore can def lead to injuries depending on how beat up you are. Some people respond well to workouts 3 times a week others have to train 5 or more times a week to keep improving IMO. I just cant do that.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

If you train to avoid soreness, you will always get sore when you train hard. If you keep pushing through the soreness, maintaining volume at all costs even if you temporarily lower the weights, you will adapt to the higher workload and no longer get sore as easily. In my opinion, soreness is nothing of consequence. Usually, if you warmup when sore, it goes away almost completely anyway. The worst thing to do, and what makes the soreness last longer, is to cut back/skip training/reduce volume. Injury or pain is something different of course.

[John Way]

perfect answer Chris, I once trained a guy that was roaming in different clubs (due to work sites), he couldnt comprehend that a program structure had to be followed to get results and literally changed the program and lifted only the peak weights, as a result he got injured and never got too far. Under me he got a 50% increase from 1st comp till 16 months later, another 16 months with the National coach he got 9% improvement.

[Matt Erdman]

Thanks for the input guys. Do you think training sore makes you more likely to get injured?

Not if it is muscular soreness. However if you aren't focused and letting soreness comprimise your form then you could have issues. For instance sore quads causing you to lean excessively in squats, or a sore back causing you to round over during the pull.