i’m starting to work out my upperbody(chest and shoulders). I lifted weights two days ago and yesterday i really started to feel the soreness in those areas…and today im feeling the same thing.. just a little less sore…how long should I wait to lift weights again? in particular i’ve been doing flat and incline presses w/ dumbells.
Hey James! As a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach, I often have my clients complain about soreness, especially when they are relatively new to lifting weights! According to the American Council of Sports Medicine it takes about 48-72 hours for muscles to recover! This is subjective to how hard you actually work the muscles to! The harder you hit the weights the more rest you need! You also need to make sure you work on other body parts rather than just the chest and shoulders to prevent any muscular imbalances from evolving. A good split is Day1 upper body – Day 2 lower body-Day 3 rest- Day 4 upper body- Day 5 lower body- Rest Day 6 and 7. You should also switch up your routines every 4 – 6 weeks with new exercises. Eating, Sleeping and Stretching are other key components! Good Luck
Keep working out…There was no point stopping for the soreness. The soreness means that your body it building.
Rotate body groups and keep the cardio up.
every second day for 2 weeks, then take a week off