Please tell me it gets easier & less sore!

[MushroomHunter]

I’ve started exercising again after a whole year of not moving from the sofa. I am doing c25k and 2 exercise classes a week and I am so sore afterwards.

Will it get easier, will I actually get fitter? The thought of doing this ever week and feeling like this for days afterwards seems pointless.

It definitely gets easier. The first week of regular exercise kills me to the stage stairs, sitting on the toilet etc hurts. After about a week my muscles have calmed down and are used to being used again.

I'm gearing up for this again when I've recovered from COVID. Haven't done anything more strenuous than chase the kids around since November. I know it's going to hurt.

It will absolutely get better - and quite quickly. I found C25K agony at first and within a few weeks I was running without any pain at all. That said, it sounds like you’re going from 0 to 60 a bit, are you having enough rest days? I’d maybe focus on the running or the classes, not both!

I think it does get easier but perhaps you need to start out a little slower. I’d do Pilates or yoga and really stretch out those muscles. Lots of low intensity exercise, hillwalking works for me. Build up your overall fitness beforevreally pushing yourself

Absolutely, I could barely walk after my first gym session back after Christmas, after another two sessions and since then I’ve been absolutely fine :)

It absolutly gets easier, but nothing to 5 sessions a week may be a bit fast in terms of rate of increase.

Are you stretching properly afterwards? If you don't stretch you'll be in agony

It definitely gets easier but I agree with PPs that you may be doing too much too soon. Normally when I start to exercise again after a period off I will give myself enough time to recover should that be 2,3 days or even sometimes could be up to a week. As your muscles get used to being active more the soreness lessens. Plenty of recovery time is key along with eating plenty of protein for muscle recovery,foam rolling, Epsom salts in the bath.

I run in the morning and do the classes on the same days after work, giving me enough rest days. Maybe it’s just because I’ve started from doing nothing.

Thing is I really enjoy the classes and want to keep doing them. Maybe I could drop the running?!

Yes, I stretch but prob not enough. I’ll add more of that in and see how I feel. The main aim for me is getting fitter, so being unable to walk properly for a few days after is quite annoying.

Any other tips?

A swim when you can barely walk from stiff muscles is a miracle cure

I’ve been doing lots of research on this both online and with personal trainers. Most say that 4 hours of exercise per week shouldn’t be a problem.

Based of this thread I’ve stopped the running (don’t particularly enjoy it anyway) and added in another class so that’s three classes in total in the week. Surely that’s ok?

What’s does everyone else do in the week?

That level of exercise is fine but you might find it more efficient to do less but higher intensity. A few sessions of HIIT, for example, will be more efficient than a slow jog.

I do 4-5 sessions a week which are mostly heavy weights combined with about 10 mins of cardio at the end or weights and a spin class once a week

It shouldn't take long for your muscles to get used to being worked, BUT a good class will be working different muscle sets from class to class, so you'll feel it the next day. The best thing I find for DOMS is movement.

No it don't maybe stop

@ShirleyPhallus yes, your right. The classes I’ve started are HITT (circuit training with weights) 2 nights per week and the other one is hockey training. So hopefully that should keep me interested and help me improve my fitness.

@EmmaStone @HeadToToesNo movement has helped a lot. I’ve been doing whole body stretching each morning and evening and it has really helped me feel better.