Do you wait until muscle soreness is gone before you exercise again?

[ohhmygosh]

I walk everyday so I'm still active, but did two mornings of some squats/ lunges and everything hurts a lot. Do you wait until the soreness has gone before I do more and should I wait until the muscle has stopped aching ?

Do something different so you don't seize up. If i waited until I no longer had muscle soreness I'd never do any exercise! Walking should help so long as it's not up a steep hill!

I wait until DOMS has gone or minimal before I exercise the same area.

Try to do upper, lower body splits so each area gets a rest before you go at it again. Once you get more advanced aim for push, pull, leg splits.

I exercise every day, alternating upper and lower body. Usually DOMS (if it comes) is the following day when I am concentrating on another area. If it lasts until the day after then I ignore it and do my exercise, but by then it is pretty mild. If it was really problematic I would take things easy but I would certainly exercise the area to get the blood flow going through it nicely.

DOMS is really nothing to be bothered about. I tend to exercise intensely every other day , with a ballet class on the other days.

If it’s not DOMS but actual strained muscles, then rest. But DOMS is not pain as such, just muscles being used which aren’t used to being used, or used more intensely than usual. I did 500 squats in a training session last week and felt it a bit 2 days later, even though in a session I’d generally do at least 100.

Don't wait for no aches (I'd never leave home if I waited!) but would do different exercise or vary intensity, etc.

If I waited for the soreness to go I’d never work out!

I find the best thing for DOMS is to get moving again - I have no idea if this is technically what happens, but I think the DOMS is a build up of lactic acid, and getting the blood pumping around again helps to flush it out. PLEASE someone who know more than me confirm or correct lol!!

BUT OMG, after returning to my PT after lockdown 1, it took me nearly a week before my legs and bum felt back to normal [weeps].

I'm pretty sure that's an accurate non-specialist explanation @EmmaStone It's how I understand it. DOMS is just muscles soreness from unaccustomed movements.

I had it in my abs after an outdoor session with my PT, where he had me doing what he calls "bunny hops". Despite the fluffy name they are a killer - you squat, then from the squat jump forward as far as you can, landing in a squat. I can go quite deep in a squat, so the effort to jump up and along was knackering! I did a couple of ballet classes over the next 2 days, and I could feel my abs.

One of the things that's useful to learn when you train intensively is the difference between discomfort (DOMS) and pain. DOMS is good pain!