Lifted weights yesterday, pain this morning

[Cogent Design]

I lifted weights yesterday, mainly did curls from a sitting position with 20lb dumbells. I haven't done this exercise in years so I took it easy.

I woke up this morning unable to bend my arms without lots of pain when I bent my arms.

Not sure exactly if it was muscle or ligament that hurt, but after I progressively bent my arm over the course of 20 minutes, the stiffness and pain went away. Now they're just sore right above my elbows on the bicep side. I've worked out enough that I don't THINK it's muscle that's sore, this feels different.

In y'alls experience, is this because I'm a girl and need to beef up my ligaments a bit or does it sound more like a stretching after workout issue? Do ligaments even get stronger...sure they do.

 

[rl96ss]

You should stretch before and after working out, but sounds like soreness from not working out in awhile.

I know the first time I worked out my legs I could barely walk the next day. Even after taking a week off I develop soreness. How many sets and reps?

 

[Recoil45]

Any pain I ever had after weight training was muscle related. But I have hurt tendons from cardio. If you have not worked out in a while it's 100% normal. Day 2 is usually the same and things start to get a bit better on day 3.

As you get back into it, some discomfort should be there the next day, if it's not, you need to add a set or two on the next trip. But pain should not be there, if it is, back off a bit.

Staying hydrated is important. And a bit of protein within 20 min of weight training is very helpful.

Unfortunately I have no feed back on female specific issues.

 

[OnyxATX]

Drink more water, and keep active. If it eased up after 20 minuets, most likely it was just lactic acid. That sounds generally normal. Keep an eye out if it persists or get's worse.

When I had a partial AC separation, I was benching heavy and started to wobble a bit. I ended up putting too much weight on my shoulder instead of my chest and I felt this weird kind of quick, almost numbing pain. Kind of like an ice cube was suddenly inside my shoulder and then it "melted" fast. Weight had a pretty unique pain, and when I did specific movements that screwed with my shoulder it hurt, sharp and quick. The pain lasted for months on and off, and there was for sure a "Oh s**t" moment when it happened.

You did an exercise you hadn't done in years, and hurt the next day? Seems totally normal! I didn't do squats for a few months, then went to the gym and went at it. The next day I LITERALLY couldn't walk up stairs without assistance. This was also when I was running and biking every day.

I generally do (for bi) 10 rep curls, bracing the back of my arm (just above the elbow) near my knee. Then move on to things like deadlifts, rows, etc that work biceps secondary. Once a week I do 6-7 rep (failure at that) heavy bb curls standing. The other day a week I do 12 or so (failing about there) of a lighter weight. Some weeks I only do one or two bicep exercises all week. It's not a major muscle really... arm size comes from triceps mostly, and bicep (real world use) involves lats a lot as well. So if you're hitting lats, then you'll get indirect bi there.

But being totally serious, biceps do sometimes hurt near the elbow where you stated. One thing to look at is the angle of your wrists, as they'll work different parts of the biceps. When I was at the top of my game (160-165lbs, benching 165x12, deadlifting 435, 8% bodyfat or so), I curled 125 barbell but only in the close grip. (thumbs pointed up more). When I widened it out, it caused a similar pain (just above the elbow on the inside.)

I used to do way to much bi focused stuff, until I met a guy who was a competitive body builder (and winning, at that). His advice was "One or two bi exercises, once or maybe twice a week." I moved over to that and saw huge strength and growth gains.

Then I quit lifting for a while and now I feel like a weakling... haha.

 

[Cogent Design]

I did 3 sets of 20 with 20lb weights.

Thanks for the feedback. I wanted to be sure I didn't break anything because the pain was in a place that hadn't hurt much if at all before.

Hoping to get back to the gym tomorrow before work.

 

[Recoil45]

Try keeping the same weight but going down to 15 reps for the next 3 sessions, then back to 20 reps. I wouldn't work the biceps again until the pain is gone. Likely 3-4 days.

 

[Chillverado]

It sounds like you over did it a bit, but its an issue from not stretching properly. After a workout your muscle is in a contracted state and needs to be loosened up by physically stretching that muscle. Keep stretching it and you'll be fine

 

[SIG_Fiend]

If you haven't lifted in a long time, this can be normal. Also, if you lift to failure and haven't lifted in a long time, you are most likely going to get this. It's freaky at first, but don't worry. Slowly flexing your arms through their range of motion, eventually they'll become looser. Definitely hydrate plenty, as in half your body weight in ounces of water (most should be drinking a solid gallon of water a day or so). One thing that's really important though is, if you've lifted enough in terms of reps or weight, and especially to failure, to the point where you are that sore, it means you need to RECOVER! This might mean waiting several more days than you're used to until lifting with the same muscles again. You want to fully recover so you don't damage or pull a muscle. In some cases, this might even take a week or so, if you're really that sore. It takes as long as it takes, but don't push it if you still ache and have reduced range of motion, and stay on recovery.

One thing that can definitely help is taking a supplement to aid recovery. One I like quite a bit, and have noticed a definite improvement with when being sore from lifting to failure, is Scivation Xtend (the Lemon Lime Sour flavor is great!). Taking a scoop or two of this PWO, I've definitely noticed an improvement in how quickly I recover and the aching goes away.