Newb: coach over worked biceps and so sore and tight I can’t barley straighten arm

[BluueWater_Hunter]

I’m a total newb to weight lifting. I’m 40; I been training MuaY Thai and the coach added weigh lifting to the program now.

I had zero weightlifting base or flexibility or whatever it’s called when you lift even for a few weeks then the muscles don’t get as sore as they did the first few times ever.

on the first day of it he forced me to do too may sets and high of weight and now my biceps are so tight and sore I can’t even straighten an arm without pulling it straight with the other arm and it feels like my bicep is about to rip in half.

I don’t feel any pain in the elbow joint or when moving it. no sharp pain anywhere. This feels like the soreness when you get a good pump after a long time off but to an extreme level.

did I actually injure myself or not?

what are the best ways to recover this? I’ve been taking ibuprofen, ice and muscle relaxers.

 

[LITTLEMAGS]

Normal to be honest. Sucks but all of us have been there when you go into a new program. I would say just know this won’t be the last time your feel paralyzed from weight training. Lol.

 

[rawdeal]

How did you find this board? There are a lot of boards in the community, where discussions contrasting "science" and "bro-science" occur. This board has a lot of active members who are older than 40yo who have been there and done that, both to their peril and their benefit, long enough to offer quality replies.

Offhand, sounds like your coach either pushed you too hard ... or you pushed too hard to please him.

Sounds also like your symptoms suggest you are somewhere between simple overtraining and clinical rhabdomyolysis. The latter involves too much damaged muscle tissue being dumped into the bloodstream for the kidneys to handle for a while. Given that your symptoms are confined to a limited part of your body, rhabdo is pretty unlikely.

Welcome to TheIronDen, read on, as this thread develops, and by searching anything else that seems relevant. Many members here blend "combat sports" with weight training and have been doing so for years.

 

[BluueWater_Hunter]

How did you find this board? There are a lot of boards in the community, where discussions contrasting "science" and "bro-science" occur. This board has a lot of active members who are older than 40yo who have been there and done that, both to their peril and their benefit, long enough to offer quality replies.

Offhand, sounds like your coach either pushed you too hard ... or you pushed too hard to please him.

Sounds also like your symptoms suggest you are somewhere between simple overtraining and clinical rhabdomyolysis. The latter involves too much damaged muscle tissue being dumped into the bloodstream for the kidneys to handle for a while. Given that your symptoms are confined to a limited part of your body, rhabdo is pretty unlikely.

Welcome to TheIronDen, read on, as this thread develops, and by searching anything else that seems relevant. Many members here blend "combat sports" with weight training and have been doing so for years.

Yea I browsed a few different boards and the vibe wasn’t right for a newb. All steroids amd competitive body building type of vibe (not that there anything wrong with that).

I don’t think it’s rhabdo I would sick as a dog all around. This is just confined to the bicep

I pushed myself too hard and I have had a bad habit of going way too hard my whole life in sports and work and play and suffering damage from it. some of it was definitely coach being there and my ego bc I never would’ve gone that hard alone in a gym. But he wants my money he’s not going to kick me out of his program for being weak and not being able to keep up with the others in the class on weights so if I don’t go as hard he’ll probably just let me know I need to improve but not force anything.

 

[rawdeal]

I hope you will continue to evaluate your problems and progress in the gym ... and to return here for "second opinions" now and then. Replies don't always come as quickly as f2f conversations provide, and they may come in this thread or in other threads you find.

But, they will come from the voices of experience, they are subject to open discussion peer review right here, they're free ... and they're offered, not forced.

 

[Halo]

I agree with everyone else I'd be shocked if any of us haven't been there at some point. That being said there really isn't any reason to crash into training by overtraining whether that's no days of rest or pushing ligaments and tendons too hard too early. Injury recovery is best when completely avoided. I've coached a large number of powerlifters and I would never put them in that situation but that's me there are many ways to get to where your going.

As mentioned before this is a great place to ask questions and tap into more experience than you can imagine. We do have a bunch of older guys health and longevity in lifting is the right way to go, but far be it for me to dissuade anyone from pushing extremely hard. I just think you have to work on foundational strength and flexibility over a period of time before stretching your limits. Doing any routine will give you gains but as you get older receiving from injuries isn't as easy. Good luck with whatever your goals, look forward to hearing from you if you decide to hang around.

 

[genetic freak]

Just a little overtraining. Happens to everyone who has pushed themselves in the gym. The good thing is, you will recover. It may take a little while, but the biceps are a small muscle and do not take much from your recovery pool like legs or back would. I would stay away from the ice unless there is actual inflammation at the joint. Ice slows muscle recovery. Heat is better. Heat, iso-movements and slow steady stretching will help.

You mentioned class, so I am guessing this is a group session. I am a coach/personal trainer and I would want to know if had an issue like this. Often times we base our programs/classes off the average client. We need feedback in order to curtail our training to the average client. For example, I used to tell all my one-on-one clients you can train calves every day. However, my style of training calves is very different than you see most people doing in the gym. We go slow, no bouncing, full ROM with a squeeze at the top and stretch at the bottom for 3 sets of 20-25 reps. Just one exercise on leg day. Well after 3-4 clients told me they could barely walk for a week just doing 50 lbs on the seated calf extension that way, I changed my mind. I CAN train calves every day, they cannot. We perform adductor work in the same fashion and guys were telling me they couldn't sleep, because their adductors hurt so bad. I had to adjust their training.

Not everyone can train the same, so tell your coach how this last training session made your biceps feel. The last thing we want is for you to injure yourself.

 

[BluueWater_Hunter]

Just a little overtraining. Happens to everyone who has pushed themselves in the gym. The good thing is, you will recover. It may take a little while, but the biceps are a small muscle and do not take much from your recovery pool like legs or back would. I would stay away from the ice unless there is actual inflammation at the joint. Ice slows muscle recovery. Heat is better. Heat, iso-movements and slow steady stretching will help.

You mentioned class, so I am guessing this is a group session. I am a coach/personal trainer and I would want to know if had an issue like this. Often times we base our programs/classes off the average client. We need feedback in order to curtail our training to the average client. For example, I used to tell all my one-on-one clients you can train calves every day. However, my style of training calves is very different than you see most people doing in the gym. We go slow, no bouncing, full ROM with a squeeze at the top and stretch at the bottom for 3 sets of 20-25 reps. Just one exercise on leg day. Well after 3-4 clients told me they could barely walk for a week just doing 50 lbs on the seated calf extension that way, I changed my mind. I CAN train calves every day, they cannot. We perform adductor work in the same fashion and guys were telling me they couldn't sleep, because their adductors hurt so bad. I had to adjust their training.

Not everyone can train the same, so tell your coach how this last training session made your biceps feel. The last thing we want is for you to injure yourself.

Definitely thanks. We worked into my training member ship a good amount of private lessons per month. So before really going firther in group classes we are going to do 1 on 1 first for a bit.

so he’s going to really see where I’m at personally in terms of strength, flexibility, and technique and advise me on how I personally can have longevity and is cool with me going at a slower pace on certain aspects of group class. Like my cardio and flexibility is better than most of the other beginners in class but my strength is lower than most of the others. So I should not be trying to keep up with them when weights and strength are involved.

so hopefully the private lessons give us both a better understanding of eachother.

 

[genetic freak]

Definitely thanks. We worked into my training member ship a good amount of private lessons per month. So before really going firther in group classes we are going to do 1 on 1 first for a bit.

so he’s going to really see where I’m at personally in terms of strength, flexibility, and technique and advise me on how I personally can have longevity and is cool with me going at a slower pace on certain aspects of group class. Like my cardio and flexibility is better than most of the other beginners in class but my strength is lower than most of the others. So I should not be trying to keep up with them when weights and strength are involved.

so hopefully the private lessons give us both a better understanding of eachother.

I don't hold group sessions for this specific reason. I prefer one on one training sessions and when I first get a client, unless they have been training (HARD) we always ease into training for the first 3 weeks. I use this time to assess their strengths and weaknesses and if they are comfortable, I turn up the heat in week 4.

 

[Friggemall]

I'm not going with the "over-training" thoughts. You are not an experienced lifter and this was your first arm session. Its just that, typical muscle soreness. You are going to be stiff & sore. Stretch after training and then when you wake up again. With arms, people often fold them up when sleeping which causes the shortness state of the muscle on top of it all. Just keep trying to extend/stretch them as the day progresses. it'll be fine in a day if you do.

 

[beefnewton]

I remember when I first started I could not even sit down on the toilet without finding some way to brace myself... think I remember using the counter.

 

[genetic freak]

I remember when I first started I could not even sit down on the toilet without finding some way to brace myself... think I remember using the counter.

The day or two after every leg day still to this day.