Work out or not with weights?

[Snachito1]

About a month a go I helped a buddy break down some asphalt as he was going to get concrete poured for his driveway, I got a spade/jackhammer and went to town!! The next day I woke
up with my whole upper /mid-back was really super sore, but that same day I was supposed to train Chest/Back later on. I ended up working out chest and just vertical back work (Pulldowns, pull ups etc for lats), I was just to sore to do "thickness" back training.

Would it have been okay to work out back thickness or did I do the right thing because I was so sore even though it wasn't weight caused by weight training? It's like when you help someone
move the next day all muscles are sore and is this the same "soreness" as lifting weights, but you picked up ? Some say do not train a sore muscle so I'm a little confused as what to do when soreness
is caused by something other than lifting weights? Hopefully this makes sense fellas, I was having a hard time trying to explain..... Thanks

 

[Halo]

I’m not an expert but I’ve been in many similar situations over the years. I go on intuition to an extent, if I’m sore I work out maybe lighter to move lactic acid and stretch. If I’m injured I take a break. All of that to say you know your body better than anyone trust what it’s telling you.

 

[Wallyd]

I agree with halo. I’ll go in a try a few movements just to test the area & see how it’s feeling under tension. Being sore is one thing but pain is another story.

 

[Yano]

Motion is lotion , flossing , light band work , anything to get it loosened up and the blood flowing.

For me personally I'll wake up stiff n sore as fuck from a heavy lower day. Then once I've done my first few miles on the stationary bike it all just fades away.

 

[Snachito1]

Thanks fellas, it's just something I've always wondered about is all soreness the same.... except of course injury pain

 

[Bigtex]

About a month a go I helped a buddy break down some asphalt as he was going to get concrete poured for his driveway, I got a spade/jackhammer and went to town!! The next day I woke
up with my whole upper /mid-back was really super sore, but that same day I was supposed to train Chest/Back later on. I ended up working out chest and just vertical back work (Pulldowns, pull ups etc for lats), I was just to sore to do "thickness" back training.

Would it have been okay to work out back thickness or did I do the right thing because I was so sore even though it wasn't weight caused by weight training? It's like when you help someone
move the next day all muscles are sore and is this the same "soreness" as lifting weights, but you picked up ? Some say do not train a sore muscle so I'm a little confused as what to do when soreness
is caused by something other than lifting weights? Hopefully this makes sense fellas, I was having a hard time trying to explain..... Thanks

Love this stuff.......I teach a part of my colleges classes about this very thing. Your experience falls under Joe Weiders muscle confusion principal and the old Law of Specificity. I have had this same discussion with college strength coaches. Some of these guys claim you have to use exercise and movements in the weight room that mimic what you do on the field, but due to the law of specificity, this type of training will not directly transfer to sport. Being a good Olympic lifter will not make you a good football player. In order to properly train an athlete, you get all the muscles as strong as you can using the specific energy systems used on the field (ATP/PC - glycotic) and turn them over to their position coach so they can learn how to use their new strength. So a stronger athlete is a more efficient athlete and less susceptible to injury.

In your case you were able to do the work outside of the gym more efficiently because you are stronger. You still used you muscles in a way that you do not specifically train them in the gym. Because the work you did involved a much different stimulus to the muscles you forced the body way out of homeostasis (steady state). The fact you got tired and sore means the body now is having to adapt to this new stimulus to return to homeostasis. This adaptation means DOMS (getting sore) and repairing the damage you did to the muscles. So according to the law of specificity, if you want to be good at using a spade/jackhammer you need to use a spade/jackhammer. The work out do in the gym will only help you be stronger doing it.

I remember when I was powerlifting, I was strong as shit and could literally bear hug a refrigerator and take it out of a U-Haul trailer. However, as strong as I was at the end of the day I was sore and totally exhausted. Yet I see these normal size package delivery guys carry 100lb boxes Chewy on their shoulders to my door. I would be crying in pain yet in the gym I am much stronger than they are. Like I said, in order to be good at delivering these 100lb Chewy boxes you have to move 100lb Chewy boxes. But the down size to this is the guys who deliver Chewy boxes don't look like bodybuilders.

 

[Kluso]

Love this stuff.......I teach a part of my colleges classes about this very thing. Your experience falls under Joe Weiders muscle confusion principal and the old Law of Specificity. I have had this same discussion with college strength coaches. Some of these guys claim you have to use exercise and movements in the weight room that mimic what you do on the field, but due to the law of specificity, this type of training will not directly transfer to sport. Being a good Olympic lifter will not make you a good football player. In order to properly train an athlete, you get all the muscles as strong as you can using the specific energy systems used on the field (ATP/PC - glycotic) and turn them over to their position coach so they can learn how to use their new strength. So a stronger athlete is a more efficient athlete and less susceptible to injury.

In your case you were able to do the work outside of the gym more efficiently because you are stronger. You still used you muscles in a way that you do not specifically train them in the gym. Because the work you did involved a much different stimulus to the muscles you forced the body way out of homeostasis (steady state). The fact you got tired and sore means the body now is having to adapt to this new stimulus to return to homeostasis. This adaptation means DOMS (getting sore) and repairing the damage you did to the muscles. So according to the law of specificity, if you want to be good at using a spade/jackhammer you need to use a spade/jackhammer. The work out do in the gym will only help you be stronger doing it.

I remember when I was powerlifting, I was strong as shit and could literally bear hug a refrigerator and take it out of a U-Haul trailer. However, as strong as I was at the end of the day I was sore and totally exhausted. Yet I see these normal size package delivery guys carry 100lb boxes Chewy on their shoulders to my door. I would be crying in pain yet in the gym I am much stronger than they are. Like I said, in order to be good at delivering these 100lb Chewy boxes you have to move 100lb Chewy boxes. But the down size to this is the guys who deliver Chewy boxes don't look like bodybuilders.

That reminds me of a guy I used to work with. This guys was 65 and skinny as a rail but when I couldn’t loosen a pipe he could. He had been doing it for 50 years and his muscles were adapted for the task and me being twice his size were not.

IMO muscle soreness from whatever activity is the same. You may not even think you were doing anything that difficult but it was a new stimulus to those muscles. Just like when you get a new machine at the gym that looks like it’s targeting the same muscles but the range of motion is slightly different and your sore as hell the next day. This makes me curious how often do you guys change up your routines? When progress slows? Or do you change it before that happens? And how often is that for you?

 

[rawdeal]

. . . . I remember when I was powerlifting, I was strong as shit and could literally bear hug a refrigerator and take it out of a U-Haul trailer. However, as strong as I was at the end of the day I was sore and totally exhausted. Yet I see these normal size package delivery guys carry 100lb boxes Chewy on their shoulders to my door. I would be crying in pain yet in the gym I am much stronger than they are. Like I said, in order to be good at delivering these 100lb Chewy boxes you have to move 100lb Chewy boxes. But the down size to this is the guys who deliver Chewy boxes don't look like bodybuilders . . . .

Lol, when you say "Chewy" I think of 30lb boxes for my Dogs, but guessing your animals are bigger than mine.

Also guessing you may have met Richard Sorin along the way, whose son Bert was an Olympics aspirant in the Weight Throw. Supposedly Richard invented the "Land Mine" apparatus so Bert could develop "twisting power," even before it became popular for other common gym moves.

 

[Carlosflick]

It’s great that you’re thinking about how soreness from non-weight training activities impacts your workout. The soreness you experienced after breaking down asphalt is likely from using muscles in ways they aren't used to, which is similar to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after lifting weights. In general, it’s a good idea to avoid intense resistance training on muscles that are already sore, even if the soreness wasn’t caused by weightlifting. This helps prevent overtraining and injury. By focusing on vertical back work (lats) and skipping back thickness exercises, you allowed your sore muscles to recover while still training effectively. You did the right thing! Just listen to your body, and if soreness persists, it’s a sign you might need extra rest.

 

[Yano]

Lol, when you say "Chewy" I think of 30lb boxes for my Dogs, but guessing your animals are bigger than mine.

Also guessing you may have met Richard Sorin along the way, whose son Bert was an Olympics aspirant in the Weight Throw. Supposedly Richard invented the "Land Mine" apparatus so Bert could develop "twisting power," even before it became popular for other common gym moves.

Chewy can be handy ... for instance did you know that you can buy amoxicillin and other AB's for your .. uhh .. fish ?

Around here it's known as , Fishicillin

 

[Bigtex]

Lol, when you say "Chewy" I think of 30lb boxes for my Dogs, but guessing your animals are bigger than mine.

Also guessing you may have met Richard Sorin along the way, whose son Bert was an Olympics aspirant in the Weight Throw. Supposedly Richard invented the "Land Mine" apparatus so Bert could develop "twisting power," even before it became popular for other common gym moves.

@rawdeal, we spend a small fortune at Chewy we take care of 14 feral cats, squirrels, raccoons, possums and flocks of birds. We also have our own cats inside. Its the damn cat litter that weights 40lbs each. They stuff two of these in a huge box and it takes my wife and I both to get the box in the kitchen. 30lbs of dry cat food, equal amounts of bird food and peanuts. I feel embarrassed when these little drivers deliver these big boxes.

 

[The other Snake]

I avoid any situation that would cause me to be sore in the gym but then I have a very structured lifestyle.