weight training, question re. soreness

[bluedaaria]

Hello experienced weight lifters!
I just got a set of free weights, plus I've started a 1x/week strength training class (free wegiths and an exercise ball).
My class is on wednesday evenings, and I was planing on doing my own routine on fridays and mondays, to acheive 3x/week, plus daily pushups.

I had my first class this past wednesday, and then thursday I did 32 pushups (not in a row!). Today is friday, and I am still feeling sore (more sore then yesterday), but I want to stick with my plan.

Is it ok to do 30-45 min strenght training session today, or should I wait another day for the soreness to subside? It's not extreme soreness, I think I could manage. But I don't want to hurt myself either. What do you all think???

Do you think my 3x/week plus pushups plan is a bit to ambitious for a beginner?

TIA for any advice!!

[frogguruami]

It is okay to work through soreness as long as it is not injury soreness. However there is nothing wrong with taking an extra day. You will be sorer during the first couple workouts of any new program so this probably won't be an ongoing concern.

Another thing to consider is post workout nutrition. If I have my protein shake (moderate carb, low fat) with in 30 minutes of working out I have almost no soreness afterward.

[bluedaaria]

Thanks for the input frogguruami.

The soreness isn't to bad, and I think the workout will feel good, so I'm going to go ahead and do some strength training today. That is interesting about the protein shake post workout. I will try that. Do you buy a special protein powder, or do you make something from scratch from whole foods? Do you think half a protein bar would work well? Or what about just having some lean chicken breast?

[lifeguard]

I would just add make sure you do a good warm-up. I find that really helps loosen things up & make a lot of the soreness subside. In fact sometimes when I'm sore I just go through some of my warm-up in the middle of the day for a little relief.

There are a ton of protein shake mixes on the market. Just be aware anything that says mass maker or something equivalent. Look at the calories - some are crazy high & that is unnecessary unless you are trying to gain weight. My experience is a lot of protein bars also are higher in calories then a shake would be. My favourite is Whey Gourmet's chocolate peanut butter.