Posted: 11/9/2008 7:15:58 PM EDT
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In preparation for a physical fitness test that is coming up in mid-December, I have spent the last couple of months working my abs out as hard as I can. I usually do three sets (on a sit-up bench) of maximum reps until muscle failure. I find this provides me solid gains on endurance and ripping out sit-ups in a short period of time which is what the PT test requires (38 sit-ups in 60 seconds).
The problem is that after doing this exercise, my abs are fried for a considerable amount of time afterwards. I usually need 4+ days for them to recuperate and not feel sore so that I can work them again. With the PT test about 5 weeks away, I would like to get as many workouts in on my abs as I can. At this pace I will only be able to get 6-7 more in, with the downtime. After my workout I am drinking a sizable protein shake with additional glutamine. I can't imagine how sore I would be if I wasn't drinking this stuff. What else can I do to reduce soreness after the workout and decrease recovery time? As a side question, would it reduce my gains or otherwise harm recovery if I take some ibuprofen for the soreness? |
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First, anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen) won't affect your progress or gains.
Second, don't wait 4+ days for DOMS to subside before doing more ab work. Teaching yourself that it takes that long is why it still takes that long; you haven't forced more adaptation. Getting right back in to it, even lightly, will alleviate quite a bit of the soreness immediately and condition you to recover more quickly the next time. Third, consider the bigger picture of your diet beyond your post-workout shake. What's it like? Oh, and drink water until you feel like Sponge Bob is moving in to your stomach. |
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Quoted:
First, anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen) won't affect your progress or gains. Second, don't wait 4+ days for DOMS to subside before doing more ab work. Teaching yourself that it takes that long is why it still takes that long; you haven't forced more adaptation. Getting right back in to it, even lightly, will alleviate quite a bit of the soreness immediately and condition you to recover more quickly the next time. Third, consider the bigger picture of your diet beyond your post-workout shake. What's it like? Oh, and drink water until you feel like Sponge Bob is moving in to your stomach. Any ideas what I should be doing for some light ab work while the soreness is still significant? If I go on the decline ab bench I can't do many reps at all when I'm that sore. |
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Creatine! GNC Amplified Creatine 189 is what I've started using, and I'm not kidding in the slightest when I say that the difference is "barely sore for one day" with it and without it, I'm sore for up to four days from an identical workout.
Try it. Just take two pills a day (that's it, no more than that is needed!) and by the second day you'll get the benefits of it. Work out longer and harder and be less sore for much less time. CJ |
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For several years now, I've been on what you'd BARELY call a workout program. I went to
the gym once every two weeks and attempted to kill myself with heavy weights when I was there. It was the best I could do at the time, or so I thought. Result: Typically three or four days of muscle soreness. But all I was doing was weights, no cardio or aerobics other than the cardio I got by pushing weights that hard for that long. My new program is serious and dedicated. I've completed day 15 of it. I train six days a week, taking Sundays off. I do a different program every day, with not much overlap, but I still try to kill myself under heavy weights...mostly. I'm retraining myself to work lighter weights but get full muscle extension and range of motion. I like to work the heaviest weights I can and still get the full range of motion. As time goes on that weight increases. I always finish each workout with a solid half hour of cardio, on the rowing machine, elliptical trainer, treadmill, or bike. I'll extend that half hour as time goes on and my condition improves. While the cardio work does keep me from getting AS sore, I still got sore for a few days after a workout. Taking amplified Creatine 189 from GNC has, with NO other changes to how I do things, reduced my soreness to practically nothing, relatively speaking, and usually I'm not even a little bit sore 24 hours after the previous workout. And when you consider that I'm getting more reps before failure, plus an ALREADY measurable increase in muscle mass, you could say that I'm absolutely dead sold on Creatine and DHEA. I've been taking DHEA for a few years now but Creatine is new for me. I already swear by it, because this change in my recovery and muscle stamina can NOT be a coincidence! Try it. You may not bother with ibuprofen because you won't be very sore. Incidentally, I prefer Aleve over anything else if I do have some muscle soreness I want to get rid of. It simply works better for me. CJ |
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Quoted:
I don't ever remember being sore for 4 days... Are you skipping days??? I've found less is more. I get good increases when I take off 2 or 3 days. are you keeping count of your reps??? How's your flexibility?? are you doing any post work out stretching? I'm keeping track of my reps. I am continually increasing my total number of sit-ups done for the 3 sets to failure. My flexibility sucks but I am doing a very light warmup and cooldown prior to working out. |
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As for creatine, I have a bottle of creatine pills that are about a year old that a trainer I had recommend I take. They are made by Sci-Fit and are called Kre-Alkalyn 1500. There appears to be 1500mg of creatine per serving. I didn't notice much of a change the first time I was using them a year ago though.
Should I get back to taking a massive vitamin every day as well? I always hated how it made my piss bright yellow. |
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Just try exactly what I recommended. Amplified Creatine 189, from GNC. A small bottle is
a month's supply and is about 20 bucks. It's worth trying. Let me know how it works for you. If it's half as good for you as it is for me, you'll freak out if you run out of it. CJ |
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Quoted:
As for creatine, I have a bottle of creatine pills that are about a year old that a trainer I had recommend I take. They are made by Sci-Fit and are called Kre-Alkalyn 1500. There appears to be 1500mg of creatine per serving. I didn't notice much of a change the first time I was using them a year ago though. Should I get back to taking a massive vitamin every day as well? I always hated how it made my piss bright yellow. I've used Kre-Alkalyn and while it was extremely convenient and there were no side effects, I didn't notice the same results as regular monohydrate, which I am back on now. |
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Well, just to give you an idea, last night's workout was very focused on my biceps, triceps, and pecs. I set more than one personal best in curls, to failure, and then worked my way
down to a bare bar, working to failure at each weight including failing on the bare bar. I have not taken any pain relievers and I have full mobility and almost no soreness at all, after a VERY intense workout on those muscles. The GNC amplified creatine 189 is pretty damned impressive. I don't have any need for anything better, if it IS better. 189 is formulated to outperform the regular stuff anyway, and it's nice that it comes in pills and you only need two a day. Try it. You'll probably like it. CJ |
Well shit I think I found out what one issue might be. A few months ago I ran out of my old protein and bought a new bottle. The brand was different but I kept putting in the usual 1.5 scoops as I did with the old stuff. Turns out the serving size on the new stuff is 3 scoops. I've been unknowingly taking half of what I'm supposed to  . I took the full serving size today, so we'll see if things are any different tomorrow.
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