A: It sounds like DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. I wish I could tell you a magic trick to get rid of it, but it's a little bit of a mystery. There are different theories, but to my knowledge there's nothing conclusive yet. What you can do to ease your symptoms is to follow these simple steps: 1. Stretch thoroughly, during warm-up, between sets, and especially AFTER your workout. As your legs starts feeling all swollen and pumped, consciously try to stretch the muscles so that your get fresh blood in there. 2. Eat properly. This may sound strange, but as your body need materials to rebuild itself, you're part of the problem if you don't feed it the nutrients it need. Make sure to get some 100 grams of fast carbs (sugar) and a protein shake shortly after the workout. 3. When the soreness hits you, try gentle massage and stretching. As always, getting fresh blood into the muscles will help you recover faster.
Q: Does it matter if I hold the bar thumbs-up or thumbs-down when I do tricep presses? I sure FEEL weaker with thumbs-up, but my friend says it's the same.
A: Your friend has a point. If you look at an anatomical chart, you'll see that the Tricep attaches to the very tip of your elbow. Do a simple experiment: Bend your arm as if you were about to arm-wrestle. Now put your fingers on the tip of your elbow and rotate the hand. As you notice, whether your thumb points up or down, the elbow - and the tricep muscle - won't move, and therefor couldn't care less whether your thumb is pointing one way or the other. However, since you have to actively use your forearms to hold on to the bar when doing thumbs-up, it might be distracting and weaken you compared to doing it thumbs-down, where you won't have to split your focus between your triceps and your forearms.
Q: Do I REALLY have to do cardio? It's so boring I could cry...
