I recently started working out at a CrossFit gym where my wife works out. I'm supposed to work out Mon-Wed-Fri. I had my assessment on Saturday and by the time Monday came around I was still too sore to work out. They gave me a modified workout to avoid the sore areas but I'm feeling worse. It has been almost a week since the assessment workout and four days since the first actual workout and I'm still so sore I'm unable to complete simple exercises (i.e. modified push-ups). Not even one.
My wife swears by Aspercreme but my feeling is that this doesn't help the muscles heal, it just masks the pain and if I take that route and work out I could potentially do more damage.
1. Am I correct in my assessment that if I've not recovered enough to complete simple exercise movements without significant pain that I should continue to rest?
2. Am I correct in my assessment that masking the pain with a pain reliever in order to enable me to work out increases the probability of additional damage and an even longer recovery?
3. Does four days seem excessive recovery time for a set of pushups, pullups and situps given no significant exercise in about 25 years?View Thread