Sore muscles--should I alter my workout?

On Monday I upped my weights on my arm muscles, because I had hit the point where I was comfortable at the old weight.  Yesterday, I was sore, so I took it easy at home and just stretched and did my balance ball routine.

Today my arm muscles are still pretty sore (mostly biceps and my right shoulder) Today is my gym day.  Should I go through my normal weights routine?  Skip the arms totally and just do cardio and legs?  Do my arms lifting at the old weight?

Any advice appreciated.

If I'm just sore I usually go ahead and workout.  If there is pain, then no.

I would go with the higher (new ) weight at least for the first set.  If it feels like too much, and you can't complete the sets, then dro it down and finish with the old (lower) weight. 

Thanks Karozel.  I'll give it a whirl at the new weights.  Maybe once I get warmed up, I won't be so ache-y!

I agree with karozel, if it's just sore sometimes working out helps more than just resting. Not more strength training though, I assume you don't workout the same muscle groups on consecutive days, otherwise you might be overdoing it. 

Another thing that has helped me avoid soreness is good old stretching. I always get more sore (sorer?) when I skip it because I don't have time and I always regret it on the next day! Massage helps too. I always moisturize daily, so I  take some extra time on sore spots to losen the muscles a bit. If you have someone else to do it for you, even better!

Sore to me means I have sufficiently torn some muscle fibers and they will strengthen as a result which= good.

Pain, or soreness lasting more than 3-4 days means I need to lay off a little. But it will be sore whenever you increase weight. I am no expert, but I have been doing various degrees of weight training for about 3 years, and it always makes me sore when I increase.  Regardless though, I do 2-3 strength workouts a week, and I only work each body part once in a 5-7 day period.

Hey I work at a nutrition store and you should try L- glutamine. its an amino acid which is found in protein but when you take the supplement you won't be sore. It's amazing and can get a few months supplies for 20 bucks...

Thanks everyone for the encouragement!  I needed the push to not wuss out on my routine!

I ended up doing pretty much my full workout at the higher weights.  The exercise endorphins kicked in, and I didn't even think about stopping short.  I did switch out one kind of bicep curl for another, that I think I like better anyway, so plusses all around.

I'll try to get some extra protein tonight to see if that helps with soreness tomorrow. 

Original Post by cellotlhicks:

Sore to me means I have sufficiently torn some muscle fibers and they will strengthen as a result which= good.

Pain, or soreness lasting more than 3-4 days means I need to lay off a little. But it will be sore whenever you increase weight. I am no expert, but I have been doing various degrees of weight training for about 3 years, and it always makes me sore when I increase.  Regardless though, I do 2-3 strength workouts a week, and I only work each body part once in a 5-7 day period.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness does not mean that you had a good workout. There is no correlation between DOMS and muscle gains. L- glutamine may help, although the study data on it is still spotty. It is also the most abundant amino acid in your body, so supplementing with it may be useless. Just make sure you allow yourself enough time to recover between workouts and you are taking in enough nutrients for recovery.

I've been doing pretty good with muscle gains. I can kinda see my 6 pack again,  and my arms look pretty decent. I do drink some protein within 1/2 an hour, but I've never tried the L-glutamine. How much does that cost? I usually only work each major muscle group 1, maybe 2x a week depending on how hard the workouts are.

i know some of the FA women tend to rave about bcaa's, fish oil & vita C. can't speak from personal experience tho.