Seeking advice for dealing with DOMS as a newbie

[bradhaddin]

I'm 25 (F), 46kg (101.5 lbs) and 5'5"
I have a very sedentary lifestyle which is why I recently started going to the gym. I told the trainer that I wanted to work on my stamina and potentially some muscle gain.
The first day was easy, the second day I went, was really difficult by the end of some of the same workouts I did on the first day. I'll list the exercises below for more clarification.

5 minutes on treadmill (4.5 km/h)
4x 12 reps of weighted squats (6kg)
3x 12 reps of lunges (with 3kg dumbbells)
4x 10 reps of chest fly (10kg)
4x 12 reps of rope straight arm pulldowns (10kg)
4x Planks (40-50 seconds)
5 minutes on treadmill (4.5 km/h)

Each set with 1 minute break in between

I've decided to start with 3 days a week. But on the second day of gym (with 1 day gap from the first one) I started struggling a lot with the chest and arm exercises. I have no problems with Squats as I'm doing those with an exercise ball behind me for posture correction. Lunges and planks are no problem either. I can easily do 40-50 seconds or even 1 minute with a little patience for planks. But I felt really stumped with the arms and chest as I couldn't even complete the last set of pull downs without shaking and losing the correct posture for the exercise. And now that Monday is right around the corner, I'm scared of not being able to do it again especially because I've been feeling sore all over since the last time I went to the gym.
This is my first time going to the gym and I don't want to let this discourage me. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[dawn16]

@bradhaddin The best way I’ve found to deal w/DOMs from a trainer to client perspective is to keep moving. Whether it’s coming in the next day and hitting opposing muscle groups, doing cardio, or simply going for a walk/swim. Getting blood flow back into those sore areas even if it’s something as simple as a walk or bike ride definitely tends to aid in recovery much faster so you can keep making those gains.

Since you’re doing it three days, split assuming it’s Monday we, Wednesday, Friday. I would definitely suggest maybe incorporating some type of active stuff on those in between days whether it’s some cardio and mobility/flexibility work, or any of the other things, I mentioned in the above paragraph. That should definitely help with some of the soreness.

Also keep in mind when you’re just getting into lifting feeling sore is in many cases inevitable. As your body adapts the soreness will subside significantly and be a lot more manageable, until you provide a new stimulus. Hope this helps

 

[mrsz]

@bradhaddin I’m new too but the beginning sucked for me too. I was so sore!! It was painful. I felt drained after and didn’t want to keep going.
I’m no trainer but maybe lower the weights and focus on form and going slow? And doing 1.5 min in between sets too. And stretching a lot afterwards.

I’ve been going now for 6 weeks and I look forward to it now. I don’t get sore (just fatigued and a little bit tender). And I have more energy and am seeing improvements in strength.

Having a goal works for me too. Doesn’t matter how long it takes to get there, as long as it’s one step as a time. Just keep at it! And change things up if you need too.

 

[clothedinstrength]

@bradhaddin Doms can suck. But the best thing I've found is IMMEDIATELY after working out spending a good 20 minutes in gental foam rolling and stretching.
There are tons of youtubes on how to do this. I actually forgot I got doms until the one time i recently skipped my post excersize foam rolling session due to time. The next two days thought I was dying. It works.