How quickly after being sore should your go back to physical activity?

Intense Yoga? Is that an oxymoron?

@random: Funny, but let’s see you do two hours of Bikram Yoga and see how you feel the next day.

Generally, bad pain and ‘good’ pain feel very different. If you’re just sore, get up, move around and stretch. You don’t necessarily have to exercise again. I’ve found after exercise that the day after I feel like I got my ass kicked, but if I hop right back on the bicycle the soreness disappears. I also try to sleep with a heating pad after a particularly brutal one. If you’re honestly concerned with pain you’re having I would consult your doctor.

In general it’s a good idea to consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program, or if you ever have doubts about it. My advice on these kind of problems will always be, if you’re worried see a doctor. At best, he catches something, at worst you set your fears at ease.

I just thought the word Intense was misplaced. I could be wrong, but it just seemed like those two words shouldn’t be in the same sentence. I used to work at a rehab center and would see Yoga sessions and it seemed pretty relaxed.
@judyprays—What type of Yoga did you do?

Go back as soon as you can, just heed your body’s warnings and do not push it. Pain means injury of some kind – but movement increases blood flow to the overused muscles and helps them to recover faster. After a hard race, I used to go for an easy bike ride the following day, even when my legs were tied in knots, and it always helped me to recover more quickly.

Other tips: lots and lots of water to help your body flush out the lactate and other muscle toxins you picked up.

I could be wrong here but I think that the reason we get sore after we exercise is because we are ripping the muscles. As they grow back, they will grow back bigger and stronger. I think the typical rule of thumb is every other day you can exercise the same muscle group but if you are sore, I would wait until the soreness dissipates. (or at least is almost gone)

RandomMrAdam, we have a hot yoga class here that I dare you to even try to complete. My buddy who goes to regular yoga a couple of times a week went and he had to lay down for the second half of the class. They wouldn’t let him out of the 105 degree room because they didn’t want cold air getting in.

Just because you are moving slow doesn’t meant the workout isn’t intense. Just because you’re moving slow doesn’t mean the experience isn’t intense.

It depends on the activity. In your case? You might want to wait. Had it been, say, shoveling snow? As soon as necessary for more shoveling or you might regret it.

My vacation last week: Monday, shovel snow. Tuesday, wake up. “But! We had a path! Out of the driveway! We could make it! What happened??”. Be lazy. Rest of the week: Unable to leave the house due to ice and snow.

i don’t know much about stuff like this, but my best guess would be to pace yourself. if it hurts too badly for you to move, wait awhile. but start off slow when you begin again.

I second Ichtheosaur. Flush out the lactic acid, stretch and cal a bit, and take some long, hot baths. Rest, rebuild, return!

Here’s another vote for what @IchtheosaurusRex said. I’ve read several articles that talk about the benefits of stretching and light exercise (e.g. walking) for muscle soreness after a strenuous workout. From personal experience, getting up and moving those sore muscles always seems to be better than just laying around all day. Most resources suggest your muscles generally need 48 hours to fully recover, so while light exercise can be helpful, going right back to intense exercise might be detrimental.

I’ve also been taking L-glutamine (~5–10 g per day) as a supplement to aid in muscle recovery and I’ve definitely noticed a decrease in muscle soreness and recovery time after intense workouts.

I would give it 2 days but don’t stop working out completely. Make sure that you stretch and try to be as active as you can.
I did a Muscle conditioning class a few weeks ago and let me tell you i though i was walking on NOODLES for the next 5 days. No Pain No Gain :)

Right away.