On Wednesday I did a lower body workout (about 40 minutes) followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer and 15 on the recumbant bicycle. Thursday I planned to do an upper body workout and cardio, but I was experiencing some soreness in my lower body, so I didn't want to do the cardio (since most cardio involves the large muscles in the lower body). So Friday comes along and I am still experiencing soreness. I skipped the gym again. Next time this happens, what do you recommend for cardio the day after the lower body workout?

I would recommend not doing the kinds of workouts that make you so sore you can't train the following days. There are ways of training to get around this. Specifically, avoiding negative and forced reps. If you're just starting up again with weight training, some soreness will be unavoidable. Low volume training to start, with sets that leave a couple of reps in the tank, is the way to go.

A little bit of soreness from time to time is normal. Usually, walking the next day is ok, just start off slow and increase as your body gets warmed up.

A lot depends upon how much soreness there is. As kbjunTH mentioned, a little soreness is not a problem. I have found that bicycling tends to reduce any minor soreness that I have (I think that the increased blood flow helps).

Thanks guys. Yah, it wasn't crippling soreness or anything like that! The quads did hurt the next day though. I should've gone to the gym on the Friday and just went easy on the cardio. I haven't been training my lower body a lot lately, but I would like to train the lower body at least once a week. I am sure next time I do it, I will be okay the next day! Hopefully!

Oh, this problem is very well known for runners. My recommendation is simple: skip the cardio on the day of LBWO. Instead of it, have a nice evening walk.
The next day plan a somehow easier cardio. (Instead of "intervall" or "hill" program, choose an easier one, or decrease the level/resistance.)

My LWBO day is Tuesday - my no run day. On Wednesday I always have a nice easy 6-9 miler - no hill, no speed. This easy run help a lot to heal the muscles from the previous day's strenght trainining.

Cheers:

Eva

Dumbbell swings would also be a great cardio alternative on those sore leg days.

I weight train three days a week alternating between upper/lower body, and I only do a 10-15 minute warm up on those days. My off days I do at least 20 minutes of pure cardio.

Some soreness is okay, it means you did good, but to much pain might mean you overdid it.

The muscle soreness is your body responding to the workload you've handed it. Muscles respond to stress by enlarging and becoming stronger. The heart is the most important muscle of your body. Cardio is the only exercise it gets.

You might find by exercising with the soreness that it goes away quickly, much sooner than if you wait for it to subside naturally. Exercise flushes lactic acid from the muscles.

MY CV: 30+ marathons, 15 50-mile races, 5 100-mile and 24-hour races.

do easy cardio, like others have mentioned it HELPS with the soreness. If you do cardio with an intensity that is too high, or work too hard wehn you're already sore and continue you'll eventually just "burn out" and end up getting a cold. The lighter cardio will also help you (as long as you're sleeping and getting proper nutrition) to increase the workload you can handle, which IMO is a good thing.