Does Extreme Muscle Soreness Always Equal a
Great Workout?
Personal training means you should be Sore!
Kidding! Muscle soreness is not the point of reference for if you had a good workout or not. Muscle soreness and stiffness following a tough workout is common and sometimes inevitable. If the soreness becomes debilitating to the point where you can’t move or walk the next 3 days, you most likely over did it. The goal is not to be as sore as possible after a work out. When it comes to soreness and exercise, in general, more is not always better.
What Is Muscle Soreness?
Muscle soreness is caused by placing progressive overload on the muscles. This overload leads to microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. They then swell up as part of the rebuilding process. Muscle soreness often occurs a day or two after training. This is referred to as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). This is very common in unconditioned individuals exercising for the first time. It shouldn’t be a constant occurrence though, after you become more accustomed to exercise the soreness should taper down.
Why Training To Be Sore Is Ineffective
The soreness felt after exercise can make you feel a sense of accomplishment. If you are constantly sore, you should be getting results, right? Not necessarily. If you are training for soreness all the time you most likely will miss workouts because of the soreness. You might try to fight through the pain but your workouts won’t be as effective. Your performance will suffer and even worse you could get injured, setting you back a few months. Exercise should make daily living easier, not harder. If you’re so sore you can’t walk for 3 days then it defeats the purpose of becoming more fit.
How To Avoid Soreness and Still See Great Results!
Intense muscle soreness usually occurs in the early phase of working out. First two to four weeks. a good workout program or personal trainer, will be able to key in on the proper progressions needed to have you succeed. One suggestion, instead of focusing on one or two muscle groups each day, switch to full body workouts with a day of rest in between each one. Full body workouts spread the workload over the whole body. This limits overworking specific muscles and the amount of soreness you will feel. Exercise for performance, not soreness. The goal of most exercise programs should be progressive overload. Working towards improving performance and strength with each workout. If you’re constantly sore you won’t be at your strongest and performance will suffer.If your performance suffers your overall goals will suffer as well.
Make exercising a habit not a fad. New years resolutions are right around the corner (2 days) this year make your goals stick by making training a valuable priority which you enjoy not a chore.
Written By: Robert Jost NSCA-cpt, ACE-cpt
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