We all know about that unfortunate side effect after some workouts. Muscle soreness. It can range from some barely noticeable tightness while stretching to feeling so bad that it’s like your muscles are no longer connected to your bones! It happens when we start working out after a break, try new activities, or take our workouts to the next level. Today, we are going to discuss what muscle soreness is, why it happens, what you can do to prevent it, and how to help yourself when it happens. Some of this will be surprising!
What is soreness?
Simply put, the feeling of muscle soreness comes from the level of inflammation in the muscle. Inflammation is the same reason that a bruise is painful to the touch. This inflammation comes from your body because of the damage done to the muscle fibers during exercise. By damage, we mean challenging your muscles. Sports science calls this exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD). You can start to feel the effects of EIMD immediately after exercise. Think about how weak you feel after a hard workout!1
Depending on how much the muscle was damaged, you can also experience a different kind of soreness, delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. With DOMS, you may not feel soreness in the muscle until 24 hours after the exercise. It can also be a more uncomfortable and sometimes painful kind of soreness due to the level of damage in the muscle fibers.1
Is getting sore good for you?
Well, it depends. Your body is naturally equipped to handle soreness and repair itself. When we train our muscles in the gym, they will repair themselves to be stronger than before. This is the basis of modern day strength training. But during this period of soreness, your muscles are not yet stronger. In fact, they are weaker and less coordinated! If you are preparing for a competition or are going to need all your strength, making yourself sore in the gym the day before won’t help with your goals. While being sore isn’t going to harm you in the long run, it can make your next workout a bit more challenging.
What you can do to prevent soreness
We have all heard that to prevent muscle soreness, we need to warm up, cool down, and stretch. Surprisingly, research has shown that these activities have no effect on soreness.2 They are still very important for injury prevention, so don’t stop doing them! But what helps?
Have you ever heard of cold water immersion? You may have seen athletes in ice baths in movies. This has shown positive results! In a review of studies looking at cold water immersion compared to resting, cold water immersion showed a reduction in DOMS symptoms.3 This makes sense because colds counteract the inflammatory response in our bodies.
Okay, you might not be all that enthused about an ice bath after your workout. Well, there might be some other options. As nutrition is fuel for our bodies, researchers also studied its effects on recovery. We know that protein in our diet is important for muscle growth after a workout. But protein has not been shown to help with the recovery process from muscle soreness.1 Other nutrients, like antioxidants, have been supposed to help the recovery process, as they have been shown to be anti-inflammatory. Research has been mixed on this, supplementation with a number of antioxidants has not been shown to be effective in reducing soreness.4
Unfortunately, it seems like there is no magic bullet when it comes to preventing soreness. So what is a person to do? Well, let’s try not to get sore! That sounds too simple to be true, but choosing your workouts with care and scaling up slowly is one way to make sure that you don’t get sore. If you are coming back to exercise after a long time away, try to start slowly. Maybe you only do two sets of things with lighter weights. Even if you do experience some soreness, you will thank yourself for avoiding DOMS! But sometimes, you just can’t help it.
How to help yourself when you’re feeling sore
Being sore can be very uncomfortable. When your core is sore, sometimes it even hurts to laugh! There are some natural ways to help ease the soreness, without taking any medication.
Sore muscles can be very stiff, especially after you’ve been seated for a long time. Some light movement and exercise can start to make you feel a little more normal. Try to incorporate movement breaks throughout your day. Similarly, massaging the muscles by foam rolling can also help. This is also great for recovery, as you are promoting blood flow to the area. Using heat can also help promote blood flow and soothe tight muscles. Hot showers or baths, heating pads, and hot water bottles can all be used to give you some relief.
Take-home message
Soreness is a normal reaction to exercise, but it is not essential to staying fit. Maintaining a healthy and varied diet, as well as designing workouts that are an appropriate difficulty level for your fitness level can help prevent extreme soreness. As you train and get stronger, your muscles adapt. Understanding these processes and getting in touch with your body can help you work alongside it instead of against it. If you’re dealing with soreness, try to lightly exercise, stretch, and massage the sore muscles. Heat can also soothe your muscles and help them recover after a job well done!
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What is soreness after a workout, and is it good for you?
The muscle soreness after a workout is a bittersweet feeling. Learn more about what it is, preventing it, and easing the pain!
October 8th, 2023
We all know about that unfortunate side effect after some workouts. Muscle soreness. It can range from some barely noticeable tightness while stretching to feeling so bad that it’s like your muscles are no longer connected to your bones! It happens when we start working out after a break, try new activities, or take our workouts to the next level. Today, we are going to discuss what muscle soreness is, why it happens, what you can do to prevent it, and how to help yourself when it happens. Some of this will be surprising!
What is soreness?
Simply put, the feeling of muscle soreness comes from the level of inflammation in the muscle. Inflammation is the same reason that a bruise is painful to the touch. This inflammation comes from your body because of the damage done to the muscle fibers during exercise. By damage, we mean challenging your muscles. Sports science calls this exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD). You can start to feel the effects of EIMD immediately after exercise. Think about how weak you feel after a hard workout!1
Depending on how much the muscle was damaged, you can also experience a different kind of soreness, delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. With DOMS, you may not feel soreness in the muscle until 24 hours after the exercise. It can also be a more uncomfortable and sometimes painful kind of soreness due to the level of damage in the muscle fibers.1
Is getting sore good for you?
Well, it depends. Your body is naturally equipped to handle soreness and repair itself. When we train our muscles in the gym, they will repair themselves to be stronger than before. This is the basis of modern day strength training. But during this period of soreness, your muscles are not yet stronger. In fact, they are weaker and less coordinated! If you are preparing for a competition or are going to need all your strength, making yourself sore in the gym the day before won’t help with your goals. While being sore isn’t going to harm you in the long run, it can make your next workout a bit more challenging.
What you can do to prevent soreness
We have all heard that to prevent muscle soreness, we need to warm up, cool down, and stretch. Surprisingly, research has shown that these activities have no effect on soreness.2 They are still very important for injury prevention, so don’t stop doing them! But what helps?
Have you ever heard of cold water immersion? You may have seen athletes in ice baths in movies. This has shown positive results! In a review of studies looking at cold water immersion compared to resting, cold water immersion showed a reduction in DOMS symptoms.3 This makes sense because colds counteract the inflammatory response in our bodies.
Okay, you might not be all that enthused about an ice bath after your workout. Well, there might be some other options. As nutrition is fuel for our bodies, researchers also studied its effects on recovery. We know that protein in our diet is important for muscle growth after a workout. But protein has not been shown to help with the recovery process from muscle soreness.1 Other nutrients, like antioxidants, have been supposed to help the recovery process, as they have been shown to be anti-inflammatory. Research has been mixed on this, supplementation with a number of antioxidants has not been shown to be effective in reducing soreness.4
Unfortunately, it seems like there is no magic bullet when it comes to preventing soreness. So what is a person to do? Well, let’s try not to get sore! That sounds too simple to be true, but choosing your workouts with care and scaling up slowly is one way to make sure that you don’t get sore. If you are coming back to exercise after a long time away, try to start slowly. Maybe you only do two sets of things with lighter weights. Even if you do experience some soreness, you will thank yourself for avoiding DOMS! But sometimes, you just can’t help it.
How to help yourself when you’re feeling sore
Being sore can be very uncomfortable. When your core is sore, sometimes it even hurts to laugh! There are some natural ways to help ease the soreness, without taking any medication.
Sore muscles can be very stiff, especially after you’ve been seated for a long time. Some light movement and exercise can start to make you feel a little more normal. Try to incorporate movement breaks throughout your day. Similarly, massaging the muscles by foam rolling can also help. This is also great for recovery, as you are promoting blood flow to the area. Using heat can also help promote blood flow and soothe tight muscles. Hot showers or baths, heating pads, and hot water bottles can all be used to give you some relief.
Take-home message
Soreness is a normal reaction to exercise, but it is not essential to staying fit. Maintaining a healthy and varied diet, as well as designing workouts that are an appropriate difficulty level for your fitness level can help prevent extreme soreness. As you train and get stronger, your muscles adapt. Understanding these processes and getting in touch with your body can help you work alongside it instead of against it. If you’re dealing with soreness, try to lightly exercise, stretch, and massage the sore muscles. Heat can also soothe your muscles and help them recover after a job well done!
We all know about that unfortunate side effect after some workouts. Muscle soreness. It can range from some barely noticeable tightness while stretching to feeling so bad that it’s like your muscles are no longer connected to your bones! It happens when we start working out after a break, try new activities, or take our workouts to the next level. Today, we are going to discuss what muscle soreness is, why it happens, what you can do to prevent it, and how to help yourself when it happens. Some of this will be surprising!
What is soreness?
Simply put, the feeling of muscle soreness comes from the level of inflammation in the muscle. Inflammation is the same reason that a bruise is painful to the touch. This inflammation comes from your body because of the damage done to the muscle fibers during exercise. By damage, we mean challenging your muscles. Sports science calls this exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD). You can start to feel the effects of EIMD immediately after exercise. Think about how weak you feel after a hard workout!1
Depending on how much the muscle was damaged, you can also experience a different kind of soreness, delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. With DOMS, you may not feel soreness in the muscle until 24 hours after the exercise. It can also be a more uncomfortable and sometimes painful kind of soreness due to the level of damage in the muscle fibers.1
Is getting sore good for you?
Well, it depends. Your body is naturally equipped to handle soreness and repair itself. When we train our muscles in the gym, they will repair themselves to be stronger than before. This is the basis of modern day strength training. But during this period of soreness, your muscles are not yet stronger. In fact, they are weaker and less coordinated! If you are preparing for a competition or are going to need all your strength, making yourself sore in the gym the day before won’t help with your goals. While being sore isn’t going to harm you in the long run, it can make your next workout a bit more challenging.
What you can do to prevent soreness
We have all heard that to prevent muscle soreness, we need to warm up, cool down, and stretch. Surprisingly, research has shown that these activities have no effect on soreness.2 They are still very important for injury prevention, so don’t stop doing them! But what helps?
Have you ever heard of cold water immersion? You may have seen athletes in ice baths in movies. This has shown positive results! In a review of studies looking at cold water immersion compared to resting, cold water immersion showed a reduction in DOMS symptoms.3 This makes sense because colds counteract the inflammatory response in our bodies.
Okay, you might not be all that enthused about an ice bath after your workout. Well, there might be some other options. As nutrition is fuel for our bodies, researchers also studied its effects on recovery. We know that protein in our diet is important for muscle growth after a workout. But protein has not been shown to help with the recovery process from muscle soreness.1 Other nutrients, like antioxidants, have been supposed to help the recovery process, as they have been shown to be anti-inflammatory. Research has been mixed on this, supplementation with a number of antioxidants has not been shown to be effective in reducing soreness.4
Unfortunately, it seems like there is no magic bullet when it comes to preventing soreness. So what is a person to do? Well, let’s try not to get sore! That sounds too simple to be true, but choosing your workouts with care and scaling up slowly is one way to make sure that you don’t get sore. If you are coming back to exercise after a long time away, try to start slowly. Maybe you only do two sets of things with lighter weights. Even if you do experience some soreness, you will thank yourself for avoiding DOMS! But sometimes, you just can’t help it.
How to help yourself when you’re feeling sore
Being sore can be very uncomfortable. When your core is sore, sometimes it even hurts to laugh! There are some natural ways to help ease the soreness, without taking any medication.
Sore muscles can be very stiff, especially after you’ve been seated for a long time. Some light movement and exercise can start to make you feel a little more normal. Try to incorporate movement breaks throughout your day. Similarly, massaging the muscles by foam rolling can also help. This is also great for recovery, as you are promoting blood flow to the area. Using heat can also help promote blood flow and soothe tight muscles. Hot showers or baths, heating pads, and hot water bottles can all be used to give you some relief.
Take-home message
Soreness is a normal reaction to exercise, but it is not essential to staying fit. Maintaining a healthy and varied diet, as well as designing workouts that are an appropriate difficulty level for your fitness level can help prevent extreme soreness. As you train and get stronger, your muscles adapt. Understanding these processes and getting in touch with your body can help you work alongside it instead of against it. If you’re dealing with soreness, try to lightly exercise, stretch, and massage the sore muscles. Heat can also soothe your muscles and help them recover after a job well done!
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Follow our story