Post-workout soreness can result from trying a new exercise or because of increasing the overall intensity of your exercise session. It’s a signal from your body that you must take notice of. In fact, it’s a message that you’ve worked on your muscles differently or that you’ve challenged them more than what they are used to.
It’s important for an exerciser to understand what happens with in the muscles when one feels muscle soreness and also what to do when one has muscle soreness.
In this article you will find what happens to your muscles when they sore after workout & how to deal with / treat muscle soreness after workout/gym.
When you have muscle soreness after working out, it means there are tiny tears in the muscle tissues. Actually, this is a microscopic damage to the muscle fibers, which is nothing to be alarmed about. Rather this is a positive sign, and even necessary.
Post workout soreness is a natural part of the muscle development process. The microscopic damage to the muscle fibers occurs, and then the muscle’s repair mechanism is triggered, which helps recover & build your muscles stronger.
How To Deal With Muscle Soreness?
# 1
The obvious answer is: “Don’t Push Yourself Too Far“
People new to physical activity, when have muscle soreness, usually take sore muscles as an indication to that they have done too much. But the reality is that even regular gym goers can suffer soreness of muscles after a change in their regular workout routine. For example increasing the weight by a few pounds, increasing the resistance on exercise machines or performing the next incline level on the treadmill.
But, if your muscles sore so much that you’re hardly able to move, or if you suffer from pain in other parts of your body then you’ve possibly pushed yourself too far.
For example, if you increase load while performing squats, you’ll be likely to feel sore in the quads, hamstrings & glutes. However, if you notice a tweak in the knees or hips, or have a pain triggering from one of those joints, that’s something beyond muscle soreness.
Workouts routine designed to enhance strength & endurance should be done at a slow, steady pace. Soreness will diminish as you progress, signifying that the muscles are gaining strength & ready for the next level of exercise. But, if you feel pain in your joints or persisting soreness, check with your doctor for continuing exercise.
# 2
How To Recover From Post Workout Soreness?
For general strength training, a rest period of 36 to 48 hours is needed between two consecutive workout routines that target the same body part. Whereas back-to-back “same area focused workout routines” won’t harm you, but allowing sore muscles appropriate time to repair & strengthen themselves will certainly help improve their performance.
For any long-term great fitness workout plan, you should try to rotate the targeted areas for working towards full-body workouts. For example, if you focus on your lower body one day, focus on your upper body the next. Another example is: If you work treadmill one day, go for cycling the next.
If you follow a comprehensive fitness plan with adequate variety, your muscles will perform better, recover faster and get stronger.
# 3
Hydration is another key factor. Drinking an adequate amount of water will help you recovering faster by getting rid of toxins that develop in cramped or sore muscles, restoring hydration in your body and lubricating the joints.
As per the National Athletic Trainers Association, the following are general guidelines on how to hydrate before and during INTENSIVE workouts:
(i) Two to three hours before workout: Seventeen to twenty fluid ounces of water or sports drink
(ii) Ten to twenty minutes before workout: Seven to ten fluid ounces
(iii) During workout, every ten to twenty minutes: Seven to ten fluid ounces.
Other effective ways to help recover the muscles are: Foam rolling, stick rolling & even massage. These are good methods to keep your body in much more optimal shape for the next workout.
