Muscle Soreness
Soreness is a tight or achy feeling often felt after exercising. There are two types of soreness: acute soreness and delayed onset muscle soreness. Acute soreness occurs during an exercise or activity. An example of this is pulling a muscle. Delayed onset muscle soreness develops a couple days after exercising. Some activities that cause delayed soreness are jogging, hiking, and strength training. This soreness is caused by a combination of small tears in the muscle and inflammation. This may sound alarming, but its actually a good thing! Soreness is a sign the body is getting stronger.
Ways to prevent soreness:
Warm up before exercising. The goal of warming up is to increase body temperature and prep muscles for the work they are about to do. Walking and dynamic stretching are great ways to warm up the whole body.
Increase intensity over time. Bodies need time to adjust to new workouts. If you increase reps or weight too fast, you will be sore. The most important thing is to rest between exercises and sets.
Stay hydrated while you exercise. When you exercise you sweat to cool off. This releases a lot of fluids and can lead to dehydration. Drinking water with electrolytes while exercising will keep you hydrated.
Ways to manage soreness:
Take time to rest before your next workout. Bodies need time to repair so they can get stronger. Exercising on super sore muscles may cause injury. Give your muscles at least 2 days to repair before resuming higher intensity exercise.
Stretching can gently relieve discomfort from soreness. Before stretching it is important to warm up with a low impact Stretching helps muscles relax, increases blood flow, and reduces inflammation. You may also consider utilizing a foam roller and/or lacrosse ball to self massage.
Cold therapy can also help with soreness. Icing sore muscles will reduce inflammation which promotes a quicker recovery. Another option for cold therapy is BioFreeze. BioFreeze is a gel, foam, or spray that can help manage pain symptoms of soreness. The active ingredient is menthol. When applied to the skin it blocks pain and provides a cooling effect.
Source:
American College of Sports Medicine
