Should you exercise when your muscles are sore? Find out what causes muscle soreness, when it's safe to exercise and when your body needs rest.
You had a good workout yesterday but today your legs are aching and even walking up the stairs is an issue. So you ask yourself "should I still exercise when I'm sore? In most cases a little muscle soreness doesn't mean you need to stop training completely.
Muscle soreness happens after doing something your body isn't used to such as starting a new programme, lifting heavier, doing more reps or returning to training after a break. This is known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS as most people call it and tends to appear in the day or two following exercise. Some soreness is completely normal especially when you are new to strength training.
Usually, yes. If the soreness is mild and you can move normally, there's no reason you can't exercise. You could train a different body part, reduce the weight or volume and often moving can help you feel better.
No, soreness is not an indicator of a good session. The goal of training isn't to make yourself as tired or sore as possible. It's to gradually challenge your body so you become stronger and fitter over time. That's why a structured training programme is so important. Instead of constantly changing exercises or trying to make every session harder than the last, you can gradually increase the challenge while still giving your body enough time to recover.
Training provides the stimulus but recovery allows your body to adapt that includes getting enough sleep, eating enough protein, staying hydrated and getting enough rest.
Mild muscle soreness is a normal part of training especially when you're starting something new.
At HUSTLE our sessions are fully coached and programmed to help you make progress over time, not simply leave you exhausted.
Good training isn't about destroying yourself in every session, it's about getting stronger, fitter and healthier while still being able to live your life and keep training a couple of times a week.
If you want personal training in Crawley find out how we can help with our 6 Week Kickstart
