Muscle Soreness and Aches

schac061

Question for you fit people out there...
Are you always sore? Is it just a part of life for you?
I have lost about 40 lbs and have another 80 to go to reach my goal weight and I'm just curious. I work out regularly now and I enjoy it (which is an odd thing for me to say) but I'm always sore the next day. Hips, feet, glutes, quads and so on. I'm beginning to accept this is my new normal, just wondering if you healthy/fit people for life experience this as well. TIA

newbie3122

It is referred to as DOMS- delayed onset of muscle soreness. It is caused by the inflammatory response as a result of the microtrauma of muscle fibers when you introduce new stress/stimulus (lifting heavier weight for example). Age, conditioning, recovery etc. can affect it. How long have you had this soreness for?

For me, I felt sore when I first started exercising. But not anymore for a long time.

canadianlbs

it's not supposed to be normal. in theory your body gets used to it and only exceptional volume or new movements should make you sore. but ime, you need to be keeping up with your protein to make that happen.

i drink a little bcaa mix now and then too, just to give the process a boost. stretching post-workout makes a difference for me too, and i've taken to doing the agile-8 warmup moves before i do a workout.

this is if by 'workout' you mean strength work. i'm not sure what the cardio situation is. personally, biking never did make me sore and running always destroys me whatever i do.

TavistockToad

Nope. If I do a different workout to usual, I get DOMS for a day or 2 after, but if I do it regularly I'm not usually sore

Unknown

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Sued0nim

I get sore when I change up exercise ...but not crushingly so

MelanieCN77

I get it when I get into something new, or more strenuous than I am used to but not for the things I do regularly.

sijomial

Soreness from a new or extreme workout - yes.
Muscle fatigue from over use - yes.
Soreness from a large collection of old injuries - not unusual.

Muscle soreness after every workout - no.

Well done on the lost 40lbs and enjoying your workouts is great, your body (not just muscles) does get better conditioned to exercise over time.

Willbenchforcupcakes

I'm only sore when my rep scheme changes. Or I've taken some time to take it easy. One week and then it's gone.

cajuntank

Just some ramblings as I recently heard a podcast on this with Dr. Mike Israetel on the topic of soreness as it relates to weight training and NOTE... The information provided is not normally something you would care too much about if you are new to training as this is just interesting information and a minor detail in context, but as you have exclaimed that so far, this is chronic, I feel it might offer some relevance.

I would offer that it depends on your workout focus. So what I mean is, if the program you are following is more strength focused (lower reps using % closer to your 1RM), then you should not get continually sore due to the large neurological component involved... your body should get used to (programmed to) the motor pattern.

If your program is hypertrophy focused (higher rep range using say around 50-75% of 1RM), so being able to do more sets and reps, thus more volume, then mild soreness, while not necessary, can be used as a good proxy that you are producing enough muscle trauma to maximize your results, i.e...if you don't feel some mild soreness after doing 4 sets of an exercise the day or two after, then try 5 sets the next time, still nothing, try 6 the next go round, rinse and repeat until you do. Not saying that the 4 sets aren't producing results, but maybe, for you, 5,6, or maybe 7 or more is what it takes, for you, to maximize your results; again, using that mild soreness as a indicator/proxy.

So if you are running a hypertrophy type of program currently, then maybe what you are encountering, is the result of you doing enough to too much volume (don't know how sore you are getting). If it's too much and chronic, try backing off a set or two for said exercise and see.

ARGriffy

If I don't work out for a while (lazy week) then go hard, ill get sore or if I try a new move or something that engages a muscle I don't normally pay much attention to then I get sore but when I'm just working out on a day to day basis I don't really hurt. I actually love the soreness it feels like I kicked my own *kitten* and I like that haha