Sore muscles

burough

I worked out yesterday, my legs and arms are sore. What do you recommend for a work out when your already sore. Or do you take a day off let the body relax?

AverageJoeFit

Soreness is cause by lactic acid built up in your muscles. Your body will re-absorb it on its own and you can help it by using the sore muscles. It doesn't hurt to continue working out with sore muscles. It sucks.

You can go for a walk to help move the acid out of your legs. Maybe some yoga or something similar for arms.

denziljedwards

1.Stretching Before and After exercise.

2.Apply Ice or Heat to area of soreness.

3.If any area is sore or in pain avoid any excerise or equipment which will lead to further more pain or damage.

4.Rotate exercise on different body parts Ex: Arm workout Monday, No Arm workout Tuesday, Arm workout Wednesday

5. If still sore, rest a day to avoid injuries, if pain still their, seek medical advice.

LaRelicHunter

I take centrum vitamins and start work outs slow to let the body know hey I am fixing to get worked out.
There is truth to the saying no pain no gain!
I start out slowly into a 4.5 mile brisk walk a day.
Takes rt at a hour for me.
Hydrate Hydrate

Hiker_Rob

Make sure to stretch before and after working out. Now having said that most of the time when you workout good and hard you are working those muscles, stretching them and causing tiny tears, part of the recovery is a little pain called DOMS (Delayed onset Muscle Soreness), the more you workout, the more you come to love it because you know it means you worked hard. HOWEVER - dont workout so hard you pull or strain your muscles. Lactic acid build up as someone mentioned does not cause muscle soreness per se, unless however you are working out for long periods of time, common in distance runners such as myself.

Always drink lots of water during and after workouts, you muscles need it.

On days where i have more severe DOMS I just stretch a little more and take it a slight bit easier on the current workout, I dont take the day off though, as you get stretched and work, it goes away. I embrace it when it comes along, it means I left nothing behind in my workout that day.

Azdak

DOMS comes from doing new movements, esp from loaded eccentric contractions. It is caused more likely the inflammation and repair process to micro tears in muscle fibers. It is not caused by "lactic acid"- there is actually no such thing as lactic acid.

Once you have it, it pretty much has to run its course. Movement can often temporarily ameliorate the pain, but it does not really speed up the healing process. Her are a number of "remedies" that people will suggest, but I'm not sure how much any of them help.

mswag84

Love the sore muscle feel...makes me feel accomplished..once I start the next workout they seem to loosen up and it's on to the next sore group

AnnPT77

Doing literally nothing - sitting still/lying down - for a day usually will make you feel stiffer. A little light movement feels good, and loosens things up at least temporarily. I'm talking casual walk, light stretching, that sort of thing. A warm bath (with Epsom salts if you have some) may feel good (or Jacuzzi/sauna/steam bath if available). If you have a foam roller, light rolling may feel good (afterward, not during! ; ) ).

Mostly, time is the answer. Any of the other strategies are just ways that may help to feel better in the moment.

Do try to keep up your exercise regimen on schedule - every other day is fine if you're still feeling major muscle soreness. But - for me at least - waiting until the soreness is totally gone before repeating the workout . . . that's a recipe for getting quite sore over, and over, and over.

If you get back to it on a reasonable schedule with some recovery in it, odds are good that after a few workouts you won't feel as sore after the workout as you did those first times.