Soreness is a natural part of working out.  It’s uncomfortable, and people either love it or hate it.  There are a lot of misconceptions about soreness: some feel if they aren’t sore after a workout, they didn’t workout hard enough, and other people take days off at the slightest hint of a barking muscle.  All soreness isn’t created equal, and sometimes the line between regular soreness and injury can get blurry.

When you work your muscles, you tear tiny muscle fibers apart.  Those fibers grow back together during rest stronger and more compact that before.  This is why you get stronger, and your muscles get bigger with consistent exercise.  This is important to understand because muscle fiber tears are technically little injuries to your muscles- and the degree of soreness and when it occurs tells you if you pushed it too far and need to take a break to heal or if you are right on track.

Why our muscles get sore, however, isn’t exactly known.  The common answer is that a build up of lactic acid in the muscle causes the burning sensation, but new research says that the answer may be pain from the muscle tears themselves.  To make sure you don’t resting for no reason, or train muscles that may be injured, here is your guide to deciphering your soreness.

  • If you are sore for up to 3 days after a workout you worked your muscles hard enough to tear the muscle fibers and initiate changes, which is exactly what you want.  To ease the discomfort, drink plenty of water and rest at least one day before working the same muscles again.  You want to rest 24 hours even if you are not sore, to let those muscle fibers heal.
  • If you have muscle cramps during or immediately after your workout you are either dehydrated, didn’t warm up efficiently, lifted too much weight or any combination of the three.  To ease the pain, massage and ice the cramping muscles, drink plenty water and if the pain persists for more than 3 days, see your doctor.

Exercise is going to cause discomfort and soreness, but it shouldn’t hurt. If you are still unsure whether you are sore or injured, always err on the side of caution and check with your doctor.