What You Need To Know About Soreness After Working Out

One of the most uncomfortable aspects of starting a new fitness regimen is the soreness that comes with a new routine. This soreness is usually the worst the day after a workout. The reason you feel sore is that working out can cause very small tears in your muscles. That might sound scary, but it's actually perfectly normal and all part of a healthy muscle-building routine.

However, just because soreness is a normal and healthy part of developing muscle doesn't mean that it's not uncomfortable when you're experiencing it. While it's not possible to begin a new fitness regimen without experiencing some degree of muscle soreness, there are things you can do to feel better and to minimize your discomfort as much as possible. Here's what you need to know about soreness after exercise.

Breaks Are Important

There are many fitness programs that emphasize following daily routines. This is common in many of the commercially available fitness DVDs that promise you the same results you'd experience in a gym in the comfort of your own home. However, many of these programs say that you'll only get those results if you stick to their program's calendar.

It's true that you have to stick to a routine if you want to see results from your fitness program. However, if you're experiencing soreness in a certain muscle group, it's important that you allow that muscle group to heal, which means taking a rest day. Muscles actually grow larger while they're healing from those aforementioned tears, not during the actual workout itself.

However, just because you're resting a specific muscle group doesn't mean that you have to give up your daily workout entirely. If you're experiencing soreness in your arms from lifting, devote the next day to a cardio workout that will strengthen and tone the lower body. Alternating which specific muscle groups you target is the best way to avoid overexerting any specific muscle group.

Taking Care Of Yourself Is Crucial

It's impossible to see positive changes from fitness if your overall health is poor and your lifestyle is unhealthy. Fitness doesn't exist in a vacuum; it's not something you do to make up for a bad diet and bad habits, but rather something you do to enhance the positive results from a good diet and a healthy lifestyle.

When you're trying to build muscle and get in shape, it's crucial that you eat a healthy diet, ideally one comprised mostly of fruits, vegetables and lean protein. Ditch juice and soda and instead opt for water or unsweetened tea.

Sleep is extremely essential if you're trying to improve your overall physical fitness and reduce the soreness you experience. The time we spend sleeping helps muscle tears to heal and diminishes the overall muscle soreness that we experience. If you have trouble sleeping, try a sleep support supplement.

Stretch It Out

It's normal to feel muscle soreness after working out, but it's not normal to feel outright pain. Normal muscle soreness should feel like a mild aching that's uncomfortable, but not outright painful. However, if you feel actual pain, then you probably injured yourself.

One of the most common reasons that people experience muscle injuries is because they aren't stretching properly before and after their workouts. There's a reason why fitness instructors and trainers always make a warmup and a cool-down a part of the routines. Stretching is the best way to diminish soreness and to prevent injury. If you aren't sure how to stretch, there's an abundance of videos online that can instruct you how to do it properly.

Getting in shape can be a challenge and sore muscles are an inevitability. However, if you eat right and get enough sleep, you'll find that you recover from soreness a lot quicker. The more you take care of your body, the more your body will take care of you.

This is a guest blog entry.