Have you ever felt that muscle soreness you get after a really tough new training program? Have you ever wondered whether it was natural or if there was something wrong? The truth is post-workout muscle soreness is a very natural process, and there are a lot of things you can do to help prevent and speed it along, but you still have to be wary about injuries.
Firstly though what is post-workout muscle soreness? The process is called delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, and it happens every time you over exert your muscles causing them damage. The body reacts to this by trying to rebuild the muscles to cope with the new strain you’re putting on them.
Although this is a natural process you shouldn’t be feeling the effect of DOMS after every training session. If you are it’s usually a clear sign that you are overworking yourself, and that you need to slow down a bit.
If you’re getting DOMS after all your workouts it means your causing too much damage to your muscles. This is something to watch out for because if you aren’t careful you can cause your body serious harm which can lead to sever muscle fatigue, adhesions, and injury. There are some ways that you can help your muscles cope with the stress though.
One of the most important workouts in any high intensity training program is a restorative workout. A restorative, or recovery, workout is just a short program that helps fix any imbalances, stress or tightness caused by intense training. These recovery workouts can be worked into your current program in a number of different ways from just being tacked onto the end of intense strength training sessions, or taking a full week to focus on recovery.
These recovery sessions can be any type of exercise that will help stretch out your muscles so you can keep training at a high intensity without injuring yourself. How much recovery time you need varies based on your daily lifestyle as well. If you have a sedentary job you’ll find yourself needing a lot more recovery then someone who has a high stress job.
Some of the most popular recovery workouts are Yoga, Pilates, Swimming, or just plain stretching, but you can really do anything as long as it stretches out your muscles.
One of my favourite restorative workouts is a light to moderate 10 minute walk where I try and stretch out my legs. I follow this up with a 20 minute stretching and flexibility session where I try and target all of my different muscle groups. I typically do this at least twice a week in the middle and at the end of a weekly block.
Tip: Pilates foam roller exercises are another great way to relieve any back tension and stretch out your muscles.
So it’s ok to be sore after a workout every now and then but if you’re regularly performing high intensity training programs and finding yourself getting sore after all of your workouts you need to start incorporating restorative workouts into your training regime. If you don’t you’re putting yourself at risk of getting injury. This may seem simple but stretching and recovery are two of the most overlooked factors in training programs and are the primary reason you might sustain an injury.