Sore muscles are a part of working out, but sometimes you can get so sore that you worry about the consequences of exercising more. You might even wonder, “Should I work out with sore muscles at all?” Learn more about what causes sore muscles and get tips for exercising while sore so you can make the most of your time at the gym and recover properly without actually hurting yourself. 

Understanding Muscle Soreness: What’s Happening in Your Body?

We’ve all been sore before. Whether it’s because you had to move apartments or you’ve just started a new workout routine, sore muscles are a part of life. But understanding why you get sore muscles can help you be better informed when it comes to exercising while sore. There are two different types of sore muscles:

• Acute muscle soreness: This happens during or immediately after a workout when your muscles are fatigued. Think about that burning feeling when you’re pushing to get to the end of a set of reps. That’s acute muscle soreness.
• Delayed Onset Muscle soreness (DOMS): DOMS happens one to three days after a workout and causes aching, stiff, tight muscles that hurt when you move them. While it’s not entirely clear what causes DOMS (theories include nerve compression, lactic acid or metabolite buildup, connective tissue damage, inflammation, and more), we do know that microscopic damage to the muscle tissue is a contributing factor. 

One of the distinguishing factors of soreness is that it’s not a sharp pain. DOMS can be plenty intense, and you might find yourself groaning every time you move your sore muscles, but it shouldn’t completely stop you in your tracks. If it does, it could be a sign of injury. 

Is It Safe to Work Out With Sore Muscles?

Many people wonder: Is it good to work out when sore or is it bad to work out when sore? Generally speaking, working out while sore is actually an effective way to relieve your sore muscles! You just have to be thoughtful about the type of exercise you do. If, for example, you have incredibly sore biceps from lifting weights, don’t go back to that same exercise the next day. Instead, try to focus on a different muscle group, like your legs or your core, and do something relatively gentle that warms your whole body and gets your blood moving to help your muscles repair. 

Another important part of exercising while sore is doing a proper warm-up and cool-down. Warming up your muscles helps them get adequate blood flow before you ask a lot of them, and it also helps you assess which parts of your body are stiff or sore. Cooling down helps you to bring your heart rate down and allows you to stretch your muscles while they’re still warm. Studies also show that cooling down properly can help to reduce DOMS and fatigue overall. 

Listening to Your Body: When to Rest and When to Push Through

While sore muscles are a perfectly normal result of exercising, it’s important to know the difference between sore muscles and an injury. When you ask yourself, “Should I work out with sore muscles?” make sure you listen to your body. Know the signs of injury so that you can stop your workouts before causing real injury or see a doctor. 

Sore muscles vs. injury

• Sore muscles: An achy, burning, stiff, or warm sensation in the muscle. Sore muscles hurt when you move them in the specific way you worked them out.
  
• Injury: Sharp pain, acute pain, bruising, swelling, or physical impairment of the injured area. The pain from an injury won’t go away with light exercise or stretching, and it will be downright painful, as opposed to uncomfortable. 

Exercising while sore is one thing, but if you do think you have an injury, don’t try to push through it. You could lengthen your recovery time or even injure yourself further. Try a day of rest and see if things improve. If you suspect an injury, see your doctor to discuss treatment. You may just need to rest further, but it’s worth getting checked out.

Active Recovery Options for Sore Muscles

Active recovery is exactly what it sounds like: staying active while your body recovers. While passive recovery, like rest and icing, can be extremely helpful, research indicates that active recovery helps return your muscles to their normal state by increasing blood flow and flushing out the byproducts that cause sore muscles. 

There are a variety of different methods included in active recovery, and any of them can be incorporated into your workout routine to aid in muscle recovery between more intense workout sessions. A general rule of thumb is to incorporate one to three days of active recovery into your training schedule. If working out while sore feels like you’re overdoing it, you probably are. Otherwise, try these options. 

Warm Up

Warming your body up properly ensures that you loosen tight muscles and get the blood flow required to allow your muscles to heal. Starting any kind of exercise cold is a recipe for injury. 

Move

Keeping your body moving is the goal here. Lightweight movement—like yoga, swimming, or walking—helps with increasing blood flow to your muscles so they can heal. You also use many different muscle groups in each of these light movements, so you won’t put excessive burden on any area with sore muscles. 

Stretch

Stretching your muscles is an excellent way to flush out the lactic acid and metabolites that contribute to sore muscles. Stick with dynamic stretches before a workout, which takes a joint through the full range of motion. After exercise or on an active recovery day, static stretches are great. Remember not to go too far in static stretches, though. Just stretch your muscles comfortably, breathe to oxygenate your muscles, and hold for 30 seconds in each stretch.

Go at Your Own Pace

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: listen to your body and go at your own pace. Especially during recovery, overexerting yourself or stretching beyond your comfort can lead to injury. Enjoy easier movement so your body can fully recover. 

Cool Down

Cooling down has huge benefits when it comes to reducing muscle soreness. A cool-down is an activity that typically stretches your tired muscles and uses only 50-60% of your maximum effort. Recent research shows that six to 10 minutes of cool-down after a workout helps reduce both inflammation and breakdown of the muscles.  

Preventing Excessive Muscle Soreness

Working out while sore is one thing, but preventing that soreness in the first place is ideal. You won’t be able to avoid sore muscles altogether if you’re training regularly and increasing your difficulty, but you can prevent the excessive soreness that can slow you down. Here’s how.  

• Always warm up and cool down
• Incorporate active recovery activities, like walking or yoga, in between heavy workouts
• Try passive recovery techniques, like foam rolling, cold immersion baths, or massage
• Stay hydrated, eat a healthy diet high in antioxidants, and get adequate sleep
• Breathe during your workouts
• Don’t overdo it
• Rest when you need to

So, now that you can answer, “Should I work out with sore muscles,” and “What happens if I work out with sore muscles?” you’re on your way to less soreness and better recovery. You may not be able to avoid sore muscles entirely, but you can stave off the worst of DOMS so you’re not sidelined. Having the right information in your back pocket is key, but getting support for working out muscles while sore is the ideal way to keep your body safe. 

Jack City Fitness can provide all the support you need to help you learn how to work out safely, work through sore muscles, and maintain an active recovery routine to help build strong, healthy muscles. Our coaches are driven by your success, and we take your results seriously. We can help you develop a balanced workout routine, keeping you from overtraining and injuring yourself.  

Ready to learn more about how we can support you and your fitness? Contact us today or call (208) 999-1111 to learn more about partnering with a private coach, taking advantage of our fitness class offerings, and joining our incredible community at our 24/7 top-notch facility. We’re focused on supporting you every step of the way so we can help you achieve the results you want while ensuring you’re safe and healthy. We can’t wait to help you get started!