Soreness: Actual Reasons and Prevention
Soreness is very common among those who exercise regularly and also among those who are new to exercising.
Before getting into the “how” part, let’s understand the reasons on “why” we become sore after a workout. There are several reasons behind this.
1. Hitting new muscle: When you do an exercise which targets a muscle/muscle group that you’ve never worked before/you’ve not worked on for a long time, that particular area, covering that muscle group may become sore. For example, if you used to do 100 squats daily but you stopped doing them for 2 weeks and you start them again, then you might become sore in your thigh area or butt area or hamstrings and quads can get sore.
2. Overtraining: This is one of the obvious reasons why you become sore after a workout. Pushing your limits is great but getting sore in a manner which doesn’t allows you to workout for the next couple of days is not logical. I have been there and I know the pain. Whenever you feel too much pressure or difficulty doing an exercise or lifting a certain weight, stop doing it. Decrease the weight or modify the exercise to match your comfort level. This will prevent soreness and will keep you healthy to hit your workout routine the next day too.
3. Bad form: Again, this can’t be stressed enough. Don’t focus on doing as many reps as you can instead focus on having a correct form. Whether you’re working with weights or doing HIIT cardio or any other form of exercise, be sure to have a correct form. Having a correct form will be more effective than just doing more reps in a bad form.
4. Lack of focus: Usually we automatically get focused on exercising when we start with it but sometimes we subconsciously/unintentionally lose focus on the exercise. If you are feeling dizzy or losing focus, stop for a moment and drink some water, take a break and then get back to working out. Having a bad focus can make you do exercises in a bad form which will again cause soreness.
5. Impatience: Whether you are starting a new journey to working out or you are trying to advance in your strength, you must have patience. Don’t start doing 100 burpees when you have just learnt how to do burpees. Don’t switch to 10 Kgs directly from 5 Kgs of weights. This can not only cause soreness but can also lead to muscle tear or muscle strain. So have patience and make slow progress.
So these were the main reasons why we get sore. Now, it is said that soreness is good for our body and it helps in building muscles. Agree! But you have to understand that there’s a thin line between getting sore and making your body exhausted to that level where you’re unable to workout for a couple of days.
Imagine you’ve started using weights to build muscle or get toned and you’re fully motivated for it. You start lifting weights and you make one of the mistakes listed above and then you’re unable to lift weights for 4–5 days. Frustrating right? This can be avoided starting slow. With little bit of soreness you can still workout. But don’t set unrealistic targets in a short span of time. Remember, good things take time. From the above example, we can say that it takes time to build muscles and if you make your muscles exhausted then it’ll take more time to reach your goals since you won’t be able to workout for a couple of days because your body is exhausted.
Now, you can follow these simple steps to avoid getting too sore after a workout:
1. Warm up is compulsory: Please don’t be lazy on this. A 5 minute warm-up will be your savior so don’t skip it. It helps you in warming up your body, your muscles and prepares your body for the actual game.
2. Stretch daily (especially after workouts): Again, don’t be lazy here. You’ve completed the entire workout, now a 5 minute stretching will do no harm instead it will help in cooling down the muscles. Also, try stretching on a daily basis. It will help your body to improve in so may ways. It will improve your posture, your flexibility, will help in preventing bloating, will aid in weight loss and so on.
3. Drink enough water after working out: Yes you might get bloated by doing this right after the workout but it will help you in staying hydrated and after sometime you will become less bloated than you were and it also helps in preventing gastric problems. And of course, it plays a vital role in preventing injury after a workout.
Follow these steps and you’ll become less prone to injuries or severe soreness. These are basic steps but still not followed by many. Hope you will follow these steps from now on.
Stay healthy and hydrated!
