One of the many causes of Obesity is Lack of Exercise. It is well known fact that starting an exercise routine is hard, maintaining that is even harder! There are many Exercise Barriers that decrease your enthusiasm towards fitness, "Muscle Pain, Soreness and Stifffness after Exercise" is one topic that often goes undiscussed because people feel shy to let others know why they are not keeping up their exercise routine, and it is often thought that it will make them feel physical weak for having not enough strength or normal pain tolerance. But that's NOT TRUE! Read more to know why..
Stiff, Sore and Aching Muscles
Its very common to feel sore and have aches, stiffness after starting a new physical activity or changing your regular physical routine by pushing yourself harder than usual. The scientific term is Delayed Onset Muscle Sorenee (DOMS). It can show-up a day or two once you start exercising or inorporate new (harder) moves in to your regular routine, change the duration or intensity of your workout etc. And your physical fitness level doesn't matter as it can affect anyone, from those who've been exercising for years, to even athletes!
What Happens?
DOMS occurs when our muscles are made to work harder than our existing limits, beyond what we are used to. It is beleived that this leads to microscoping damage to our muscle fibres (sound scary? don't worry, it normal!) resulting in pain, stiffness and soreness.Should You Worry?
This pain is not pleasing at all, a bugbear for people who are new to exercising and even dent their enthusiam for fitness, but did you know that this temporary discomfort is actually a sign of your improving fitness level?
The soreness is a part of an adaptation process, gradually leading to a increased stamina and new strength. As the muscles recover and build, they get used to the new and harder physical demands, and become stronger everyday.
Should You Continue Exercising?
Though it can be uncomfortable to begin with, you can continue to exercise. Warming up before exercise should be helpful (the soreness goes away whent he muscles are warmed up but comes back as they cool down after exercise, but that is only till your body adapts the new routine).
Alternating the moves/steps to allow most affected mucles adequate rest is important. For example, work your upper body one week and upper body the other week, taking adequate intervals in-between., Similarly, alternating between strength and flex, and running or yoga is also good choice. Or if you find it difficult to exercise, you can rest until the soreness goes away that typically takes 2-3 days.
Can You Prevent DOMS?
There is no 100% evidences, but starting gently and increasing intesity/duration gradually, allowing time for the muscle to adapt to new movements slowly is the best way to prevent/minimise DOMS. Also, warming up well before excercise is also said to reduce the chances of injury and better performance, hence, less chances of soreness post workout. Likewise, stretching before or after exercise also helps.
How Can You Treat the Soreness?
The discomfort due to pain, stiffness and soreness is annoying. These symptoms are said to be improved by:
- Rest
- Applying Cool-packs
- Massaging
- Pain-killers (DOMS generally doesn't require medical intervention, but you should seek medical advice if the pain becomes unbearable or desables your normal/daily tasks).
Is DOMS Good or Bad?
DOMS is a type of muscle conditioning that makes your muscle adapt a new level of strength. The next time you perform same activity with same intensity, there will be less muscle tissue damage which means there'll be less soreness, and a faster recovery!
So don't be put-off or let it be your excuse to skip or stop exercising. But make yourself well informed about the whole thing so you know what to expect and how to manage this.
CAUTION !
DOMS should not be confused for any other type of pain during or after exercise, such as sharp, acute and sudden pain due to muscle sprain or strain. You should see your family health adviser if that happens.
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