Muscle soreness after exercising

Muscle soreness that occurs a day or two after training is probably experienced by all readers. Some feel muscle pain a day later, others the day after – either way, it’s normal.

What is post-exercise muscle soreness?

Muscle pain is often accompanied by tenderness and stiffness. The sensitivity in the muscle increases when the muscle is stretched, strained, or exerted pressure, but not when the muscle is resting.

What causes muscle soreness?

The mechanism of post-exercise muscle soreness is not yet fully understood, but it is believed that the cause lies in microtraumas in the muscles that occurred during exercise. Microtraumas occur during training, especially when performing eccentric movements. (Eccentric movement – the muscle is stretched during the load, the ends of the muscles seem to move away from each other. For example, exercise for the biceps: the eccentric phase is when the weight moves back down at the shoulder, thereby emphasizing the more difficult phase of the exercise.)

What does not cause muscle soreness?

Post-exercise muscle soreness is not caused by lactic acid. Lactic acid is a byproduct that disappears about an hour after exercise. Even vigorous exercise does not cause muscle pain. Muscle soreness occurs when the body is introduced to a new exercise, a new workout, a new load, i.e. exercises that the body is not used to. Muscle soreness will no longer occur when the body is already used to this exercise.

How to get rid of muscle soreness?

The best way to get rid of muscle pain is light aerobic exercise, such as walking. If your leg muscles are sore two days after training, don’t let it bother you and do light training. Remember that when training with sore muscles, do a proper warm-up and take it easy.