Almost all of us know it: While we are initially happy to have done something for our body after a hard workout, a few days later a nasty muscle soreness makes itself known. Then even the simplest movements in everyday life, such as climbing stairs, can become torture. But what exactly is muscle soreness? Does it mean that the training was demanding and therefore effective enough? Or is this a misconception? We want to answer these and other questions about sore muscles in the following!
Tiny tears in the muscle fibers
Muscle soreness is caused by tiny injuries to the muscle fibers. This happens especially in sports with jerky movements and frequent starting and braking movements, including soccer, tennis or squash. Steady jogging, for example, rarely results in muscle soreness.
Muscle soreness is caused by overuse. Especially in the case of training beginners, whose muscles are not yet accustomed to the stimulus, muscle soreness occurs after the first training sessions. Those who have not done any sports for a long time or who try a new strain (new exercises, new sport) can also be affected. However, if the same exercises are performed regularly, the muscles get used to them and the regeneration time becomes shorter - muscle soreness then does not occur in the long run.
Muscle soreness does not set in immediately after training, but one or two days later. It reaches its peak after about three days and then subsides on its own after a week at the latest. The muscles regenerate completely, the muscle soreness does not leave any permanent damage.
Prevent sore muscles - take it slow!
This much in advance: muscle soreness is difficult to prevent. Stretching and warm-up exercises before training do not help to avoid sore muscles. But they are still useful - if only to prevent injuries.
Since muscle soreness is caused by unaccustomed or excessive strain, it is helpful to increase the training intensity slowly and gradually, and to accustom the body to new movement patterns only gradually.
Regular exercise can also help. This will improve your coordination and perform movements in a more coordinated way, which helps the muscles to work together better.
Exercising with sore muscles - better not!
The popular belief that sore muscles are proof of an effective workout is not true. Sore muscles are caused by overuse - that means the body has been overworked. So, if you have sore muscles, you should definitely not continue exercising. This is because it can scar the tissue and damage it in the long run. Your training will become inefficient, because with sore muscles the muscles work with reduced strength and are not fully efficient. This also only unnecessarily prolongs the necessary regeneration.
Important: Muscles grow during regeneration. During this phase, you should therefore not further damage the muscles, because this is counterproductive for your training success. When you exercise again, deeper damage can occur in the muscle tissue, and the risk of this is particularly high at this time.
So the rule is: if your muscles hurt, they should be spared. Of course, you still don't have to completely forgo your workout. Simply spare the affected region during your workout and do not put any strain on it again until a few days later.
What can be done about sore muscles?
There is not much you can do about it. Sore muscles cannot be treated with medication. Painkillers can temporarily relieve sore muscles, but they won't cure them.
It is important that you do not continue with your training schedule as normal, but allow your muscles to rest so that they can regenerate. Intensive training should be avoided in order not to further strain the muscles and risk injury.
However, this does not mean that you should not do any sports at all now. On the contrary, light exercise such as cycling, swimming or a casual walk can be helpful. Also Heat is also very good in this case and helps to combat sore muscles. Go to the Sauna, take a hot bath or apply warm compresses. The heat not only relieves the pain, but also promotes blood circulation - and this helps the inflammation in the muscle to heal faster.
By the way, it is not recommended to massages because these irritate the muscle cells additionally.
Conclusion
→ Muscle soreness is usually a sign of too much strain and is often hard to avoid for training beginners.
→ Muscle soreness is not harmful to the muscles, yet it is the smallest injuries.
→ Therefore, the muscles should be given sufficient rest to regenerate.
→ Do not train against the pain and do not return to training too quickly.
→ Light exercise, sauna and baths to promote circulation are better.
How to deal with muscle soreness after EMS training you can find out at EMS-TRAINING.com read up, the largest platform approximately around electrical muscle stimulation!
Editors fitnessmarkt.de (SIS)
Picture source: © lassedesignen - Adobe Stock
Published on: 1 August 2018