{"id":45982,"date":"2016-07-11T11:15:50","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T15:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=45982"},"modified":"2022-04-27T06:05:42","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T10:05:42","slug":"muscle-sore-skip-workout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/muscle-sore-skip-workout\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Work Out While Sore? (Plus Recovery Tips)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"How
Photo: Pond5<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That soreness you experience after a tough workout often feels like a badge of honor, right? You upped the intensity on leg day<\/a> or you tacked on a few more miles to your long run<\/a> and you\u2019re feeling strong. Until one day, you push it too far and that hurts-so-good sensation turns into muscle pain that makes it excruciating to even sit down on the toilet. You\u2019re feeling the burn \u2014 but there\u2019s no reason you can\u2019t hit it just as hard tomorrow, right? Not so fast. Sometimes it\u2019s fine to work through mild aches, but here\u2019s how to know when your body might be telling you to back<\/a> off.<\/p>\n

Why Am I So Sore?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Quads on fire after right after squats? That\u2019s pretty normal. The burning sensation you feel mid-workout when you\u2019re fatiguing is the result of lactic acid, says Scott Sailor, President, National Athletic Trainers\u2019 Association. Luckily, \u201cit dissipates out of the muscles pretty quickly,\u201d Sailor says. Lactic acid<\/a> (sometimes called lactate) will disappear within an hour of exercise. So why can\u2019t you walk down the stairs the next day?<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> No Pain, No Gain? 5 Myths About Muscle Soreness<\/a><\/p>\n

Soreness that develops roughly 12 to 24 hours after a strenuous activity is known as DOMS<\/a>, delayed onset muscle soreness \u2014\u00a0and it can last for 24 to 72 hours<\/a>, according to the American College\u00a0of\u00a0Sports Medicine. You can bet your gym socks you\u2019ll experience DOMS any time you perform exercises that are new to you or you complete lots of sets with minimal rest in between, says Neal Pire, MA, CSCS, exercise physiologist at HNH Fitness in Oradell, NJ.<\/p>\n

Can I Still Exercise While Sore? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a big difference between mild muscle tenderness and \u201cmy glutes are so sore it hurts to sit\u201d pain, which is likely DOMS. (Trust us, you\u2019ll know the difference when you feel it.) Your workouts won\u2019t be nearly as effective if you\u2019re in the throes of major delayed-onset soreness, says Pire. Symptoms include limited mobility<\/a> and extreme stiffness. \u201cPerformance is typically impaired\u2026as you have a loss of muscle strength and power, decrease in range of motion\u2026and localized pain and swelling,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 7 Ways to Relieve Post-Workout Pain<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c[DOMS] is not devastating, but there can be an extent where it\u2019s dangerous,\u201d says Sailor. It might seem far-fetched, but being so sore that it\u2019s difficult to make your way down stairs could put you at risk of, well, a face-plant, Sailor points out.<\/p>\n

The anti-dote to DOMS? Recovery, and lots of it. If you\u2019re having major trouble walking down the stairs, or getting up from your chair, you may need to recover for three to five days before you start cranking out squats again. Strategies like foam rolling<\/a> and taking anti-inflammatories (with care) can help alleviate the pain, but they won\u2019t help your muscles on a cellular level, says Sailor. You\u2019re better off Netflix<\/a> and chilling on the couch instead of hobbling\u00a0your way through a workout. \u201cTime is your friend,\u201d says Pire. \u201cRest and let your body recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Can I Avoid Insane Post-Workout Soreness? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Switching up your routine to target different muscle groups each day is a smart strategy if you like to hit the gym every day of the week. \u201cEvidence shows that two to three resistance training workouts, per muscle group, per week, are ideal,\u201d Pire says. For example, if you\u2019re going to train your legs and glutes twice a week, wait two or three days before challenging them again.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Daily Burn Face-Off: Foam Rolling vs. Stretching<\/a><\/p>\n

Keep in mind: \u201cWe don\u2019t get stronger or more conditioned during workouts,\u201d says Pire. We make much of our progress during recovery, when we allow our bodies to heal and rebuild.<\/p>\n

Your best bet: Listen closely to your body and look for these five signs<\/a> to know when it\u2019s time to take a rest day.<\/p>\n

Not a Daily Burn member? Sign up at\u00a0dailyburn.com<\/a>\u00a0and start your free 30-day trial today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally published December 2015. Updated July 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quads feeling spent after an onslaught of squats? Here\u2019s how to know whether that sore feeling means should skip the gym or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,6,14],"tags":[206,135,88,281,341,343],"class_list":["post-45982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exercise","category-fitness","category-strength-training","tag-mobility","tag-post-workout","tag-soreness","tag-strength-training","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2exercise"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}