Post-Workout Muscle Soreness: Is it “Good Pain” or “Bad Pain?”

After an intense workout, most people begin to experience soreness in the muscles trained within 24-48 hours, and the soreness can last for as long a week after it sets in. This type of pain is called "Delayed onset muscle soreness" or DOMS for short. The question on many people’s minds is; is this pain good or bad?

Scientists aren't 100% sure of all the causes of DOMS, but they have a pretty good idea. The “burn” you feel during the performance of an exercise is caused by the build up of lactic acid, a by-product of exercise metabolism. It was once believed that the next day soreness was a result of this lactic acid staying in the muscle. Today, most exercise physiologists agree that the primary cause of DOMS is the tiny tears that occur in the muscle as a result of high intensity exercise - especially resistance training.

When you work out, you literally "tear down" muscle tissue. Unlike a “torn” muscle in the medical sense (that’s bad pain!), these are microscopic tears. During the days after the workout, the muscle begins to rebuild itself, provided it is allowed enough recovery time and sufficient nutrients are provided. This rebuilding process creates
a "new" muscle that is bigger and stronger than before. This, in a nutshell, describes the entire process of muscle growth.


The pain of DOMS is different than the burn you feel during the workout and it is different from the pain of an injury. It's important that you develop the ability to differentiate between the "good pain" of soreness and the "bad pain" of injury. Unless the soreness is so extreme that it’s debilitating and prevents you from participating in sports or performing routine tasks (like walking up a flight of stairs!), then next day soreness is GOOD PAIN! It is a sign that you had a good workout - that you trained hard enough to break down muscle tissue. As a result, your reward is going to be bigger and stronger muscles.

DOMS will be greatest in a beginner who has never worked out before because training for the first time is a "shock" to the body. The more your body adapts to the same workload, the less soreness you will feel. If you continue to repeat the same workout over and over again, eventually, you will stop getting sore. Unfortunately, if you stop getting sore because you never change your workouts, you will also stop making progress. That's one of the reasons you should change
routines frequently. Shocking your body and providing progressive overload are the keys to muscle growth.

Soreness doesn't just occur in beginners. No matter how long you've been training, you will probably get sore when you begin a new workout program. Each time you provide your body with a new stimulus – whether it’s a higher intensity, more weight, a new exercises, a new technique, or a technique you haven't used in a long time - you can expect the soreness to return.

Negative repetitions, where you lower the weight more slowly than usual, also seem to increase the level of muscle soreness. Physiologists believe that this portion of the repetition causes greater micro trauma to the muscle fibers than the concentric or lifting portion of the repetition. (Which, by the way, is a good reason not to eliminate the negative portion of your rep as certain exercise machines do).

What if you're still sore from your previous workout? Should you still train? If the soreness is very minor, then yes, go ahead and train right through it. As blood gets into the area and your body temperature increases, the remaining soreness will dissipate. However, if there is any substantial amount of soreness remaining from the last workout, that
is a sign that you have not completely recovered yet. Your body is still "healing." If you keep breaking down muscle before it has a chance to recover, the effect will be the opposite of what you want: you will get weaker and smaller.

Some people don’t get sore for 36-48 hours after the workout. Personally, I get sore quickly: 8-12 hours after a good workout, peaking about 24 hours later. I usually stay sore for anywhere from 2-3 days, depending on how severe the workout was.

As a somewhat serious weightlifter, I consider soreness to be an indication of a successful workout. I also consider the complete dissipation of the soreness as a sign of full recovery. If I feel no soreness whatsoever, I usually consider that workout as a mere maintenance session - if not a complete failure. My attitude is: I don't train to maintain, I train to gain. And if I'm going to gain, I have to get sore. Getting sore is one of my goals! Sometimes I think I am addicted to the good pain.

I’m a “no pain, no gain” kind of gal. I believe soreness is good. Not everyone will agree with me, but there is scientific support backing this belief: In the textbook, Physiology of Sport and Exercise (Human Kinetics, 1994), Professors Wilmore and. Costill write, "Some evidence suggests that this process is an important step in muscle hypertrophy." There you have it - case closed.

So, what can you do to alleviate the soreness? First of all, I’d suggest that you shouldn't try to avoid it at all; you should strive for it and enjoy it! (at least a moderate degree of it). That said, there are a couple things you can do to reduce it if it’s too much to bear. Stretching the body part immediately after the workout and getting blood circulating into the area will probably help.

A short session of cardio after your workout, followed by a vigorous stretch (especially when assisted by a partner), may reduce the soreness somewhat (but don't expect it to remove the soreness completely). Other methods circulation- inducing methods like massage may help as well. You can also cut back your intensity next time: Use your level of soreness as a gauge of your intensity. If your soreness is debilitating, then take that as a sign to back off at your next workout (if you don't want to be that sore again).
 

I don't know of any supplements that will help alleviate soreness and improve recovery. Proper post-workout nutrition will, of course, help with muscle recovery in general, but won't remove the soreness. That means making your post workout meal high in carbs, high in calories and moderate in protein. You must provide nutrients to the muscles you’ve
just broken down. A complete discussion of post-workout nutrition will have to be the subject of another article.

In summary, post workout muscle soreness is "good pain". If you are training with weights for recreation or sports, that's an exception. But when it comes to muscle growth and bodybuilding, soreness is a goal to be sought after. The name of the game is to tear down the muscle, feed it, and allow it to recover so it can re-build itself bigger and stronger than before.

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