Extreme workout to become fit as early as possible may leave your muscles to soar. Sometimes the pain surfaces a good 24 hours after the exercise. This kind of soreness is termed delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Is that a good sign? Is muscle soreness a good thing to happen physiologically?
Related: Test Yourself To Know Your Fitness Levels
Why is soreness good?
Fitness experts feel that muscle soreness is a good thing because – After exercise, there is always a bit of muscle trauma involved. Recovering from this problem makes the muscles stronger than they were before the trauma. For instance, if you have been working out for upper body development and you find your arms ache when you reach out for that topmost shelf.
Related: List Of Weird Ways To Get Healthy
Related: Can You Reverse Years Of Neglect On Health
However, if only one limb is painful and not the other, then it may be due to some other injury that needs to be investigated
How to minimize the pain?
The simple and sensible way to reduce pain is to plan an exercise routine that takes you gradually, step-by-step toward the more difficult and more time-consuming exercise. This way the muscles are not abruptly made to feel strain, it slowly gets accustomed to the increasing level of exercise routines.
Related: How to Prevent Love Chub
Related: 5 Fun Summer Workouts To Reduce Calories
5 smart ways to exercise
- When you make up your mind to begin a regular exercise routine, you should also pay attention to what you eat and drink. While food would be a balanced nutritious diet, you should increase your fluid intake and enrich it with the right balance of electrolytes. Stay away from protein-rich and wonder drinks (that make tall claims) and stick to fluids that are easily digestible
- Every exercise is performed most effectively if you begin with a warm-up; start with simple hand-leg movements in order to get into the right level of energy to begin the more intense workouts. If you abruptly begin the high-intensity workouts, your muscles will experience undue stress
- Include aerobic exercises in your workout schedule in order to elevate your heart rate. The good news about elevated heart rate is that it improves blood circulation. Blood reaching the muscles supply it with more oxygen, proteins, and iron, while the blood leaving the muscles takes away with it waste products like carbon dioxide
- You may not feel sore after a good workout. This does not mean that the exercise has been ineffective. The effectiveness of exercising is evident by simple physical measurements – you can observe physical changes in the mirror, you can measure the reduced inches with a measuring tape and the weighing machine will faithfully tell you how many pounds you have lost
- Keep a cold pack ready to apply to sore muscles after a workout