Is it Safe to Exercise if You Are Sore?
We’ve all experienced that next day soreness that makes us groan when we get out of bed in the morning. Soreness can be part of working out, but it’s also a symptom that you want to pay attention to. Most muscle soreness should dissipate within 24-72 hours. If it’s lingering longer than that, you need to evaluate your “sore area” to make sure you aren’t dealing with an injury.
When is it okay to work out if you are experiencing soreness?
Sometimes a light recovery activity can help alleviate soreness. If you are slightly sore, an active recovery workout might be more beneficial than harmful. Some low-impact activities might include walking, swimming laps, yoga, stretching or some light resistance band activities. Additionally, if you only trained one area of your body (such as legs), you could train a different area of your body (upper body).
Why it’s important to take soreness seriously:
When we train muscles, we are creating microscopic tears in our muscles. As these muscles recover, the tears heal up and the muscle eventually becomes stronger. Because of this, it’s imperative you give your muscles at least 48 hours to recover. If you don’t allow for this recovery time, the muscles never heal properly and can result in an injury.
If I’m extremely sore following a workout, I take the next day off. I make sure I walk and move around to keep my body somewhat active, but I skip the intense workout.
If you are looking for some workouts that target only the upper or lower body, check some of these out: