Dealing with muscle soreness

If you want to succeed with weight loss programs and have your body look different, you’ve got to get moving—that means increasing overall activity and adhering to a regular workout program. When you haven’t worked out in a long time, you’ll definitely feel sore the next day, and if you want your workout to increase its benefits, you’re going to feel sore more often than you would probably like. The fact is, muscle soreness is a part of life for the fit and healthy. The good news is, after awhile, it won’t be as bad as the extreme soreness you experience as the start of a new workout program.

Whether you’re working with easy weight loss programs or just trying to tone up, it’s essential to always increase the intensity of your workout so that your muscles continue to get challenged. This will ensure that you don’t plateau and that your body continues to transform. This means that there will always be some element of soreness experienced after workouts.

Just like there are ways to improve and enhance the effects actual execution of weight loss programs, there are ways to make soreness more bearable. After you speak a physician at one of our weight loss clinics approves a new workout program for you to begin, you will most likely experience “delayed onset muscle soreness” after those first few workouts. This occurs due to the microscopic muscle tears that occur while lengthening and contracting the muscles. The intensity of soreness depends on the intensity of the workout.

Soreness is a common effect of resistance training that usually peaks within the first two days of the workout and then subsides soon after. This doesn’t mean stop working out and wait for the pain to decrease—continuing to exercise will actually ease the pain, hence, the term “work it out.” Plus, you want to continue the momentum that the new workouts have on your metabolism—the boost will enhance the effects of all easy weight loss programs.

As your muscles become stronger and you increase stamina, the ache will start to lessen. A few ways to minimize the pain include proper warm ups and cool downs. Stretching is key, and if you can get some in at the beginning and the end of the workout, it will significantly decrease soreness. If you can do some stretching between sets, you’ll be even less sore.

When you are sore, get back into the gym and get some light cardiovascular in to loosen up muscles—getting your blood pumping really eases those aches and pains. One thing that we recommend to patients of our weight loss clinics is to use a foam roller on a regular basis to work out those painful areas.

As you progress with your workouts, soreness will subside. This means it’s time to challenge yourself even more. Just as we see patients at our medical weight loss centers start to plateau with their weight loss, the same can happen with your workouts. A good sign that it’s time to bump up the intensity is when you no longer feel fatigue or some muscle soreness. This doesn’t just mean longer workouts, it means more intense workouts! Increase resistance, reps and decrease resting time in between.

If you haven’t worked out in ages, now is the time to start. At your next visit to one of our medical weight loss centers, ask our staff about safe, effective workout programs that will enhance your weight loss efforts.