Dealing with Muscle Pains After Working Out

After working out, especially after weight training, our muscles tend to be sore and when you flex them, the pain can sometimes be more than enough to make you moan. You also tend to have limited movement in the areas you worked out. For example, if you've worked out your biceps, you'll feel pain or an uncomfortable sensation when lifting say, a pitcher of water. Or, if you performed leg routines, you'll feel pain on your quadriceps (thigh muscles) while walking or climbing up a set of stairs. How do you deal with the pain? Should you take pain relievers? How will you recover?

A lot of people resort to taking pain medications for muscle pains after weight training. Well, one of my personal trainers at Excel way back in 2003 said that you don't need to. Muscle pains after weight training is perfectly normal. It's the stage where the muscle recovers and after which it will become much stronger and able to handle more resistance. Another thing to consider is that you might get dependent on taking pain relievers. I just say to myself that muscle pains after working out is good since I know that I've worked my muscles hard enough.

In my case, the duration of the muscle pain depends on how much I worked. For example, when I work out my chest muscles, I usually do push ups until I struggle and I do several variations. The pain usually lasts for 2 to 3 days. If I didn't work hard enough, it should only last for a few hours. At that point, I'd get a bit disappointed since I know I could have pushed my muscles a bit more. If it lasts for a week or more, I'm not sure though but it's better to ask a doctor about it.

Anyway, muscle pain or sore muscles are among the reasons why you should concentrate on working out only one or two muscle groups per day. Just imagine if you workout every muscle group in a day. You'd get exhausted and the pain will be all over your body. You won't be able to do your daily routines well. You'll have a hard time lifting stuff (believe me, it's hard enough to raise your hands up in the air), pushing and pulling stuff, walking, running, sitting, etc. because your entire body is sore.

My trainers told me that whenever you do weight training, you should stretch your muscles first. This is the same thing that Tony Horton does on his videos. Stretching before and after the workout will loosen up the muscles and prepare them for work. This isn't actually prevention to sore muscles but with enough stretching; you are getting the most out of your workout and you can recover quickly.

Again, muscle pains after a workout is normal. As most would say, the pain that you acquire after a workout is actually good. It means that you have worked your muscles well enough for it to grow stronger and as you continue working out in the next couple of weeks, you'll probably notice that you can lift heavier weights, endure longer workouts, do more repetitions and more. And yes, you'll probably see your muscles grow much bigger after a few weeks. Well, we do have different bodies and reactions to working out and we may have different results or level of pain. If you're unsure how to deal with your pain, ask your physical trainer or even your physician.

Sources:

Personal trainers at Excel Fitness Center
SM Megamall

Tony Horton
P90X