Good Sore vs. Bad Sore

You might feel a little stiff or sore as you move throughout your day after starting our fitness program. Maybe it’s as you walk up or down stairs, or reaching for something out of the cabinet. Don’t worry, you are not alone. Although muscle soreness after exercise varies by individual, the condition is common. So common in fact that in a recent survey two thirds of Americans who engage in exercise report soreness after the fact.

Being sore is a necessary and important part of the strength building process. In this article we will explain why you may feel sore after starting a new strengthening program, how aging can impact recovery, how long you should expect to be sore and how to differentiate good soreness from not so good. We will end with strategies to consider that may help speed up recovery.  

Why am I so sore?

Exercise, especially when introducing new movements or increasing load or effort, can result in micro tears in the muscle. The body responds by creating an acute inflammatory cycle, increasing blood flow to damaged tissue enabling your body’s own healing compounds to flow in and heal the area. This is normal and an expected response to exercise, especially training involving resistance or weights. Some level of muscle breakdown must happen in order to then remodel the muscle. The breakdown and rebuild process is crucial for muscle recovery and to gain strength – as long as you don’t overdo it.  So, congratulations if you are sore – you are taking the first step toward the rebuild process.  

Aging and the muscle repair process

Research suggests that aging muscles maybe less resilient to resistance exercise.  As we age, our muscle resiliency can decrease because the number and muscle fibers within our muscles decrease. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise, but you should be aware that you may not spring back as quickly as you did in your 20’s.  An important factor in muscle resiliency is what type of exercises you have done in the past and your fitness level prior to starting a new program.  For those who are new to exercising, expect more soreness. As we age, plan for longer recovery time in between each strength session – consider three days between sessions instead of two. Pay attention to your personal recover needs.  Start slowly with low resistance, low weights, especially if you are new to strength training.  

How long will I be sore? And differentiating good from not so good soreness.   

Muscle soreness can begin anywhere between 12 and 48 hours after your workout. It should resolve within 3 days, but it is possible to feel sore for up to a week. But it should resolve on its own.  

There are a couple of things you should look out for that may indicate you’ve over done it or need to step away from a certain activity.

First, if you are still sore after a week, you need to step down on the amount of weight or number of repetitions.  Allow your body more time to recover, and consider simply moving through range of motion versus adding resistance or weights. Engaging in range of motion activity can help resolve soreness.

However, if after properly warming up, you experience pain during a specific exercise, stop. You should not experience pain when you work out.  This is not soreness, and you should consult with your general practitioner or a physical therapist.  

Strategies to enhance recovery

When we were training and racing, we practiced three basic principles for recovery:  nutrition, sleep, and finding a cold river or stream to soak.  We did these because they felt good. We now know science solidly supports nutrition and sleep as tools for muscle recovery. But recently more research has uncovered the benefits of cold exposure.  Note that these strategies are not meant to reduce or avoid soreness associated with working out, but they can help speed up the recovery process.  

Nutrition: We don’t subscribe to any particular diet regimen, but the science backs what we’ve experienced.  Recovery is enhanced by being well fed with high quality food (protein, carbohydrates and fats) that restores energy stores, and drinking enough to stay well hydrated.   We both tend to eat less processed food and focus on the fundamentals of good meals made from scratch.  We support farmers and ranchers who grow our food, and Nikki in particular, engages in sustainable hunting practices to round out her diet.  

Sleep:   Sleep is fundamental to all cellular functions in our bodies.  As it relates to muscle recovery, sleep science is primarily focused on the absence of sleep and how that hinders the body’s recovery process after exercise. Sleep deprivation increases stress hormones within the body, and reduces the body’s ability to repair itself, which can contribute to a loss of muscle strength. Consider this when timing your workout.  If you know that you have something on your calendar that might prevent you from having a good night’s sleep after a workout, consider moving your strength training to another day.

Cold immersion:  When we were soaking in cold water after hard runs, as uncomfortable as it was, it seemed to help with recovery.  We didn’t exactly know why. But  evidence is coming out in support of cold exposure as a way to promote good health. As it relates to recovering from strength training, the evidence supports cold exposure 4-6 hours after strength training because cold blunts the inflammatory response of strength training. And hopefully if there is anything you have taken away from this article, you know that inflammation is a necessary component in the break down and build up of muscle tissue. Cold of any type can be a shock to the system, so consult with your doctor to determine if it’s the right thing for you. 

In Summary

Plan to be sore after a strength workout. It’s a necessary part of the strength building process. But listen to your body’s feedback and adjust your workouts so you don’t over load your system. The strategies above can help you with recovery, but not necessarily prevent you from being sore.  

Sources:

1. 2024 survey by the Almond Board of California of 3,000 U.S. adults.

2. Acute Inflammatory Response: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556083/#article-17156.s1

3. Cerqueira É, Marinho DA, Neiva HP, Lourenço O. Inflammatory Effects of High and Moderate Intensity Exercise-A Systematic Review. Front Physiol. 2020 Jan 9;10:1550. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01550. PMID: 31992987; PMCID: PMC6962351.

4.  Li DCW, Rudloff S, Langer HT, Norman K, Herpich C. Age-Associated Differences in Recovery from Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage. Cells. 2024 Jan 30;13(3):255. doi: 10.3390/cells13030255. PMID: 38334647; PMCID: PMC10854791.

5. Mielgo-Ayuso J, Fernández-Lázaro D. Nutrition and Muscle Recovery. Nutrients. 2021 Jan 20;13(2):294. doi: 10.3390/nu13020294. PMID: 33498579; PMCID: PMC7909540.

6.  Dattilo M, Antunes HK, Medeiros A, Mônico Neto M, Souza HS, Tufik S, de Mello MT. Sleep and muscle recovery: endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Med Hypotheses. 2011 Aug;77(2):220-2. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2011.04.017. Epub 2011 May 7. PMID: 21550729.

7.  Giuseppe Banfi, Gianluca Melegati, Alessandra Barassi, Giada Dogliotti, Gianvico Melzi d’Eril, Benoit Dugué, Massimiliano M. Corsi, Effects of whole-body cryotherapy on serum mediators of inflammation and serum muscle enzymes in athletes, Journal of Thermal Biology, Volume 34, Issue 2, 2009