Sometimes you just need to take a break from training and nap, like this guy

You’ve seen it on bumper stickers, T-shirts, personal workout blogs, and spoken by bro’s at the gym: “No Pain, No Gain!!!”  This is a great sound bite, but if it’s taken too literally, there can be serious consequences.

Training Through Muscle Soreness

Obviously, when your muscles are hurting from a recent workout, they won’t be at their best.  There is nothing wrong with pushing through some discomfort during a gym session, but constantly training hard through serious soreness is a great way to get hurt.

“Since there’s a loss in muscle strength, athletic performance won’t be at peak levels for a few days,” says Carol Torgan, an exercise physiologist and fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, “so it’s best to plan a few days of easy exercise to prevent further muscle damage and reduce the likelihood of injury.”

Strains, Tears, and Breaks

It can be especially dangerous to try and “play through the pain” if the pain you have is not regular muscle soreness.

Jeffrey Berg, the team physician for the NFL’s Washington Redskins, states that some muscle soreness is normal, “But there are other aches and pains, such as joint pain, bone pain, muscle strains, and ligament or tendon strains, which are bad, and you should back off of because they’ll get worse if you ignore them.”

Many long-time athletes have certain recurring aches and pains, such as an easily tweaked shoulder or a sore elbow that flares up from time to time.  In a lot of cases, this could be due to jumping back into a full training schedule too soon after an injury, or maybe even not taking any time off at all.   As tough as it may be (and I know it’s tough), sometimes you need to take that extra week or two to prevent more time off from injuries later on.

Cycle Your Intense Workouts and REST

Cycling your most intense workouts and scheduling rest days don’t make you any less “hard core.”  Even competitors at the top of their game have to do these things.

Think about it — if professional athletes were constantly sore, it would interfere with their sports-specific training.  How can a boxer practice good punching and defensive form, if his arms and legs are consistently too sore to practice effectively?

Let me kill the suspense and give you the answer: He can’t.

Hey, don’t get me wrong.  I like an extreme, vomit-inducing workout just as much as the next guy.  However, it’s probably a good idea to progress at a pace that manageable for your body, and to only do those insane, gut-busting workouts occasionally.

So, if you’re feeling super sore, don’t forget to rest up and relax for a day or two.  Remember that your downtime outside of the gym is when your muscles actually rebuild and get stronger.

FURTHER READING

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/sore-muscles-keep-exercising?page=2

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/fitness-fables

Image Credit: waitscm (Creative Commons)

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