Can You Exercise with Sore Muscles? Plus, How to Recover

Should you exercise when sore?

You can exercise when you're sore, but you can also take time off and rest. Working out when your muscles are sore can actually benefit you because it helps them get stronger. However, the type of exercise and your level of soreness matter. If, for example, you just started an intense new workout, pull back for 1-2 days and build back up to it over 1-2 weeks. If you're in a lot of pain, though, it might be best to work out other muscle groups while you recover, or take time to rest. You can also switch to a recovery exercise like swimming, yoga, or walking until your muscles feel better. These types of movements might even relieve pain more than not exercising at all.

How to Exercise When Your Muscles Are Sore

Reduce the intensity of your current workout. If your muscles aren't so sore that you can barely move, try lowering how hard you perform during your regular workout for at least 1-2 days. Try exercising for less time, lifting smaller weights, or allowing yourself to move more slowly.

Perform active recovery exercises to get the blood flowing. Engage in active recovery by exercising at a lower intensity. Switch to gentler exercises like swimming, yoga, walking, or jogging. Light exercise will help increase the blood flow to your sore muscles and help them return to normal faster than rest alone.

Work out other muscle groups that aren't sore. We have muscles all over our bodies, and we don't always exercise them all at the same time. So, if you feel soreness in just one particular muscle group, such as your biceps or upper body, rest that area for a few days and switch your focus to muscle groups where the pain is lesser or you can't feel it at all. For example, instead of doing bicep curls and straining your sore arms, do squats or leg presses that concentrate the exercise in the lower half of your body.

How Exercise Causes Muscle Soreness

Intense exercise can cause microtears and inflammation in your muscles. When you exercise muscles in your body that you're not used to exercising—or alternatively, if you raise the intensity of your workout to a new level—you might suffer microtears and low levels of inflammation in your muscle fibers. This is why both beginner and advanced workouts can cause soreness. The pain level is relative to the person's physical fitness and how hard they push themselves during exercise.

Most people don't feel sore until a day or two after exercising. This phenomenon is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Experts don't know exactly why the pain is delayed, but it's perfectly normal as long as it goes away after 4-5 days. If it doesn't, that could be a sign that you're injured, not just sore.

How to Recover from Muscle Soreness

Rest Morris believes rest is the best way to help your muscles recover. "When the body is sore," she says, "repairing tissues are being sent to those sore muscles. There are only so many repairing tissues in the body at one time. Training, when that muscle group is sore, is called over training and leads to a lack of immunity." After that, she says, you're more likely to become injured or even fall sick.

Massages Getting a good old-fashioned rubdown wherever your muscles are sore can alleviate your DOMS by up to 30%, according to one study. Massages also help reduce any swelling you may have after your workout. Keep in mind, though, that a massage won't speed up your recovery time. But it's quite effective for providing immediate relief from soreness. If you can't get to a masseuse, try self-massaging with a foam roller right after your workout.

Hot and cold baths Along with massages, Kanellopoulos recommends taking hot and cold baths to recover from DOMS. Research also shows that alternating between hot and cold therapy (such as heating pads and ice packs) 1 hour after working out can reduce pain and promote recovery time. Start with cold therapy such as an ice cold bath or an ice pack for 10-15 minutes. Then follow it with hot therapy such as a hot bath or a heating pad for no longer than 20 minutes.

Pain relievers If your soreness is particularly intense and is preventing you from sleeping, you can try taking over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen until the pain goes away. You can also buy a topical pain relief cream like lidocaine and roll or spread it onto your sore muscles.

Anti-inflammatory diet Eat more anti-inflammatory foods like olive oil, fish, green leafy veggies, nuts, and fruits like berries. These foods aren't just tasty; they can also help reduce the inflammation in your muscles and help them feel less sore faster.

How to Prevent or Reduce Muscle Soreness

Build up to new or higher-intensity workouts over 1-2 weeks. Instead of immediately launching yourself into a new, longer workout where you're pushing yourself harder than ever, work up to it slowly. Experts recommend taking at least 1-2 weeks to build up to more intense exercise. This may not prevent soreness completely, but it should help your muscles get used to the strain so they don't need as much time to recover.

Stretch or do other warm-ups before and after exercising. Stretching your muscles helps break up muscle adhesion, which is when the fascia that holds your muscles together crinkles instead of staying smooth and slippery. Muscle adhesion makes it harder for your muscles to move and can increase your risk of soreness or injury. Stretching helps loosen the fascia. Take a few minutes to stretch before and after exercising, so you can reduce the risk of injuring your muscles.

Eat plenty of protein and carbohydrates. "Protein is the building block of most tissue in the body," says Morris. "So there's a wide variety of issues that you'll have if you don't have enough protein," including injury after exercising. But complex carbohydrates are also important and can aid in recovery from DOMS just as much. Incorporate at least1.1-1.5 g (0.04-0.05 oz) of protein (i.e., lean meat, fish, protein drinks, milk) for every 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight per day if you exercise regularly. Make sure you're also getting 5-7 g (0.2-0.3 oz) of complex carbs (i.e., fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans) per 1 kg (2.2 lb) of body weight daily, especially if you engage in moderate to high-intensity exercises. If you perform endurance exercises that last for several hours (like marathons), you may need to consume 6-10 g (0.2-0.4 oz) of carbs per 1 kg (2.2 lb) of body weight on those days or consider carb loading.

How to Tell If You're Sore or Injured

If you're sore, you usually don't feel the pain until 1-2 days later. People who experience DOMS after a workout or physical activity usually don't feel it until 24-48 hours later. When the soreness sets in, the affected muscles feel tender and stiff all over. But in a few days—2 weeks at the most—you should feel better.

If you're injured, you typically feel pain immediately and see bruises and swelling. Unlike muscle soreness, which usually feels like all-over tenderness, injury pain is sharp and concentrated in one location. Check for a bruise and swelling in the area where it hurts the most, as those are signs of injury, as well. Finally, the pain either won't go away on its own, even after several days, or it may start to feel numb in the affected area. These are all signs you may have pulled or sprained a muscle and should see a doctor immediately.