Working Out While Sore: Yay or Nay?

Sure, when I was in my 20s, I was indestructible. I would work out sore, if I had a cold, or if I had a bad night’s sleep. I’d grind through my workouts and would usually recover quite well.

Currently, I am in my mid-50s and have hopefully grown wiser as I’ve grown older. If I’m not feeling well, I don’t push through training as hard. If I had a bad night’s sleep, I’ll keep this in mind and may alter my workout, or at least decrease the intensity. And as far as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) from a previous workout? I respect the pain, as well as the science. DOMS is the result of little micro-tears or micro-trauma (not lactic acid) in the muscle from loading the muscle. This is how we grow and adapt to these loads. Our bodies heal, repair, and get stronger (with the right loads, recovery time, and nutrition, of course).

Our minds are a big part of our training. We need a strong mind-body connection to get the most out of our training and to avoid getting hurt. Often, our minds, or rather our egos, get in the way and try to push our bodies past their limits, leading to trigger points, hot spots, and injury.

There is nothing wrong with decreasing the intensity of a workout, totally changing your workout, or passing up on a workout. Often, I don’t only feel better with this extra recovery time, but perform better during the next session.

Respect your DOMS. Respect the pain. Respect your body so can you can extend your training life versus being hampered by injury.

Watch my pre and post-Crossfit thoughts on working out while sore HERE.

Heal. Move. RECOVER. Evolve.

See why bodywork is great for DOMS:

BODYWORK: THE BENEFITS OF STRETCHING

BODYWORK: THE BENEFITS OF SPORTS MASSAGE

Read more about our bodywork services HERE!