This Is the Best Way to Treat Sore Muscles After a Workout

For many people, the mark of a good workout is waking up with sore muscles. Common as it is, though, there’s still a lot of uncertainty about soreness. Can you work out when you’re sore? Do you need to treat sore muscles? Is soreness a cause for concern? Dr. Ryan Lingor, a primary care sports physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, answers all of your questions about muscle soreness. Is soreness bad? Not usually. “When people are initiating a new workout regimen, it’s very common to develop soreness,” Lingor says. Soreness is also common after people incorporate new moves or additional weight into their existing routine. “It doesn’t necessarily mean they have to stop the exercise or they have an injury.” How sore is too sore? Experiencing some soreness is fine — but there are some red flags that may suggest your pain isn’t normal. Soreness is typical symmetrical, Lingor says, so if you experience significantly more pain on one side of the body, it may be a sign of a pulled muscle or other injury. Normal soreness should also develop between 24 and 36 hours after your workout and recede within about three days; if it persists longer, Lingor says, it may be a sign of something more serious. Perhaps the biggest thing to look out for, however, is a change in urine color, which may indicate a relatively rare but potentially serious over-training condition called rhabdomyolysis. “Sometimes you...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Exercise/Fitness healthytime onetime Source Type: news