3 Simple Soreness Solutions

I've been working out intensely for the past 2 years, yet I still experience muscle soreness...especially when I start a new workout program.

In August, I started Country Heat and I never expected to be so sore from a cardio dance fitness program, but man does it really work your abs, hips, buns and legs!! At least it's scheduled so you do a different dance work out each day. +Autumn Calabrese knew exactly what she was doing when she made the +Country Heat Dance schedule. Some of the workouts work your legs more and others work your abs more. So it's mixed up to give those muscles a day off after you work them so much!!

Autumn did the same thing when she designed 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme. The schedule of cardio, arms, legs, pilates, cardio, full body and yoga was brilliant!! Even though I woke up sore, once I pushed play and completed the program, the parts that were sore were loose and the parts that were fine were sore. I could totally feel my body changing during the 21 days and now with Country Heat I feel my hip and ab soreness the most during the day.

With 21 Day Fix, I never took a rest day since Yoga was a great way to stretch and get ready for the next week. I have been taking the noted rest day for Country Heat but honestly I would prefer to go back and do Yoga on these days. It just gives me a mindset of accomplishment for the day and it makes by muscles feel better by being stretched out!!

I wanted to determine if that would be a bad thing...not to take a rest day, so I did some research for myself and thought I would share it with you for you to determine what's best for you! Of course we are all different and what works for me may not work for you, but consider these things when you wake up sore and wonder if you should rest or workout.

It's common for beginners to experience muscle soreness that lasts for a week or two, just as seasoned exercisers will be sore after a tough work out. Yes, you should keep working out even though you are sore, but there is more to it than that. The only way to avoid muscle soreness is to not workout at all! And that is certainly not going to get you that body you envision in your mind!

Muscle soreness has two primary causes. The first soreness you experience happens during your workout ("the burn")
and should stop within a couple of hours. This is caused by lactic acid production. When you train if your muscles do not get enough oxygen (anaerobic glycolysis) lactic acid builds up.

You can break down lactic acid with continuous movement and stretching or walking after your workout. This is why cool-downs are so important, especially for beginners. The longer you cool down, the faster that lactic acid will leave the muscles (typically within an hour). It's also why breathing throughout your workout is so important.

The type of muscle soreness you are experiencing, up to a day or two (and sometimes even three) after your workout is known as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). DOMS is caused by microscopic tears inside the muscles, resulting from weight-training or fully exhausting the muscles during cardio. This is normal. Again, beginners will be more sore and usually for longer, but if you really worked as hard as you should have during a weight-lifting session, you should be somewhat sore for the next day or two.

This is where rest comes in. You absolutely must rest the muscles you worked at least once a week. Take at least one day off between strength training sessions, and if you are still very sore, take 2 days off. (This means from lifting, not from all exercise such as cardio). If you don't let your muscles recover and repair, they will continue to break down and you will actually get weaker.

To help prevent soreness:

1. Always warm-up for at least 3-5 minutes and cool-down for at least 3-5 minutes.

2. Stretch after a warm-up, during your workout, and after you are done. Only stretch when your muscles are already warm from some kind of light activity.

3. Stay active. The more your muscles move, the faster they will recover from exercise and soreness. If you choose to rest completely instead of "actively recovering" with light exercise, you'll probably be sore longer.

Based on this research I'm going to incorporate more stretching and Yoga into my schedule as I continue to learn the Country Heat LIVE workouts. I lead the LIVE workouts in October at the Lexington Dance Factory on Thursday afternoon/evenings and Sunday afternoons. Plus I am going to incorporate the 3 Week Yoga Retreat into my daily schedule to stretch my muscles and limit soreness!! If I have time I will do the entire workout but if I only have 10 minutes, I'll complete a Take 10 workout from the program.

Did you know what you eat can also limit your soreness?!?!  I'll post about that soon!!