Your killer workout could be killing you the next morning, with muscles so sore you can barely move. Your muscles are most likely to be sore if you just started working out, have not exercised in some time or increased your workout's intensity. The soreness is your body's way of telling you you've pushed its limits.
Cause
Small tears in the tissues surrounding your muscles are the culprits behind your muscle soreness following your workout, according to ACE Fitness. Known as delayed onset muscle soreness, the pain generally hits anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after your routine. If you suffer through it and do nothing, the soreness usually starts to go away on its own after 72 hours. The tears in the tissue are your body's way of protecting itself against further movements that it thinks could cause further damage, since the pain makes you slow down or stop. The tears occur during your muscles' eccentric movements.
Eccentric vs. Concentric
Your muscles move eccentrically and concentrically, movements particularly evident during a workout. Eccentric movement is when your muscles elongate under tension, such as at the peak of a leg extension on a leg press machine. Concentric movement is when your muscles shorten, or when you bend your knees and bring your legs back down on that same leg press machine. Another example of eccentric muscle movements includes running downhill, where your thigh muscles elongate in response to gravity as you trek down the incline. Eccentric movements are to blame for the cause of the pain. Since cutting out eccentric movements would be ridiculous, not to mention impossible, you can instead help stave off soreness by saving the tougher, eccentric movements for the latter part of your workout.
Adaptation
If you keep up your new workout routine, your body will get used to it. Your muscles will no longer be sore after every workout, provided you keep your routine at the same intensity. Once you increase the intensity, you will likely once again experience delayed onset muscle soreness from the tissues' tiny tears. Adding more weight to a strength training routine increases your workout's intensity, as does upping the length or frequency of your workouts. The safest way to go about increasing any facet of your routine's intensity is with slow and steady progress rather than a huge leap forward.
Prevention
Even when you increase your workout's intensity, there are ways to help keep delayed onset muscle soreness at bay. Gently stretching your entire body before a workout helps it prepare for a more vigorous routine. Include a toe touch, hanging bend forward, side stretches, a groin stretch and shoulder rolls. Gradually warming up with lighter, slower exercises gets your muscles primed for heavier work. Cold muscles are more likely to sustain injury than ones you've prepared with a warm-up. When you are ready to increase your workout's intensity, keep the boost to a 10 percent increase at most, whether it be a 10 percent increase in weights, duration or frequency. Do not increase the intensity of all three, or even two, in the same week.
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