It may be hard to believe, but painful muscles after lifting weights often signals a successful workout. According to the Mayo Clinic, pain that appears during a workout can mean a pulled muscle. The pain that shows up hours later means muscles getting stronger and bigger. This type of discomfort is called delayed onset muscle soreness.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, occurs because of muscle damage during the workout. However, this is not a serious or bad type of damage. It happens on a microscopic level and is caused by tiny tears in z-band filaments that hold the muscles together. This pain shows up around eight to 24 hours after exercise. When allowed to recover, the muscle heals and becomes larger and stronger.
Prevention
Stretching and cooling down properly may prevent injury, but will not prevent DOMS. A new workout or an increase in intensity causes the pain that appears later. Keeping your workout at the same level for a period of time will prevent the soreness, but will maintain your muscle strength, not increase it. You should not work out again until the soreness goes away, as continual injury to muscle without allowing it to heal is counter-productive.
Workout Plan
Use DOMS as feedback to your training plan. If your goal is to increase muscle, don't work out so hard that the pain is debilitating, but if you never feel sore, you aren't making gains. Plan days of recovery or light workouts after a session that causes muscle pain. If you want to maintain a level of fitness, you don't have to work to the point of sore muscles. Beginners should start slowly and gradually build up to a routine of increasing strength. If you frequently lift weights and go for a long period with no soreness, you may want to consider changing to a routine that your body has not adjusted to to increase strength.
Treatment
DOMS will go away on its own without treatment within two days to a week. Some find that massage helps painful muscles. You may want to try ibuprofen to lessen soreness. If the pain lasts longer than a week, if redness or swelling occur or if you have severe pain, see a doctor.
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