Nice try getting out of your workout, but, your plan just might backfire on you.

You dutifully did your squats, push ups and lunges last week, or maybe you ran a ½ Marathon yesterday. While you were doing it, your body felt invincible, but now, your body is torched. When you woke up this morning, your body felt like it had been hit by a semi truck and you needed help getting out of bed. Walking down the stairs feels like your body forgot how to function and your hamstring is about to separate from the bone, so what are you supposed to do when Hallie calls to hit the gym with a list of fitness classes she’s inviting you to take with her?

In this three minute vlog, Cat Kom & her sidekick, Bethany tackle the question “is it okay to workout when you’re sore?”. The short answer is this, if you anticipate, plan and go easy on the sore area(s), then you can still take that Spin class or go on that mile hike you planned on going on even if you’re sore! As a matter of fact, you’ll probably feel better faster if you do!

Why do you feel sore in the first place? When you exercise, you’re breaking down muscles, and especially if you haven’t worked out in weeks, soreness indicates you’re adequately challenging yourself and exposing your body to new limits. Nice job!

Muscle soreness often has two fundamental impacts, the first is the burning sensation you might feel during a workout, and the second is the aching you sometimes feel in the days following a body changing workout.

The former burn typically subsides after a couple of hours and is induced by lactic acid production. When you’re in a spin class and your muscles lose oxygen, lactic acid steps in, but it’s typically easy to break down and eliminate the aching by light aerobic movements such as walking or a cool down after your workout. The longer you stretch or walk afterwards, the more likely your body will heal faster. So think about that when you’re doing your next workout and be sure to include a nice cool down and stretch.

We can’t forget to talk about a painstaking ache you’re probably sometimes not felt the day after a killer workout, but the next day. Duh, duh, duh… that means you got it good! This is known as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) and is caused by microscopic tears inside the muscles fibers and is generally the result of weight training or super intensive cardio. DOMS can occur anywhere in the body that has been exposed to unfamiliar physical activity. This muscle soreness tends to kick in as early as 6 hours post exercise and peaks at the 48 hour mark. You MUST get your blood pumping with some movement to get over this. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

Just keep in mind that the days following your workout, your muscles are rebuilding strength and the only way to heal and increase blood flow in your muscles is to continue to move. Although this may sound counterintuitive, especially when your workout has left you immobilized and in a fixed position, the fastest way to heal is through light and low impact movement. Granted, the first few repetitions or steps might feel wrong, but every repetition you do or step you take, is stretching and training those muscles out to expedite the uneasy soreness.

Learn to look at soreness in a positive light, especially after a workout that has you sweating and feeling accomplished. So next time, DOMS visits, think of him as a friend that you don’t particularly want to see or talk to every day, but coffee now and then wouldn’t hurt.

Although this aching is prevalent among beginners, due to all athletes experiencing soreness, plenty of research has been devoted to the other styles of treatment for muscle soreness so feel free to dabble in those areas as well. Massaging, microtherapy, icing, and fish oils are just a few of these methods that often help with the reduction of soreness.

A massage, whether done by your physical therapist or an amazon recommended massage ball, will assist with kneading out those painful knots and alleviate the tightness you’re feeling all over. Microtherapy has the efficacy of improving inflammation due to the restoration of cell frequencies that may have been disrupted by injury or an excessive workout. Or keep it even more simple with icing and heating. Although heating feels better, icing is far greater at reducing swelling and for the best results, elevate the area your icing and spend fifteen to twenty minutes enjoying the cold. No need for fancy gel packs, just apply any ice and get the job done.

Lastly, fish oils contain a key ingredient that prevent nerve pain with a natural treatment. Fish oil has an abundant source of Omega 3 fatty acids which are essential in regulating the body’s inflammation response. Since the body cannot be replenished on its own with omega 3 on its own, food sources or supplements like fish oil need to be taken.

Many have also concluded that a quality “cure” for DOMS especially for day after leg day pain, is light cycling, which is a great low impact way of getting your blood flow going. Whether it’s biking around your neighborhood, or being in the back cycling at your own pace during a spin class, try it!

Surprise, surprise… Sitting around is actually worse than a lower intensity workout on days when you’re sore and remember that working out helps reduce muscle pain since it promotes circulation, and circulation promotes healing. So remember all that we’ve covered here the next time you opt out of getting your sweat on and choose to binge watch a whole season of Netflix and feel sorry for yourself instead. When in doubt, sweat it out, right!

The light at the end of the tunnel is the knowledge that once soreness fades you’ll only be stronger, and most of you progress thereafter won’t include muscle pain or soreness.

Cat & Bethany remind their audience to place emphasis on getting in a good warm-up, a killer workout, and a rewarding cool-down and stretch. Follow their instructions and you’ll be feeling ten times better when you’ve finished your workout than when you started! Watch the full video to gain more useful tips and check out more videos like this one on Studio SWEAT onDemand!