If you want to make improvements to your fitness levels and endurance, you have to push your body to its current limits, and then do it again the next time you hit the gym. However, the moves that train your body to better conserve oxygen and build strength can also make your muscles feel sore and tight. We’ve all heard the workout adage “No Pain, No Gain,” but when you’re experiencing more than just the delayed soreness from increasing your weights, pushing through workout pain may not be the smartest option. With the health resolutions of 2017 right around the corner, how can you avoid knee pain by heeding the warning signs of pushing too far?
To have a better understanding of the workout pain you should expect and the warning signs that you’ve pushed too far, it’s important to know the process by which exercising builds a stronger body. Skeletal muscle, the tissue you’re working on when working out, is comprised of thread-like fibers. Any type of activity that puts an unaccustomed load on your muscles (walking, running, jumping, calisthenics, lifting weights) will cause microscopic tears in them, which the body then scrambles to rebuild (into new, stronger muscle) while you rest. This also results in muscle soreness, which the American College of Sports Medicine defines as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS. This type of ache is different from acute pain, which you could feel as a warning sign in your joints or where your ligaments and tendons attach to bone if you’ve got poor form or have pushed too far.
If you’ve established the muscle soreness you’re feeling after workouts is typical, how can you determine when it’s okay to proceed if you have joint pain?
At Health Star Clinic, we offer a wide variety of pain management services, and our multidisciplinary team of medical doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists provides fast, comprehensive pain relief treatments for our patients. Contact us today to learn more about our treatment options and therapeutic approach to care!
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