Massage helps too!
Many women have the idea of “no pain, no gain” when it comes to working out. You only feel you’ve successfully pushed your body if you’re sore the next morning. And while it’s true that post workout soreness is still a bit of a mystery, it isn’t the determining factor for a good or bad workout.
In fact, if you’re incredibly sore the next day that means your muscles are in a state of high repair and it’s best to actually stay away from working out for a day or two while you recover. By working out with sore muscles you’re not letting them rebuild, holding you back from results and increasing risk of injury.
It’s normal to be sore when you’ve just changed up your exercises and you are hitting your muscles in ways you’re not used to, but it isn’t normal to be sore after every workout and it definitely shouldn’t be a goal to have. It takes your body 4 weeks to adjust to a program, but after just 1 workout your body will start to learn the moves and how your muscles work which is why you’re not as sore the next time you do the same workout.
Forget The Pain… Just Have A Good Workout
When it comes down to it, as long as your challenging yourself with the weight and using a proper women’s resistance workout then you will see results even if you don’t feel pain. Make sure each and every workout is a little different, adding a few pounds of weight, changing up the rest time a little but keeping the overall program the same. Just remember that pain isn’t the price for fat loss.
If You Have It… There are ways to decrease the pain.
The first is to stay hydrated. Drink 3 liters of water a day to help your muscles stay hydrated and happy. 3 liters may sound like a lot but once you adjust you will feel a huge difference how you feel just by being completely hydrated all the time.
The next best thing is to stretch after your workout. Post workout stretching is super important because it decreases post workout soreness and also activates the muscle toning repair process to begin. Studies show that people that stretch after a workout have better overall fat loss and muscle toning results.
And the last resort, Ibuprofen helps inflammation and pain. Just make sure to talk with a doctor if you’re not sure you can take it.
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I always knew that staying hydrated was really important, but I didn’t realize it until I won’t up totally dehydrated. Now I try to drink water as often as I can…. it helps in all areas of my life, not just being sore!