Prognosis

A sore muscle completely disappears after a period of about 7 days and leaves no damage to the muscles. It is often said that stretching before sport or after physical activity can prevent sore muscles. This assumption is incorrect, as stretching has no influence on whether the subsequent strain causes muscle soreness.

In the worst case, stretching can even aggravate muscle soreness, as the already damaged muscles are still being stretched. This triggers a stretching reflex in the muscles, which again forces the muscle to contract involuntarily and may further damage it. Stretching is therefore not a way to prevent sore muscles.

A sensible workout with the appropriate intensity is more sensible.For some time, the theory was believed that warm-up and stretching exercises before sports reduce the risk of injury. In the meantime, this theory has been abandoned, as the preventive effect cannot be scientifically proven. Sports scientists agree, however, that sore muscles cannot be avoided in any case.

Also the sense of stretching exercises after sport is controversial and no scientific proof of a benefit could be found so far. At best, light exercises can be performed to increase general mobility. Under no circumstances should you stretch to the pain threshold, as this can easily cause damage.

From a sports physiological point of view, there is also a relatively simple explanation why stretching cannot prevent sore muscles. When stretching, the muscle fibers are only stretched apart and lengthened, so no injury can heal faster. It can be measured that the performance of previously stretched muscles is lower than muscles that were not stretched before the sport.

When stretching, the muscle is deprived of the necessary pre-tension, which the muscle needs to perform at its best. Muscle soreness is a clear sign that a muscle is injured. Simply ignoring the pain and continuing to exercise as usual is not appropriate in this situation.

Every injury first needs time to recover, even the small muscle injuries caused by sore muscles. It should not be assumed that bed rest is the right measure against sore muscles. Rather, a short-term change in training should be made.

The muscle areas affected by pain should be given a rest for the time of the sore muscles. Because the more recovery the overstrained muscle fibers get, the faster they can regenerate. Recovery can be achieved through light movement such as walking, cycling or swimming.

In doing so, the heart and circulation are stimulated and the blood circulation of the damaged muscle is promoted. In this way, you actively support the troubled muscle, as the body’s building and repair materials reach the injured areas more easily. On the other hand, if you continue to train in the usual way, you risk even more serious injuries (e.g. a torn muscle fibre) than just sore muscles in the worst case.

The myth that stubbornly continuing to train is the best therapy for sore muscles is nonsense. The pain is a sign that the muscle must be spared and the training should be paused. In addition, the training should be approached more gently in order not to immediately risk the next muscle soreness.

Without sore muscles, training is hardly possible. Even with the best preparation, even a competitive athlete has to put up with sore muscles. Unusual strains, even if one does not push oneself to the limit, can lead to sore muscles, for example when running downhill, as the muscles are often used too seldom for this.

So there are training methods in which regular, new training stimuli can and possibly even should result in sore muscles. This is not bad at first. It only becomes problematic when the muscles are used too often and too heavily, so that they lack the possibility of regeneration and repair.

In such a case, the muscle soreness and the accompanying inflammation in the muscle can become chronic. The result is injury and illness instead of strength and fitness. The bottom line is that each time it is an individual assessment of whether and how much you should really train with a sore muscle.

As a beginner, a sports break is recommended because the muscles do not yet know the movements and are not yet designed for them. As an experienced athlete, you can usually already estimate a little better how far you can go and when it is better to take a break. As a rule, only certain parts of the body are affected by sore muscles, so that all other muscle groups can be trained as usual. Light endurance training can also help to warm up the tired muscles and improve blood circulation to speed up the healing process. A simple basic rule could be that an exercise should not be performed if the movement cannot be performed cleanly and in the correct form due to sore muscles.