The #1 Way To Know: Is This Muscle Soreness or an Injury?

With any type of training, you’re going to have pain. The fact is some pain is good, and some is not. Muscle soreness after activity is a great thing (to an extent- there is such as a thing as overdoing it, called rhabdomyolysis). Sometimes it’s difficult to know if the pain you’re experiencing is something to be concerned about, or if it’s normal soreness from the breakdown and rebuilding of your muscles.

The number one way to tell if you are having muscle soreness is if you feel the soreness throughout the muscle and if you feel the pain on both sides (assuming you worked both sides of your body). The discomfort is more of a “dull” sensation and travels throughout the length of the muscle/body part. This pain can be the next day, or you may even feel the soreness 2-3 days later. Depending how aggressively you trained, the soreness can last 3-7 days.

If the pain is different from what is listed above, you may be dealing with a separate issue like a bone, muscle, or joint pain. Most people feel bone pain as “deep and “dull,” and have significant pain when pushing on the area. Muscle pain is typically known because it doesn’t seem the same on both sides of the body, and the pain eventually goes away completely after 3-7 days. Joint pain is noticeable because the pain radiates around a single joint area, like where the knee or ankle bends. 

If you have any specific questions about muscle soreness, pain, or training, we are excited to teach you how to take care of yourself so you can keep training in the communities you love to be a part of. You can email us at getbetter@trainingnationpt.com, or at 937-802-4283.

Best in your health,

 Dr. Luke