To Be Sore, or Not To Be Sore
Soreness is a bit of a hot topic. It seems as if you’re a glutton for punishment who aims for a glorious amount of pain at the end of a workout, or you avoid it like the plague. If neither of these describe you, you’re already on the right track.
Working out causes stress (DOMS).. Stress causes adaptation which allows your body to respond and get bigger and stronger. This is great! But at what cost?
With every exercise you perform, there are ways to manipulate more or less of this stress on your body.
In a bicep curl, bringing the weight up to your shoulder is easier on your body than lowering it back down or the “negative” portion. Imagine grabbing a heavy dumbbell and hoisting it up to your shoulder and then just dropping it back to the ground without lowering it back down. Probably frowned upon at most gyms but now imagine the opposite. Someone hands you a heavy dumbbell at the top and asks you to slowly lower it back down to your hip.
In the first scenario, you’d fare with significantly less stress than the latter. Less stress, less soreness.
Now let’s apply it to other exercises. Imagine just squatting up out of the bottom and dropping the bar off your back, imagine a bench press that simply starts on your chest each repetition. Neither of these are practical but one that may be is a deadlift where you pick a barbell up off the ground and drop it at the top.
So why does this matter?
Well, it depends on what your goal is. Society has created a culture that defines a good workout by how sore you are the following day.
I’m all for a good thrashing here and there but what if I told you you don’t need to be sore to achieve your goals?
What if the measure that separates a good trainer from a great trainer was their ability to get you to your goals with the least amount of stress possible. Would you choose to struggle sitting down on the toilet after leg day or would you choose to feel good and live your life the way YOU want to without being limited by strain.
Neither is right nor wrong, but it’s possible!
How you apply it is first and foremost acknowledging that it’s simply one option. Go ahead, pick to be walk funny and be messed up every now and then but a good workout is not measured by how sore you are.
Then, think about your workouts. Speak up if you’re having a day where less stress is a good idea. There are a multitude of exercises that keep the same pattern of eliminating that “negative” stress.
For example, any “erg” machine. Ski, Row, Bike ergs don’t pull you back towards them you simply pull, breath, rinse and repeat. These are great ways to keep the intensity up and the stress down.
Medicine balls are made (most of them) to be slammed, thrown, and luckily if you throw it into a wall the wall doesn’t hit back. Slam it down in front of you, throw it to your side against a wall, toss it above your head.
Sleds weigh you don’t but don’t put up much of a fight when you stop. This is a great way to get some of those pushes and pulls in with some weight.
Not all substitutions are obvious, necessary, or easy but they exist.
Find a trainer who takes care of you!
Or you can keep telling yourself pain is weakness leaving the body.
In short, many exercises are designed to make you stronger and stress is a part of that, but managing it effectively can be the key to avoiding injury, staying consistent, and reaching your goals.