Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today we’re going to be talking about how to know when the pain is too much. This is going to be the first part in a two part series, so be on the lookout for part two coming soon. And if you have any questions about today’s blog, then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
So, when do you know that it’s too much?
You’ve gone to a workout, maybe you’re new to it or maybe you’ve been doing it for awhile, and then you have this sensation going through your body. Is it discomfort? Is it pain? Should you work through it or not? Those are all big and important questions to ask. You definitely don’t want to cause further injury if it is an actual injury, and you do want to make sure that you continue working if it’s just that soreness that comes with workouts.
So let’s talk through the differences here.
Discomfort typically comes from your delayed onset muscle soreness (or your “doms”) where you end up getting sore after a workout.
How long should you expect to be sore for? Well, with a typical workout, and obviously I’m speaking from my experience as a personal trainer in Amarillo, but typically you shouldn’t be too sore after the third day. Sometimes it can be the fourth day if you were doing a heavy workout and you’re new. But usually it’s the second day that gets people.
So the first day after your workout, you feel pretty good. And as the next day comes around, that soreness really hits you. So that’s why it’s so important to keep working out throughout the week. You want to make sure and work that soreness out. And you want to continue building on the strength, the muscles, and keep burning fat.
So, you have this soreness. And if it’s been a couple of days and you’re feeling pretty sore, then I would expect that. By the third day it should be lightening up pretty good, and you probably should have been working out by this point. And by day four, if you’re still pretty sore then there might be something else that’s going on. Maybe you worked a little too deep into those muscles. Maybe you have some strains or sprains. There are a lot of different things could happen.
So, how do you know if it’s too much?
If you have swelling, then that’s definitely a problem. If you have any fever in the area, then that’s definitely a problem. For just the physical sensation of feeling off, feeling a little puffy, just not feeling quite right, then we’re going to treat the area.
So you’re going to treat it by using ice, and you want to make sure that you have something between the ice and your skin, like a towel. Do 20 minutes with the ice on, and then let it rest with the ice off for another 20 minutes to let it get back to a normal skin temperature. And you can do that off and on throughout the day. You can do about 3-5 times and see how that feels. With the ice on, obviously that numbs the pain, reduces inflammation, and it should help it to feel a little bit better.
So that would be for an issue where you would feel like there is some tension within that body part that you feel could be swelling.
What do you do if you just feel super sore? The treatment on that side might be something like an epsom salt bath. You would get the water as hot as you’re comfortable with, put a couple cups of epsom salt in the bath, then soak for 20 minutes, and when you get out you should do some stretching. So that would be a good treatment for just some sore muscles, and that would help you to be able to overcome some of that “doms”, because the magnesium from the epsom salt is going to come in and help to revitalize some of the muscles.
That’s the first step. So you have an issue, step one is to treat that issue. Go ahead and check it out and see what’s going on. Should you workout during it? Well, that kind of depends on you. If you feel like it’s just soreness and you need to work through it, then you can try a workout. However, if you start to notice anything beyond discomfort throughout that workout, then you need to stop. You definitely don’t want to push through an injury and cause a bigger injury.
I’m going to go ahead and end part one here. There is still a lot more to come, so be on the lookout for part two coming very soon. I love writing blogs and doing videos like these. If I can help to prevent an injury by letting a few people know about the warning signs, then I’m doing my job right.
So if can’t wait for part two, or you want to know more about Custom Fitness and what we do here, then please give us a call. If you’re wanting the accountability and help with creating an action plan to see results, or are wanting to someone to help create a workout plan to push you to your greatest potential, then that’s what we’re here for.
Our trainers are here to look out for you and make sure that you are meeting your goals in a safe way. At Custom Fitness, we customize a plan for you. We sit down with you and find out what your needs are and then build a health and fitness plan around that. We have an entire team of dedicated professionals to help you with your health and fitness goals. To get your consultation set up, give us a call at 806-322-3188 or email us at info@customfitness.biz At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.