Muscle pain after exercise means that you have used your muscles intensively and therefore slightly damaged them. By using your muscles intensively, small cracks have arisen. By repairing these cracks, your body produces new muscle mass. Muscle pain actually means that your muscles are growing. Muscle pain after exercise is therefore not harmful, although it can feel unpleasant. The pain usually lasts for a few days and can sometimes hinder your movements. It is therefore wise to wait with your next sports session until the muscle pain has subsided. If you still want to train, read our tips about exercising with muscle pain.
Two types of muscle pain after exercise
Muscle pain can come on immediately after exercise or even during exercise. It may also be that you only get muscle pain 24 hours after exercise. The first type of muscle pain is caused by an excess of lactic acid released during exercise, which your body cannot get rid of quickly enough. This lactic acid is produced by your body during exercise. Just walk up and down the stairs five times at a good pace. Then you feel acidification in your thighs. You only feel the second type of muscle pain after exercising. The muscle pain is caused by overloading your muscles during exercise. Overload sounds heavier than it is. Often your muscles are simply not used to the movements you make. In either case, nothing serious is going on. You don’t have to worry about the muscle pain. It can be nice to give your muscles extra attention.
In which places can you suffer from muscle pain?
Muscle pain in your legs is very common after exercise, because your legs are used very intensively in most sports. Muscle pain in your thigh can be particularly nasty, for example when you walk up and down the stairs afterwards. In addition, you may also experience muscle pain in your calves and arms, as well as in your buttocks and even your stomach, depending on the sport you are doing. This healthy muscle pain in your legs, arms, buttocks and stomach is very normal and usually goes away on its own after a few days. However, if you have muscle pain in your neck, pay close attention to whether you are exercising correctly. After all, muscle pain in your neck can indicate muscle overload or incorrect posture during exercise. Cold can also cause muscle pain in the neck.
How do you choose a sport that suits you?
To find out which sport is suitable for you, it is good to first consider which objective you want to achieve. Do you want a little more exercise in your life? Are you looking for a way to relax? Or do you also want to lose some weight? Would you like to improve your endurance or strengthen your muscle strength? Each sport does something different to your body. Whichever sport you choose, any form of exercise offers many benefits! If you have health problems or no experience at all with sports, it is wise to consult a doctor first. He can also advise you on your sport choice.
Start exercising? These sports are ideal!
1. Walking
Walking is the ideal sport for those who previously had little or no exercise. During a walk you put your heart and your bloodstream to work and your body fills up with extra oxygen. A running sports bra (translated to Dutch: sport bh hardlopen) can help you for a better support of your breasts. You also keep your joints flexible and you train a lot of different muscles in a light way. You do not need any specific equipment for walking – except for a pair of sturdy shoes – and you can start at any time. Walking is therefore ideal if you are overweight and want to get a bit fitter.
2. Running
If you already have a healthy basic condition that you would like to improve, then running might be something for you. Running has many advantages: during a running session you strengthen a lot of muscles, joints and tendons and you work on your endurance, which also improves your resistance. Moreover, running also helps if you want to lose weight: you burn no less than 700-800 calories per hour. It is also a great way to clear your head after a busy day at work. A possible disadvantage of running is the fact that it can be stressful for your back and your knees. A Freya sports bra is the ideal sports bra for workouts with high intensity.
3. Cycling
Cycling is the perfect sport for those who like to exercise intensively in the open air. Especially for those with back problems, cycling can be a lot more interesting than running. You don’t have to have a mountain bike or racing bike at all to start; you can also go a long way with a normal city bike. The nice thing about cycling is that you can easily integrate this into your daily activities. From now on, take the bike more often instead of the car and you will not only do your body but also the environment a great favor. Visit Sportbh.nl for a huge range of sports bra products for cycling, running or swimming.
4. Swimming
Swimming is also ideal for the novice athlete. But swimming also offers many advantages for those who already have a good basic condition. During swimming, your body is supported by the water, so that your muscles, tendons and joints are much less stressed than when walking, running or cycling. Still, you train your entire body while swimming. You can build up the training well and because of the different swimming strokes there is also a lot of variation possible.
