Feeling the Burn of Weight Loss
Posted: Mar 01 in Weight Loss Blog by Staff
There is an old adage about exercise that if you want to see results, you need to be willing to pay the price—and that price is pain. The saying comes from the experience of muscular pain, which you will feel for a day or two after an intense workout. However, the dull and lingering experience of muscle pain is very different than joint pain or any other type of pain.
Exercise is good for you. It is not supposed to put you in pain. If you are experiencing pain during exercise, then you need to stop and talk to your doctor right away about what you are feeling. There is a chance that you could be working out through an injury, and not getting it addressed right away could lead to more pain later on.
Muscle pain that typically follows a strong workout will meet the following characteristics:
- Will last only a day or two following a workout
- Will feel like a burning sensation in muscles directly connected to the workout you engaged in
- Will ease as you continue to move
Muscle pain that develops as a result of a more severe injury will not ease as you continue moving throughout the day, but may instead grow more severe. It will also not subside after just a day or two of not working out, but will continue to be painful.
No Pain, No Gain?
The muscle pain that comes after an intense workout isn’t outright painful. Rather than any sharp or stabbing pains, this will be a dull sensation that is much more like stiffness or tightness than actual pain. This results from the build-up of acid in your muscles after they are worked to their limit. This type of post-workout pain can be easily alleviated by taking a bath and soaking your muscles in warm water, by stretching before and after your workouts, and by getting active again fairly soon.
If you ever experience any sort of intense pain that doesn’t fit the description of typical post-workout soreness, go see your doctor right away. It could be possible that you experienced an injury during your workout, and attempting to be tough through the pain will only put you at greater risk of worsening the injury. Following weight loss surgery, only attempt workouts that your weight loss surgeon has said you are ready for. This will help prevent you from experiencing injury by being cautious with the intensity of your workouts.