At some stage of your life, you may have had a little pain in your shoulder or back or knee. The important thing to notice the type of pain this is so we can help get you back on track without making things worse. In most cases, exercise is medicine for pain! Because of the lack of movement and blood flow in the joints, it can cause pain. It can also be due to the lack of muscle that supports the joints. This is why exercise is very important for your lifestyle.
When experiencing discomfort, it is important to understand the difference. Is it exercise-related muscular soreness or pain? Muscular soreness is a healthy and expected result of exercise. Pain may be indicative of injury.
But pain is personal, and the degree of injury does not always equal the degree of pain. Also, different people have different pain tolerance. Understanding pain is helpful for managing pain.
Individual Activity Threshold
To make physical improvements, your body needs to challenge to an appropriate level. This is where gains can occur.
Each person’s body has a different activity threshold. This is dependent upon many factors, including age, baseline strength, and participation level. Remaining on the safe side of your threshold will result in muscular soreness. Exceeding your threshold will result in pain.
When done right, your exercise threshold should show a slow increase. For example, when an individual begins running, their safe threshold may be 5 minutes. By a couple of months of slow increases in duration, this threshold may increase to 20-30 minutes.
It is important to be realistic about your activity threshold to reduce injury risk. This is also the case to be able to differentiate between moderate muscle soreness and pain.
Soreness vs. Pain: How to Tell the Difference
The chart below highlights the key differences between muscle soreness and pain.
|
Muscle Soreness |
Pain |
Type of discomfort: |
Tender when touching muscles, tired or burning feeling while exercising, minimal dull, tight and achy feeling at rest |
Ache, sharp pain at rest or when exercising |
Onset: |
During exercise or 24-72 hours after activity |
During exercise or within 24 hours of activity |
Duration: |
2-3 days |
May linger if not addressed |
Location: |
Muscles |
Muscles or joints |
Improves with: |
Stretching, following movement, and/or more movement, with appropriate rest and recovery |
Ice, rest, and more movement, except in cases of significant injury |
Worsens with: |
Sitting still |
Continued activity after appropriate rest and recovery |
Appropriate action: |
Get moving again, after appropriate rest and recovery, but consider a different activity before resuming the activity that led to soreness |
Consult with a medical professional if the pain is extreme or lasts >1-2 weeks |