Running with sore legs – Is it ok to do any exercises?

You came back from training – satisfied with yourself and your results. You covered more kilometers today and are already looking forward to tomorrow when you will run again. Unfortunately, the next day you feel pain, especially in your legs – this is muscle soreness. 

What should you do in such a case? Don’t pay attention to it and do the workout you planned, or maybe the opposite. Maybe it’s better to stay at home, wait for the soreness to disappear, and only then go on another running session. Should I run with sore legs or not?

I will answer these questions for you today in this article. See what sore muscles are and how they affect your body.

What is muscle soreness?

Surely you have already had to deal with soreness. They usually appear the next day after an intense workout. Although, to be honest, if you don’t exercise at all, and you suddenly want to go for a jog, you may feel soreness in your muscles the next day even after a short workout. What you feel is delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). 

DOMS bothers you because the moment you exercise you experience micro-injuries that need time to heal. During this time, your muscles will hurt. Once they recover, they will become stronger. If you’ve been running more you’ve certainly noticed this, and if you’re just starting your journey with running, you’ll see it in the future – that the longer you train, the less often you’ll experience delayed onset muscle soreness. 

This is all because the muscles become stronger and get used to the effort. As a result, you won’t have leg or other muscle soreness after every workout. Only when the workout is more intense than normal.

Running with sore legs – minor soreness

After your workout the next day, do you feel a slight pain in your muscles, but it’s not a pain that causes great discomfort and you can walk up and down stairs without any problems? If so, you can exercise then. However, you need to keep in mind that the exercise you do or the running you do must be of low intensity. 

If you are a beginner, then doing 30 minutes of walking or marching is enough. You should not jog. Take a rest and choose to walk. 

If you have been running for a long time, then a 30-minute recovery run is ideal. This is a slow, light trot. Such light physical activity will help your muscles recover. 

The longer your run was, the longer your recovery run can be. Always listen to your body and take care of your recovery. Remember not to do anything by force. If you’re worried about making things worse, miss the workout, and do it once the pain in your muscles will pass. 

Running with sore muscles? Or maybe something else? 

We only talk about running here, yet a runner also needs supplemental training. 

If you feel light soreness, then instead of another run the next day, bet on supplemental exercises, which are highly recommended. It is through them that you can strengthen your muscles. Moreover, varied training is extremely important. If you practice the same thing over and over again, your muscles will get used to it. The result? You won’t see the changes you expect, no matter how hard you try. 

When exercising, focus on muscles that don’t get very tired while running. This means that you should pay attention to the parts of your body that don’t hurt – you don’t feel soreness in them. Leave your legs out of these exercises – they are the ones that probably hurt the most. Focus on your arms, shoulders, back, or abdomen. 

Have you done supplemental training, but it’s still not enough for you? Go for a walk, stroll around the neighborhood, and enjoy nature. 

Strong soreness – can you exercise with it? 

You did an intense workout. It exhausts your body, but you continue to feel great. This is excellent! 

However, the next day you feel strong pain in your legs and abdomen. This is a sign of strong soreness. 

“But today I also wanted to go for a run!”

If you feel that it hurts a lot, don’t exercise! Limit your activity to the minimum and try to rest and recover. This will help you get back in shape faster and allow you to continue training. 

Never run or perform exercises that will further strain your muscles. Severe pain indicates equally severe damage to your muscles – and since they are damaged, they are also weakened. Therefore, postpone your workout for another day. If you also feel pain the next day, wait for your training. If the pain doesn’t subside and you continue to feel it strongly in your muscles, it’s better to visit a doctor to check what is causing the problem.

Running with sore legs and painkillers

If you feel the pain you often reach for painkillers to help fight it. When they start working you immediately feel better. In the case of sore legs, it is different. Never take painkillers for muscle soreness. 

This is only symptomatic treatment. You will feel relief, and your muscles will stop hurting, but this does not mean that they have recovered. Remember that to run, without fear of injury, you must first recover, and painkillers will certainly not provide you with this. 

What’s more, the pill only relieves the pain for a while. Then it returns. You will run without pain because you took the painkillers, but when it stops working, the pain may be even worse. 

By fighting the pain with pills, you won’t be able to tell if the muscles are still sore. Pain after a workout doesn’t always mean ordinary DOMS. When it’s unusually intense in some place or radiates from a joint, you need to increase your vigilance. It could be a harbinger of injury, and it should not be ignored.

How to deal with soreness? 

You are probably wondering how to relieve the pain that is caused when your muscles are overworked. Here are some ways. 

• Take a hot bath – immerse yourself in warm water so that your muscles relax. Such a bath will help with recovery. Faster blood flow will make the substances responsible for rebuilding muscle fibers more efficiently delivered. 
• Get a massage – massage the painful areas several times a day. This will loosen them up and they will come back to their full function faster. 
• Eat a proper meal – it must be rich in carbohydrates and protein, These are the ones responsible for the regeneration of the body. 
• Get a good rest and sleep – nothing regenerates better than sleep. Therefore, after training, rest and sleep. Do not do intense exercises and workouts. Put them off until later, when your muscles are ready.
• Use a warming cream – you can use a warming cream during the massage, which will also help regenerate your muscles. In doing so, you will improve blood circulation and speed up the recovery process.

To sum up. Should you run with sore legs? 

Do you have slight soreness?

• Beginner – go for a walk 
• Advanced – do about 30 minutes of a recovery run 

If you feel that your muscles hurt a lot and you have severe soreness – do not train. Postpone your training for another day. Remember not to ignore the pain. If you decide to train, you could entertain an injury that could put you out of running for several weeks to even months. It’s better to take 1-2 days off, recuperate your muscles, and get back to running and doing other exercises.