Muscle Soreness Pt. 1: Why Do My Muscles Get Sore?

by Melanie Brohm, B.Sc., RMT

It doesn’t matter if it is day 1 or day 1000+ with Yvonne’s Fitness....

It doesn’t matter if it is Zumba, Strong Nation, Yoga, Zumba Toning, Zumba Gold, Zumba Kids or doing a combination of everything while soaking up the sun on the Zumba Yoga Mexico Trip....

We all get this at one point or another.... muscle soreness.

Muscle soreness is a side effect of the stress put on the muscles with any form of exercise. To generalize, there are two types of muscles soreness – delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and acute strain. Before we distinguish between the two types of muscle soreness, let’s examine what happens to the muscle itself by asking a few questions.

What is the difference between toned, tight, and taut muscles? (www.ace-pt.org)

Muscles and group of muscles work in pairs and are controlled by the nervous system to allow for movement around a specific joint. Picture a pulley system – as one side increases in length (stretch or relax) the opposite side will decrease in length (shorten or contract – the back arrow in the diagram).