I think my muscles are leaking.
Yesterday, as part of my new (again) Cardio Diet Experiment, I took Andrew’s advice and cut the cardio, except for a short warm-up and cool-down jog, and lifted h-e-a-v-y. That is the last time I listen to Andrew. Because now I am s-o-r-e. And any of you that did the Monkey Bar workout of the day yesterday are probably in a lot of pain right now too. Which I find strangely comforting.
I actually don’t know if being this sore is a good thing though. It’s one of those mysteries of life, along with who killed JFK and why my house always smells like pee. (Oh wait, I live in a preschool frat house with 4 boys. Consider that last one solved. Next I’ll tackle world peace – check back tomorrow.) When I told Gym Buddy Allison about my pain she immediately asked “Good sore or bad sore?” Indeed. How sore is too sore?
Scientists apparently listen to Allison and Andrew because we now have new research as to why 5 sets of 5 resisted pistol squats make it painful for me to sit on the toilet or walk up stairs. We already knew that when we work our muscles we develop little microtears – which is why recovery is so important, so our bodies can fix those tears and make the muscle even stronger. But now we also know that our muscles weep too. Actually, once they reach a point of extreme exertion they leak calcium leading to that feeling of muscle fatigue, or in marathon-runner-speak, “hitting the wall.”
In normal people (do I even know any of those??), a day or two of rest is enough to seal up those leaks and return to normal. Scientists think that the leaks are the body’s way of stopping people before they go too far.
“Maybe this is a protective mechanism,” says Dr. Steven Liggett. “Maybe fatigue is saying that you are getting ready to go into a danger zone. So it is cutting you off. If you could will yourself to run as fast and as long as you could, some people would run until they keeled over and died.”
So the moral of today’s science lesson: Don’t Die. Oh wait, how about: Listen to Your Body. Also, don’t be embarrassed about a little leakage. (O0000h! I just couldn’t resist, could I? You would have thought I got it all out of my system yesterday but you’d be seriously underestimating my juvenile sense of humor.) Pain has a purpose.
Um, you should be working up to maximum loads…please do not hurt yourself. Otherwise, keep up the good work!
Charlotte, I really like what you said about listening to your body. Sometimes when I feel like I’m really in the exercise zone it becomes about subduing my body–like my body and I are in fight and I’ve got to beat it down with exercise or else it will do things I don’t like (like gain weight). I definitely believe in a “happy weight” where our bodies are just feel good. I think listening to your body (about exercise and about when to stop eating) is the best way to find that happy place.
Laura
Andrew – thanks for the reminder. They actually felt really good when I was doing them – you know, felt like I was pushing myself but no pain or anything. The soreness hit this morning when I woke up. What do they call that? DOMS?
Laura – I too believe in the happy weight concept! It’s just a matter of filtering out the extra noise to really be able to listen to what my body wants.
What if your muscles don’t feel better in a couple days? Does that mean their still leaking? I can only do squats and lunges once per week because it takes me that long to recover! It usually takes me two weeks to feel like I have control over my muscles after a marathon – but that might be my muscles just screaming at me for torturing them!
At my pilates class tonight, our teacher was talking about something like this. She said that when she first started, it was really challenging and she felt like she just had to get through class. As she got stronger, she was able to focus more on the movements, her alignment, and how her body was feeling.
I’m guessing you have “good” soreness, since you pay so much attention to how you feel during your workouts. You rock!!!!!
I feel sore just looking at that man’s face with all the rings. But, in his culture that would be a good sore me thinks?
I once did a kickboxing class, and was so sore for like a week. The first 2 days, my legs were in so much pain I literally could not walk up stairs because it hurt to lift my leg. That has to be a bad sore despite nothing being broken or totally immobile.
But your totally right on, listen to your body.
Isn’t it weird that you can be in decent shape and something new will make you so sore? New muscle engagement, I guess. The same thing happened to me. I took a kickboxing class at a martial arts studio and could barely walk for a couple of days. Regardless of the soreness, I thought it was great 😉