Q & A: Should I rest or go for an easy run when I feel sore?

Posted March 13th, 2007 at 9:19 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise

Will you recover faster from a long run by resting, or by exercising at a leisurely pace?

Most experienced athletes find that they recover faster by going easy the next day. On the day after you exercise vigorously, your muscles feel sore because they are damaged, and running fast with sore muscles injures them.

However, studies at the University of Massachusetts showed that athletes who exercise leisurely on the day after hard workouts are less likely to be injured than those who recover by taking the day off. Exercising during recovery causes muscles to grow more fibrous tissue that helps protect them from injury.

You can adapt these findings to your sport or exercise program. On one day, scrimmage hard in basketball for several hours, and on the next day, practice your shooting and set up plays. On one day, run or ride hard and then go slowly on the next day. If you work out more than once a day, follow each hard workout with at least three easy ones.

This post is written by Dr. Gabe Mirkin, M.D. and used with permission. Dr. Mirkin is board certified in Sports Medicine and has practiced for over 40 years. He has completed more than 40 marathons and was a talk show host of a nationally-syndicated radio program for about 25 years. For more articles by Dr. Mirkin, please check out: www.DrMirkin.com

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