London - Arabstoday
The more tired you are after the workout, the better your workout was"- goes the general myth. But, the truth of the matter is different. In an attempt to become an overnight athelete or shed kilos within just a single visit to the gym, we tend to over work our bodies to such an extent that it eventually leads to workout fatigue. We get home feeling 'wasted' and very often skip a workout the next day because of extreme soreness and pain. So, today we ask you, do you really think workout fatigue is a good thing? We think otherwise. Strength and fitness coach, Arnav Sarkar says "one should simply approach their workouts like a practice session with an aim to get a little better each day in order to do and feel great in your workouts in the long run." Feeling sore after a workout repeatedly, with next to no feeling of rejuvenation and freshness, means that your body is struggling to keep up with the routine. So how can you differentiate between a "good soreness level" and a "bad soreness level"? Also, when does it get so bad that you need to see a doctor? "Often fitness professionals state that when it comes to workouts 'failure is success', which means that you should workout till you cannot do anymore, and the following day it should seem as if a truck ran over you the last night. Even though it sounds like a hardcore and effective way to train, the fact remains that being too sore always and feeling too tired after every workout will soon fry out your central nervous system, and leave you overtrained. When this happens you will make progress very slowly, have mood swings and in general feel terrible," adds Sarkar. "There is no such thing as 'no pain, no gain' while working out," points out fitness expert, Wanitha Ashok. "The muscle soreness one experiences the next day is usually due to the accumulation of lactic acid, the by-product of weight training, which can be addressed with appropriate stretches. Also when exercises are performed engaging the muscles one can see a positive pain that is negligible," she adds. Ways to treat workout fatigue Workout fatigue can be prevented just by keeping one thing in mind- smart training. Cross training is also recommended by doctors in order to prevent injuries. Physical activities such as running, swimming and biking should be performed so that no single muscle group is stressed or overloaded. Wear proper exercising clothes, especially a well fitted pair of shoes in order to avoid any kind of serious injury while exercising.