When it comes to delayed onset muscle soreness after a workout, whether it is good or bad is dependent upon the severity and whether you learn from it.
Some of the value the soreness offers includes:
- Gauge what’s getting a workout and what may be missed. I was happy to feel light soreness along my back and obliques since I often miss these areas. I did not realize my workout even touched on some of those areas. Likewise, my core was NOT sore and I know I need to work on my core strength so either I need to supplement my workout or better engage my core during the class.
- Gague when I need to tone it down a notch to be safe. When the pain is debilitating or takes a while to dissipate it’s an important reminder for me to train smart and pace myself. You want to push yourself, yes, but there is a line and we each have to discover for ourselves where that line is. Train just past your max and listen to your body when it is telling you to tone it down.
- Reminds you to warm up before and stretch after. When your workout is properly supported by warmup and stretching you will heal faster and hurt less, plus you are less likely to get injured.