Fitness and Muscle Work

Delayed onset muscle soreness is common after exercise and usually means your muscles are getting stronger. WebMD Feature Starting a workout program can be challenging. Making the time to exercise, creating a balanced routine, and setting goals are hard enough, but add to that the muscle soreness that comes with adapting to that regimen, and it may be difficult to stay on track. Chances are, you won't be leaping out of bed to get to the gym when it hurts to hold your arm up to brush your teeth. After participating in some kind of strenuous physical activity, particularly something new to your body, it is common to experience muscle soreness, say experts. "Muscles go through quite a bit of physical stress when we exercise," says Rick Sharp, professor of exercise physiology at Iowa State University in Ames. "Mild soreness just a natural outcome of any kind of physical activity," he says. "And they're most prevalent in beginning stages of a program." ...

Many people wear weight belts too often. Unless you have a back injury or other medical reason -- or you are lifting a lot of weight -- the weight belt may let your core muscles slack off -- and you need your core muscles all the time in everyday life. The solution Back off the weight belt unless it's necessary.