Soreness vs. Exercise Injury

Recognizing soreness from an exercise injury is important for anyone involved with a workout regime.

A general rule of thumb is that soreness will come on the day after a workout, where as you're more prone to feel an exercise induced injury right away or soon afterwards.

An injury may may feel like a pressure or pinching pain. Soreness is more likely to leave your muscles feeling stiff and tight. The difference comes from how you deal with the pain.

If you feel sore, it's best to keep working out. This article specifically discusses the feeling of soreness as a sign of your muscles growing stronger. If you think you may have an injury instead of normal soreness, you may want to consider taking some time off from exercises incorporating the injured area.

If pain persists after a few days, consider talking to a doctor. To prevent both soreness and injury, it's important to stretch before and after workouts.

For help with treating muscle aches, this site does a great job of determining between ice and heat therapy.