Should You Skip a Workout Because You’re Sore?
Muscle soreness doesn’t automatically mean you need rest. Here’s the framework I use to decide whether to train, adjust, or stop.
A lot of people assume soreness automatically means they should skip training or dramatically back off.
I don’t think it’s that simple. Let me tell you a story to help illustrate my point.
Last year, I ran the longest race I’d ever done: a 10-mile race (the LMCU Bridge Run, if you're curious). Three days before it, I did some calf raises with very short rest periods as part of a workout class. The delayed onset muscle soreness afterward was brutal. The morning of the race, I honestly felt like I could barely walk because my calves were so sore.
And yet, I ended up running the fastest mile split I’d ever run at that distance. I set a personal best by a wide margin. From a performance perspective, the race was undoubtedly a massive success.
That anecdote reinforces something important: soreness and performance are not the same thing. It's important to appreciate that muscle soreness is a sensation, no more than a proxy for underlying muscle damage. Soreness and muscle damage are not the same thing: one can occur without the other, and vice versa. Soreness and performance often have no correlation with one another, but they don't exist in separate vacuums either.
A muscle can feel incredibly sore and still be capable of producing force at a high level. That’s why I don’t think soreness alone should determine whether you train or not.
Instead, I think the better approach is using self-regulation tools like Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) or Reps in Reserve (RIR). (If you're not familiar with these tools, I'll write about them next week so keep an eye out).
Show up. Warm up. Start the first set of your workout. Then assess.
As you get into your session, ask yourself:
Do the movements become more tolerable as I warm up?
Can I still move well?
Can I still generate force or otherwise perform effectively?
Is my RPE normal in response to the external loads I'm facing?
Sometimes the answer is obvious: “Nope, this feels terrible, and something is clearly off.” In that case, modifying or ending the session may absolutely be the right move.
But other times, you realize: “Okay, I’m sore… but I can still train.”
That’s useful information too.
It’s also worth remembering that soreness is often local, not systemic. Maybe your calves are wrecked, but your upper body feels completely normal. You may still be able to train effectively by adjusting exercise selection or focusing on another area.
If you take away anything from this blog, let it be this:
Don’t automatically call off training because you feel sore. At minimum, show up, get started, and use the feedback from your warm-up and early sets to guide your next decision.
Your body will usually tell you a lot more once you actually begin moving.
