Welcome to the 27th FreeTrainers.com Tip of the Week! This week we will take a closer look at understanding and dealing with pain and soreness as it relates to your fitness lifestyle. When any workout or specific exercise causes you pain, pay attention. Knowing how to react can help you avoid a serious injury. Strength training can cause several types of pain including: Muscle Soreness When you use your muscles which you have not used for a while or try a new exercise or training technique, it is quite normal to feel a dull ache of soreness in the muscles that were trained. This pain is caused by many microscopic tears in the fibers of the connective tissues in your body; the ligaments that connect bones to other bones, and the tendons that connect muscles to bones. This is the primary reason it is so important that you get enough rest between specific muscle workouts. Each time you work out with weights, you cause this 'damage'. These tiny tears in your muscles; they need ample resting time to rebuild and become even stronger, bigger, and more firm. Pain During or Just After a Workout During a workout or physical activity, repeated contractions cause lactic and other acids, as well as proteins and hormones, to build up in muscle tissue. This can cause pain even without injury. But if you experience a sharp, continuous pain, or pain accompanied by a burning sensation, stop lifting and get it checked out by a doctor or health expert. Cramps These happen when your muscles, often in the calves or feet, knot up in intense contractions. Cramps occur most commonly in endurance sports like cycling and running, where the athlete loses a lot of fluids through sweating. This is why it is very important to stay well-hydrated during exercise. If you do get cramps, the best way to stop them is to gently stretch the cramped muscle. Injury When working out with weights you need to be in full control of both the weights and your own body as it lifts and uses the weights. Careless weightlifting can result in injury. Not warming up, attempting to lift too heavy a weight, using momentum or jerky movements, letting the weights drop, not using correct form, or forgetting to stretch or cool-down after your workout can indeed result in injury. The following injuries can and will occur as a result of carelessness: Tendonitis This is inflammation of the tendon and can occur if you begin your first set with too heavy a weight and/or are not properly warmed-up. Rest is the best treatment for this painful injury. Fascia Injuries Can occur if you suddenly jerk or pull the weight. Fascia is basically the packaging tissue of muscle. When fascia is torn, it becomes inflamed and the pain is severe. The injury should be treated with cold packs and wrapped with an ace bandage. Ligament Injuries Can occur when people use momentum and jerk the weight to accomplish a lift. This injury is treated by using cold packs and rest. Sprains or muscle tears: Are uncommon if you warm-up, stretch, and cool-down properly and implement the safety precautions and principles we teach. Any time you do have inflammation or swelling, use the R.I.C.E method of reducing damage and speeding healing. For injuries, R.I.C.E. is nice. To read more on R.I.C.E therapy, go to the Injury Center on the left hand side menu.