Why am I unbelievable sore after exercise?

Good news: This pain is completely normal. More good news: this soreness goes away (as long as you keep exercising).

The first few days you start to exercise, you are experiencing DOMS, or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness , which can last up to several days after the workout. It's a natural way of your body adapting to the physical exertion! The soreness can peak on day 2 or 3, and usually gets better each day going forward, but it can vary from person to person.

The part that feels awful is Lactic Acid coming into your muscle fibers because we are creating micro tears in the muscles as we exercise. This soreness is an inflammatory response as your body rushes to repair the body. The repair is how you go from having small muscles today to having bigger muscles tomorrow!

2 Main Takeaways:

1) You must continue to exercise through the initial pain, because that is how you get the lactic acid out , and your body will adapt to the regular exercise. The soreness (at least the deep , awful soreness) usually gets much better or more manageable after a couple weeks. This is the keystone to ensuring that you don't have perpetual DOMS.

Moderate or hard exercise once every 2 weeks will result in an continually sore body.

2) Stretching before and after exercise sessions

Don't confuse this soreness with an injury! A sharp or sudden pain is not DOMS, and you should usually stop exercising immediately. I am strictly speaking of the deep muscle soreness from exercise, and how to keep it from coming back continually.

The best practice is to pick a workout plan/routine and stick with it for 8-12 weeks, with exercise occuring 3-4 days per week! This gives your body enough time to get better and stronger at an exercise, and by the time you start to plateau (stay stagnant), you will be starting a new plan shortly.

Last part of reducing soreness and increasing your energy is SLEEP. Get 8 hours. You need it!