How to Minimise Muscle Soreness

Finding the Balance: Why Regularity is Key to Reducing Muscle Soreness

Do you find yourself feeling sore after your weekly yoga practice? You are not alone. Recently, many MBR students have asked me why they’re experiencing this.

At first instance, one may guess that they come from different sports backgrounds, eat differently, or have some other obvious physical characteristic that causes this bodily experience.

On the contrary, it wasn’t their body type, diet, or past athletic experience. It was quite simply those that have an infrequent (although technically regular), once-a-week practice.

It might seem counterintuitive, but the secret to reducing soreness is actually to practice more often, not less.

THE MYTH OF THE ONCE-A-WEEK PRACTICE

When you practice only once a week, your muscles are challenged, but they don’t get the regular maintenance they need to adapt and grow stronger. It’s a bit like trying to run a marathon without the consistent weekly training—your body simply isn’t prepared for the sudden load. Some students even try cutting back from twice a week to once a week to avoid soreness, only to find that the soreness persists.

WHY REGULARITY MATTERS

To truly see the benefits of your practice and to help your body adapt, regularity is essential. Practicing at least three times a week allows your muscles to maintain their strength and flexibility. This consistency helps your body recover faster and significantly reduces that post-practice soreness.

Think of it this way.. the body gets sore because muscles aren’t strong enough so microfibre tears occur whilst they break and build. They build in the day or two after, and come a week, they have mildly atrophied …

Instead of letting them do so, regular frequent practitioners practice the day after or at the latest the following day.. this keeps the initial muscle at least intact, and potentially growing even further..

If you speak to a daily practitioner, they’ll share their experience of less muscle soreness, even if they don’t completely grasp the underlying mechanics of it …

MAKING TIME FOR YOUR PRACTICE

We all have busy schedules, but finding time for your practice is an investment in your well-being. Even if you can’t make it to the studio during the week, consider joining a weekend session to keep up your momentum.

Your body will thank you for the consistency!