After a hard session your legs feel stiff, your thighs are tender and even climbing the stairs can suddenly be a challenge. Plenty of people therefore try stretching for muscle soreness. The idea makes sense: stretch your muscles and they should loosen up and recover faster. Scientific research shows, though, that stretching does very little to reduce muscle soreness after exercise. It can feel pleasant and improve your range of movement, but you can't actually stretch soreness away.
Does stretching help with muscle soreness?
Research into stretching and muscle soreness has been pointing the same way for some time. A systematic review published in the BMJ pooled various studies on stretching before and after exercise. After 24 hours the average difference in soreness was less than 1 point on a 100-point scale. At 48 and 72 hours the differences were very small too.
A more recent systematic review and meta-analysis from 2021 looked specifically at stretching after exercise. Across the randomised studies examined, stretching proved no better than simply resting for reducing soreness at 24, 48 or 72 hours. Nor was there any demonstrable improvement in the recovery of muscular strength.
The conclusion is therefore straightforward: stretch after training by all means, but don't do it expecting to prevent next-day soreness.
Why do you get sore after exercise?
Muscle soreness after exercise arises mainly when your muscles take on a load they aren't yet used to – a new exercise, heavier training, more reps, or starting again after a long break.
This delayed soreness is known as DOMS, which stands for delayed onset muscle soreness. The pain usually only appears some hours after training and is often at its clearest one to three days later.
You'll notice it, for instance, when:
- your legs are sore after squats or lunges;
- you have sore thighs after an intensive leg session;
- your calves are tender after running or jumping;
- your arms or shoulders are stiff after strength training;
- you've tried a new sport or exercise.
Muscle soreness is still regularly blamed on lactic acid supposedly sitting in the muscles. That isn't a good explanation for DOMS. The substances produced during exercise clear far more quickly than soreness that only appears a day later. DOMS is more likely linked to changes in muscle and connective tissue, an inflammatory response and a temporary increase in the sensitivity of pain receptors.
So why does stretching feel good?
The fact that stretching doesn't actually make soreness disappear doesn't mean you feel nothing. A gentle stretch can be genuinely pleasant when you have sore muscles or stiff legs.
A scientific review of stretching and pain describes how stretching can influence the way you experience pain and stretch. Stretching regularly can increase your tolerance for the sensation of a stretch, and neurological mechanisms can also affect pain perception temporarily.
So a sore muscle can feel looser or more comfortable after stretching. That's a different thing from faster recovery, though. What mainly changes is how the muscle and the stretch feel for a while; the recovery process carries on regardless.
Is it good to stretch when you're sore?
Have you got normal post-exercise soreness? Then you can stretch gently if you find it helps. There's no need to stretch deeply or into pain.
With sore legs you might move your quadriceps, hamstrings and calves carefully. Light tension is fine. Sharp or stabbing pain is a sign to ease off.
So the idea that you have to stretch a sore muscle as hard as you can to get the soreness out is wrong. More stretch doesn't automatically mean more recovery.
Can you train with muscle soreness?
Training while sore needn't be a problem. With mild soreness you can usually keep moving, though it's sensible to adjust the load.
Have you got mildly sore thighs after a leg session, for instance? Then walking, easy cycling or an upper-body session can be perfectly fine. A light warm-up or gentle activation with a resistance band can be part of your session too.
With heavy soreness, training at maximum again makes less sense. Pain and stiffness can change your movement pattern, which makes your technique worse. In that case give a heavily loaded muscle group more time to recover.
Use this simple rule:
- Mild soreness: gentle movement or adapted training is usually fine.
- Moderate soreness: reduce the weight, volume or intensity.
- Severe soreness: give that muscle group rest and let it recover.
What's the fastest way to recover from muscle soreness?
Unfortunately there's no magic cure for soreness. DOMS mainly needs time. You can support the recovery process, though, and stop every session leaving you severely sore.
- Keep moving gently. A quiet walk can feel good when your muscles are stiff. Anyone who enjoys longer walks might use walking poles.
- Get enough sleep. Important recovery processes take place while you sleep.
- Eat enough protein. Protein provides the amino acids your body uses to maintain and repair muscle tissue.
- Drink enough. Good hydration matters for your body, but drinking extra water won't make soreness disappear.
- Build your training up gradually. A sudden large increase in weight, volume or intensity brings on severe DOMS more quickly.
A foam roller can also feel good when your muscles are stiff or sore. Rolling can reduce that sense of stiffness temporarily. Here too, harder isn't automatically better. Use gentle pressure and don't roll aggressively over an extremely painful spot.
Sore legs and thighs
Sore legs are one of the most common forms of training soreness. Large muscles such as the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves take a great deal of load during strength training and cardio.
After squats, lunges, running, stair climbing or jumping in particular, you can feel considerable soreness in your thighs or calves a day later. That's usually normal when the pain clearly followed a session and then eases within a few days.
Gentle movement can help you feel less stiff. A short walk is often more comfortable than sitting still all day. After that you might carefully stretch your hamstrings, work your calves or move your hips gently.
Want to focus on mobility, balance or light exercises during an easy training day? An exercise ball can be used for various controlled mobility and stability exercises.
Unexplained muscle pain is something else
Not every form of muscle pain comes from exercise. Do you regularly have unexplained pain in your arms and legs, muscle pain with no obvious cause, or pain throughout your body? Then it isn't sensible to assume automatically that it's DOMS.
That applies, for instance, with:
- persistent muscle pain without training;
- muscle pain across the whole body;
- muscle pain combined with prolonged fatigue;
- chronic muscle pain and stiffness;
- painful muscles and joints together;
- clear muscular weakness;
- symptoms that keep getting worse.
Stress can also go together with tense, painful muscles, around the neck and shoulders for instance. But with prolonged or unexplained muscle pain it's sensible to have the cause assessed by a doctor rather than simply stretching more.
Does magnesium help with muscle soreness?
Magnesium for muscle soreness is widely used, but soreness doesn't automatically mean you're short of magnesium. Magnesium plays a part in normal muscle function and a deficiency can cause symptoms, but ordinary DOMS after a session isn't in itself a sign of one.
Research into magnesium and muscle soreness shows some interesting results, but the amount of good research is still limited. It's therefore wiser to focus first on a varied diet, enough protein and enough recovery than to reach for supplements automatically after every hard session.
Is soreness a sign you've trained well?
Plenty of people treat soreness as proof of a good workout. But soreness doesn't automatically mean you've trained well, and it isn't a requirement for muscle growth either.
As your body gets used to an exercise you'll often get less and less sore, while still getting stronger and building muscle. Your training progress therefore matters more than how much pain you're in the next day.
So don't set out to cause extreme soreness every session. A good session provides enough stimulus to make progress while leaving enough room to recover and train well the next time.
When is the best time to stretch?
The best time to stretch depends on your goal. Before a session, an active warm-up usually makes more sense – easy walking, cycling, mobility work and dynamic movements matched to the training ahead.
After exercise you can do gentle static stretching if you enjoy it. Just don't expect it to prevent next-day soreness.
Mainly want to become more flexible? Then regular stretching has more value. Sustained stretching programmes can increase your range of movement and improve your tolerance for stretch. So you might specifically stretch your hamstrings, calves or hip flexors if that's where you want more mobility.
Once you've recovered fully, you can build your sessions back up gradually. For conditioning work, a skipping rope is one option. If you'd rather train your core, an ab wheel is a possibility. Build the load up gradually there too, particularly with an exercise you aren't used to.
Does stretching help with muscle soreness? The verdict
Stretching for muscle soreness sounds logical, but scientific research shows that stretching before or after a session does very little to reduce the soreness that appears one to three days later. Older systematic reviews and more recent analyses of randomised research reach much the same conclusion.
That doesn't make stretching pointless. It can feel good, reduce stiffness temporarily and, done regularly, improve your range of movement. Just don't treat it as a treatment that pulls soreness out of the muscle.
Got sore legs or thighs after a session? Keep moving gently, sleep well, eat properly and give your body time to recover. A gentle stretch or a foam roller is fine if it feels good.
If, on the other hand, you have constant muscle pain with no clear cause, pain throughout your body, or soreness alongside other symptoms, that fits less well with ordinary training soreness and it's sensible to have the cause assessed.
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