New Year, New Moves: Decoding Muscle Soreness Versus Injury

Happy New Year! I am truly hopeful for a year of vitality, wholesome moments, and transformation (in little or big ways), for you, this year.

As the holidays wind down and January 2026 arrives, we step into a new year, new beginnings, and new possibilities. This is the time of the year where we get bombarded with new year, new you marketing – which frankly, can feel overwhelming. Although society often pressures us to make dramatic changes in January, making it feel like everything has to happen right now, the most sustainable growth comes from small, gradual changes over time—built through daily habits and consistency. With that being said, January (and this feeling of a “fresh slate”), can be a helpful time to kickstart the goals we’ve been meaning to work toward.

For some of us, the start of the new year may look like taking some exhales (like those big, whole body nervous system reset ones). For others, it may look like diving head first into that hobby you’ve been wanting to start. Or maybe, it looks like JUST BEING (and this is okay too)! I encourage you to take a pause, grab a warm drink at one of our community’s amazing coffee shops, and reflect on what you need, right now in your life.

One of the most common focus areas that I see people working towards is that of physical health. The new year can be a motivating time to resume or start a new exercise routine, get back into the winter sport you enjoy, or check off some of those physically demanding in-home to-do’s (like cleaning up the crawl space).

With new routines often comes muscle soreness—and sometimes it’s hard to know whether what you’re feeling is “normal” or a sign of injury. I want to help you identify the difference between delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and an injury.

First, let’s talk a little bit about DOMS. DOMS is a very common (and normal) body response when you increase your training load or get your muscles working in a different way. It’s that feeling in your muscles, after you’ve done a leg workout and have a hard time getting off the toilet 2 days later (oooof). The current understanding is that there is micro-damage of muscle cells and a local inflammatory response (Hotfiel et al., 2018). As alluded to in the name, this soreness is delayed. Meaning that it peaks around 48-72 hours post- exercise. It often feels like a dull ache, stiffness, or tenderness along large areas of muscle (and often on both sides of the body). This type of soreness will get better within a couple of days and despite how contradictory this may sound: exercise is one of the most effective means of alleviating pain during DOMS. DOMS can be uncomfortable, but it is a sign your muscles are adapting, not a sign of injury.

An injury usually presents differently and occurs when tissues (like your muscles) are overloaded or strained beyond what they can handle. You may notice a sharp or sudden pain during the exercise or immediately after. Or you may notice sensations getting progressively worse over the course of multiple training sessions. The discomfort is usually local to one region (versus a diffuse area of soreness like DOMS). Injury is not ideal, and is a sign that you may be demanding more of your tissues than what they can tolerate right now.

Whether you’re easing back into movement, managing an injury, or wanting to understand your body better, we are here to support you. Our team of massage therapy, physiotherapy, and personal training, can support you to build movement habits that feel good—not just in January, but all year long. Here’s to a year of thoughtful movement and taking care of yourself.

Bre Maughan
Registered Physiotherapist (MScPT, BScKin)
Bragg Creek Physiotherapy
www.braggcreekphysio.com