If you’ve been out for a run and woken up the next day feeling a heavy, achy sensation in your legs, you’re not alone.

This soreness is just one result of your hard workout and can actually indicate that you are, in fact, getting stronger, even if you’re feeling a bit uncomfortable.

The question is: should you keep running when you feel sore? The short answer is: it depends. It depends on how sore you are, what type of soreness it is, how your body is feeling, and how you manage your training. In this article, we'll explore when it's okay (or even beneficial) to run while sore and when it's better to rest or change your routine. We'll also look at what causes soreness and share some tips to help you run more comfortably when you're feeling sore.

Should you continue running when sore?

Yes, you can keep running even if you're sore. While being sore might make running uncomfortable, it doesn't mean you have to stop.

All runners will feel some soreness, especially if they are trying to run farther or faster. This happens because exercise creates tiny tears in your muscles, which leads to soreness.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) happens after exercising and can last for 12 to 48 hours. While DOMS can make running painful, going for a gentle run when you’re sore can help relieve the discomfort and might even improve your performance.

This evidence suggests that running while sore can be okay, but whether you choose to do it depends on why you're sore and how bad it feels.

If you're feeling sore, think about how you're running. If your soreness changes the way you run, it's better to take a break or choose a different exercise for the day.

Running while very sore can cause more small tears and swelling, which might lead to more soreness or even an injury.

What causes soreness?

Muscle soreness that usually begins 24 to 72 hours after exercising is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). This soreness often happens when you push your muscles harder than usual, like running longer distances, going up steeper hills, running faster, trying new trails, or doing exercises that stretch the muscles while they're working.

Here are some of the key mechanisms and triggers:

• Micro‑damage to muscle fibers and connective tissue: The muscle lengthens under load and sustains tiny tears and structural disruption, which triggers the soreness.
• The inflammatory response: After the micro‑damage, inflammation and enzyme activation follow, which sensitise pain receptors and cause swelling, stiffness and reduced range of motion.
• Eccentric contractions (running down hills, decelerating, walking downhill) seem especially likely to trigger DOMS.
• Training changes: A sudden increase in volume, pace, or elevation; or a change in terrain or footwear. According to Dr. John Vasudevan (in a Runner’s World interview) “soreness at its root means that your muscles are unable to keep up with the demand placed on them … changes in your training, like increasing your pace or distance, or even a change in terrain or elevation can cause sore muscles.”
• Not enough recovery, inadequate nutrition, hydration, or poor waste‑product clearance may also contribute.

It’s helpful to distinguish “normal” post‑exercise soreness from red‑flag pain or injury. For example, if your soreness improves during the run, feels diffuse and both legs are equally affected, it may simply be adaptation. But if you feel a sharp, localized pain, or one side feels clearly worse than the other, or soreness gets worse as you run — these can be injury signals.

Also: a systematic review of running‑related musculoskeletal disorders found that 70‑80 % of running injuries stem from overuse (rather than acute trauma) — meaning that gradually accumulating stress (and insufficient recovery) is often the cause.

Given that, when you’re sore, the real question isn’t simply “can I run?” but rather “how sore am I, what kind of soreness is it, and how should I adjust so I don’t tip from adaptation into injury?”

How can you make running when sore more comfortable?

If your soreness is mild, even on both sides, getting better, and doesn't affect how you walk or run, then it's usually okay to run (or do some light running). In fact, it can help boost blood flow and aid in recovery.

Here are several strategies to make running when sore more comfortable — and smarter.

1. Hydrate and Fuel

Not eating well can make you feel sore after a workout because it may leave you dehydrated and low on important nutrients like antioxidants, which come from fruits and vegetables. These nutrients help fight the stress and inflammation that can happen after exercising. That’s why it’s important to have a balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein, which are all needed by runners to help their muscles recover.

Runners need a good balance of carbohydrates and protein to help them refuel and recover after workouts. If you don't get enough protein, your muscles won't perform well during exercise and won't recover properly afterward.

2. Stretch it Out

Stretching, mobility exercises, and light movements can help keep your joints flexible, improve blood flow, and lessen stiffness. While just doing static stretches won't get rid of soreness, mixing stretching with movement or doing it after you warm up can help make you feel better.

Even just a gentle post‑run stretch may help you feel looser.

A dynamic warm‑up before running (especially when sore) can help prepare the muscles and reduce the shock of impact.

3. Focus on Easy Runs

Make sure to include easy days in your training. These easy runs help you recover from harder workouts. They can increase blood flow to your muscles, loosen them up, and might actually make you feel better for a while.

To keep your easy runs truly easy, try to keep your effort at a level of 5 or 6 out of 10 on the effort scale. This means you should be at 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate, which is considered zone 2. To track this accurately, using a reliable device like the Coospo Heart Rate Monitor can help you stay in the right zone. Also, when you increase your running distance, do it slowly by following the 10 percent rule. This helps you avoid soreness by not increasing your distance too quickly.

4. Cross Train

If running feels too tough on your body, try other activities like cycling, swimming, using an elliptical, or brisk walking. These options let you get exercise without the stress of running, helping you stay in shape while allowing sore or recovering muscles to rest.

Cross‑training can also help you continue aerobic stimulus without over‑loading the already “tender” muscles, while enabling recovery.

5. Switch Up the Terrain

To avoid hurting your muscles, change up how you exercise. If you usually run on hard surfaces like asphalt, try running on softer ground like trails or grass. If you often train on flat paths, skip steep hills or stairs when you're sore.

Research shows that running downhill can increase muscle damage and reduce your strength because of the way your muscles stretch while you run. This means that if you're already feeling sore, running on steep or downhill paths could make your muscles feel worse instead of helping them get better.

By switching to gentler terrain, you reduce the eccentric strain and impact, helping you run with less risk.

6. Message, Soak, or Foam Roll

Recovery techniques like foam rolling, gentle massage, or warm baths (or contrast baths) can help alleviate soreness, improve circulation, and promote relaxation of tight muscles.

• Foam rolling has some support in reducing the symptoms of DOMS (though it doesn’t eliminate it completely). The Wikipedia summary of DOMS notes that continued exercise may temporarily suppress soreness via exercise‑induced analgesia.
• Heat or contrast therapy: Some sources suggest that applying heat post‑exercise may reduce soreness and that movement helps lessen pain.
• While these strategies don’t replace smart programming, they help you feel better and can accelerate comfortable recovery.