Insanity Workout Aches and Pains - Should You Continue to Exercise?

Perhaps you have been doing an extended round of P90X and you have a aching shoulder. Or you have been doing the Insanity workout and your knees are sore. Maybe you added running to your routine and feel shin splints coming on.

Is it time to visit the doctor's office or dial it back a notch and keep up the good fight?

There are a few things to consider before you rush off to see the good doctor. Many general doctors do not know a lot about specific sports injuries. Even if you go to a reputable sports doc, he or she will just tell you to stop doing whatever workout program you are involved in. If you want to see the doctor, you may as well save yourself some time and just stop doing your workout until you've fully recovered. Most likely, they will prescribe rest as the solution.

The aches and pains we are talking about are the normal aches and pains that most every person who exercises regularly experiences. There are certain types of pain or injury that should receive medical attention. If you have joint swelling, pain when you rest or sleep, pain that progressively gets worse or bruises that do not heal. Also, if any of your joints feel unstable or lock , you should seek out a good doctor.

Unless you are under the age of 25, the Insanity workout is going to cause a few aches and pains and it's expected. After a week that has several Insanity Plyometric workouts, my knees ache. By following the 60 day workout schedule, I move on to different workouts and my knees get a chance to recover and the pain goes away. As long as you know your body and know how you typically recover, you should be ok. When your body is not recovering as it normally does, you should see a specialist.

The typical sports injury involves pain or soreness in muscles or tendons and there is little doctors can prescribe for treatment and nothing that will make them heal faster. Ibuprofen and rest is the usual prescription or cortisone shots for pain which can actually make the healing period longer.

If you are feeling aches and pains from your P90X or Insanity Workout, understand that it is normal and expect to get sore from these high intensity workouts. Usually the workouts vary enough to give over worked muscles a break long enough to recover. In the fifth week of Insanity, you get a much need recovery week which allows you to recharge and hit the second month hard again.

If you do feel like you are not getting enough recovery time, go back to the recovery workout DVDs for a few days until the soreness has passed.

Practicing these sensible guidelines and learning how your body recovers is key to getting through the Insanity or P90X workout successfully. Most experienced athletes know their bodies and know how their body responds to injury. If your body is responding normally, you can avoid a visit to the doctors office.