I’m 67. I get sore when I walk, sit, stand, lie down, sleep. Some part of me aches pretty much all the time.
There are different types of exercise, obviously. Walking my dog is low impact and does not make me sore. I like to work out for a couple hours thrice weekly but gym restrictions have decreased the length and increased the frequency. I can lift pretty heavy and it is not usually sore. I’m always trying new exercises, grips, equipment and set/rep values. Sometimes these cause some delayed onset aching the next day. I avoid a few exercises and am careful to use neutral grips in others.
DOMS - delayed onset muscle soreness - tends to get better with time. It supposedly can be helped by hydration, turmeric (curcumin), ginger, massage, NSAIDs and foam rolling. It is transient and a nuisance.
Tendinitis - consistent pain where the muscle attaches to a bone, usually near a joint - can last many weeks. I never work through this type of pain. If my elbow or shoulder are sore when lifting a heavy weight, I’ll rest it at the very first sign and do other things, since it is easily worsened.
Some people have back pain, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid pain when they awake that improves throughout the day. I don’t have these yet, and hope weightlifting will help prevent or reduce them.
I never even knew it was a thing and had a name, let alone have any means of management
I’ve had osteoarthitis for decades (because in some of us it starts young). The most important thing is to GET UP and GET MOVING. I have to power through the first 20 minutes, after which things start to loosen up. You want to be protective of your joints, but improving muscle strength does help with the joint pain and stiffness.
I will never do the high-weight lifting I did in my youth again. My joints aren’t up to it anymore, even if my muscles are. (Well, OK - if I have to hulk-out to save a life or run away from an exploding volcano, yeah - but I’m trying to avoid those scenarios).
These days, I’m trying to maintain overall strength and flexibility. The good news is that my current job is NOT a desk job. The bad news is that there is sufficient physical work involved that I could potentially get over-use/repetitive stress injuries.
I didn’t know muscle soreness had a name either.
DOMS - delayed onset muscle soreness
I’ve reread this thread and there’s a lot of practical information about aging and exercise. I have always kept myself pretty fit. I never did a lot of heavy weight training. I prefer light weights and focusing on repetition.
It is definitely a thing, and not a good thing. As the gym joke goes: I don’t mind the discomfort of leg exercises while I am doing them, it’s the next day that I can’t stand.
And for me, it has unfortunately gotten worse since I passed 50.
You can work through DOMS. An annoying ache that night or the next day from pushing yourself or doing something new. It is a nuisance but you can still exercise. If bad, take a naproxen (if you are permitted). I eat a piece of natural turmeric every day.
You are asking for trouble by working through a tendon or ligament strain or sprain. Most athletes don’t want to stop. But they heal quickly if caught early, and are easily worsened to the point they take weeks or months to improve. You have less on the line than a baseball or basketball player. Why risk it?
There are many other causes of soreness. Angina pain is the most significant - chest pressure (or pain or acid reflux) with exercise should not be so easily dismissed especially with sweating, nausea, breathing difficulties or dizziness. I’ve seen dozens of heart attacks caused by old men shoveling snow.