It is hard to get away from soreness for CrossFitters. This has to do with the constantly varied movements done at (relativity) high intensity. Athletes that constantly do the same movements will use the same muscles and will not experience the same soreness brought on by the ever changing movements of CrossFit. Of course, they will not experiences the overall fitness gains as a CrossFitters either. They will be able to do one thing well, where as, a CrossFit athlete will be able to do many things at an above average level.
The greatest causes of soreness and potential muscle damage are the eccentric movements, like the downward motion in the squat. In our dailey routines, when we go to sit down we might not even go to parallel and if we do it is to a couch that we just fall into without using much muscle.
Soreness cannot be avoided in fitness. Of couse, it will be reduced as our muscles adapt to the movements.
Is the soreness you are feeling "run of the mill" soreness or is it worse? There are some signs that can help us determine if the soreness you are experiencing is "normal" or if it might need special attention. Rhabdomyolysis of "rhabdo" is a worse case scenerio but one that should not be ignored. It is best to be prepared and recognize the symptoms now rather than later.
Ahmik Jones, M.D., wrote the following:
"If one of your clients does get rhabdo, these are some of the signs: Not everyone gets all of these symptoms, some people don’t even have much pain.
1. Pain out of proportion to the amount of soreness you would expect, often coming on much faster than you would expect after a workout, and often accompanied with weakness.
2. Swelling of the body part involved, either with or without pain.
3. Decreased urine output or dark urine. This is the scary one and the one that gets you admitted to the hospital.
If you think someone has rhabdo:
1. Get them to a doctor. You can't be sure how bad it is going to get. It may progressively get worse for days before it gets better.
2. Have them drink water. The only way to protect the kidneys is to ensure they have enough fluid to handle the toxins. If it is bad enough they will be put in the hospital with a catheter in one end and an IV in the other until they recover.
3. Avoid heat. Hot tubs can greatly exacerbate the release of muscle contents and can make a case of rhabdo much worse."
It might be hard to tell if you are more sore than you ought to be, but swelling and dark (coca-cola colored) urine should be more obvious signs that there may be a problem.
Please listen to your bodies and don't let your egos take you beyond a safe point.
Here are a couple articles (in one PDF) on the rare but extreme cases of "rhabdo."
http://premium.fileden.com/premium/2008/3/13/1811429/rhabdo.pdf.
