6 Quick Fixes For Your Post-Workout Sore Muscles
You take a new fitness class, and it completely demolishes your muscles, sounds familiar? You can barely lift your legs or arms and cannot do any chore. Your quads and calves feel like some rocks have been lodged inside your legs. Sore muscles are experienced by everyone whether it is an adult or a child, an average joe or a fitness freak; our muscles get stressed out all the time! People who are into fitness and gym will know this concept well enough, and perhaps they suffer from this phenomenon more than most, because sometimes they can try some new workout and it can be hectic for the first few times. We all are tired of our muscles getting pulled and hate the feeling when we cannot move a muscle (literally). If yesterday’s workout is making your muscles scream today, although it hurts like anything right now, take it as a good sign. As your muscles heal, they will get bigger, fitter and stronger and the soreness goes away in a few days. However, not everyone has the high-tech recovery equipment like cryotherapy chambers, hot tubs, or electric stimulation to relieve our aches and pains. Just because we have no access to such equipment is no reason for us to feel miserable. There are some simple and inexpensive solutions which anyone can try in the comfort of their home. So what to do when that muscle spasm hits? Should we just let it take its time? Should we eat some proteins? Should we take a time out and get rest? There are a couple of things you can do when your muscles get sore, and we inform you of the different ways that can help your situation.
Getting a professional massage can relieve muscle tension, boost the blood flow, and increase the range of motion of joints. It is also a great mood-lifter, and you feel relaxed afterwards. When our muscles get sore, a gentle massage is what they need. Choose a massage that uses light pressure, such as a Swedish massage, which is relatively better for the muscle recovery than a deep-tissue massage. Or try the tender-point acupressure in which a massage therapist applies gentle pressure and holds it directly on our tender areas. If you want to get a Deep-tissue massage, that can also help. A deep tissue massage will be most effective after y have done exercise because it then increases blood flow to the muscles and eliminates the inflammatory chemicals that produce soreness.
According to a study that was published in the science journal, there are many positive effects of a massage. Massage on the above and below the area and then working into the painful part of the muscle is beneficial. If you cannot get a massage done from someone else, you can use a self-massage device or apply pressure to your sore muscles with a tennis ball. So what to do the massage with? CBD oil is all the rage nowadays with its amazing healing properties. There are numerous benefits of the CBD oil, and one of them is providing relief to the aching sore muscles.
- Keep Moving
It might sound difficult, but the last thing you want to do after a workout is rest. You may want to lie in your comfy bed while your muscles recover, but moving your body could make you feel better. By moving, we do not mean an extraneous exercise but to do something light and gentle such as swimming or riding your bike for an hour or so. Movement is one of the best ways to resolve your muscle soreness because it lightly trains the muscles that are sore. Training while the muscles are sore can help decrease any future soreness and allow our body to adapt quickly. This phenomenon is known as the repeated-bout effect. Our bodies are naturally designed to recover from microtrauma and small tears within the muscle fiber (sore muscles). They have the ability to adapt so that the next time a person performs the same workout, they will experience significantly fewer muscles soreness. This can be uncomfortable, so do not decrease the intensity of your lifts or workouts. Make sure that you are going through the full range of motion and keep good form.
- Apply Heat
In case the muscles still ache after two days, try applying heat or a cold pack. Heat stimulates the blood flow in muscles, eases tightness and helps them feel better. Try a warm cloth/towel or a heating pad. Be careful with any heating pad that you use, because if it is too hot, it can cause burns and further aggravate your pain and inflammation.
- Ice Packs
If a hot bath or a heating pad is not your kind of thing, give your muscles the cold treatment through the ice after you are done with the exercise. A hot bath will provide your body with an overall relaxation and pain relief, but icing can prevent any further muscle damage and speeds up the healing process. Relieve your aching muscles with crushed ice wrapped in a cloth or a waterproof bag. Whatever you do, do not apply ice directly to your skin.
- Supplements
Recovery-Boosting Supplements will not make your soreness o away in a jiffy, but they can help minimize the pain and discomfort you are feeling. For example, get some extra protein before and after your workout. That will help speed up the recovery and repair process of your muscles. Amino acids reduce the muscle soreness after you do a high volume workout.
- Anti-Inflammatory Medication
Of course, an obvious and fairly common solution to sore muscles is taking over-the-counter versions of medications that can reduce swelling and relieve pain. These anti-inflammatory medicines include aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen. However, this can only help once or twice, and it is not recommended to take such medications on a regular basis.
Try out these tips the next time your muscles get sore!
About the Author:
This article was written by Joseph Martin who regularly shares advice on physical health. In particular, natural remedies and therapies for aches, anxiety and every day induced stress. You can find more about him on Mellow By Design.
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