How to Relieve Muscle Soreness After a Workout

We live in a beautiful world where people are constantly battling to find all the right solutions to their weight loss problems. It's a good thing that people are starting to realize that clean eating and physical activity are very important parts of a successful, healthy and balanced life. But if you've been performing exceptionally well on your physical exercise routines, you most likely came across muscle soreness afterwards.

You ever hear people tell you that when your muscles get sore after a good workout, it's a sign that your workout was great and you're moving in the right direction? Well, it's actually a myth. When you're having muscle soreness after a workout, it actually means that you've pushed yourself too hard or you're doing something new.

Delayed-onset muscle soreness can make you feel the sensation of burning while your muscles are recovering and building but the discomfort can be hugely reduced if you follow the correct steps.

Without further ado, here are 8 simple steps to avoid muscle soreness.

What Exactly are Sore Muscles?

Before we get into the steps on how to relieve sore muscles, we first need to know what sore muscles are and why we even get it. When you perform your workout routines very hard, you can develop micro-tears in your muscle tissue, eventually leading to delayed-onset muscle soreness.

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It takes approximately 12-14 hours after a tough workout to develop sore muscles and it can still be sore for up to 2 or 3 days.

DOMS may lead to stiffness, swelling, and problem in moving the joints that are affected.

Stretch

When you work out, your muscles are contracting and the muscle fibre shrinks. You can lengthen them by stretching post workout which can improve recovery and mobility, which is an effective strategy to treat sore muscles.

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Hydrate

Experts say there is a link between muscle soreness and dehydration. Though more research needs to be done on the topic, dehydration surely increases soreness.

When muscles break down, they release toxins and waste products that need to escape the body. Drinking enough water will help in doing that. Here are 10 Proven Benefits of Drinking Water for Weight Loss.

Use a Foam Roll

After your workout session, you can massage your sore muscles with foam roller, which will help with sore muscle recovery. Doing this can help reduce DOMS, claims the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. Roll 5 times on each major muscle and spend additional time on the sore muscles.

Don't know where to find a roller? No worries! You can take a look at this muscle roller stick that helps to relieve muscle soreness, cramping and tightness, legs and back recovery.

Massage the Sore Spots

Don't just only do the foam rolling process to post-workout sessions. You can also just do it in between the workout sessions. Doing this can help you increase your mobility.

In addition, scientists from the University of Oregon say you can do the foam rolling on the day where you're not training.

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Eat Properly

Making sure that your body is getting sufficient protein, fats and carbs helps tremendously to relieve muscle soreness. Make sure you're having enough protein as they are the most important nutrient you need for for sore muscles relief.

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Take a Hot Water Bath

Blood circulation increases with heat, which can become a powerful tool when it comes to recover and relief. However, it's not recommended to take a hot water bath right after your workout as it may cause muscle inflammation and lead to further muscle soreness that is unnecessary.

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Stand by for an hour before you jump into the Jacuzzi after a tough workout session.

Consume Fatty Acids

Sore muscles is also inflammation. You can help reduce inflammation by consuming foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids like walnuts, avocados, salmon, flaxseeds, and meat.

Move

Moving is probably the last thing anybody would want to do when every muscle in the body hurts. But the truth is, that's exactly what you need to do in order to speed up the recovery process.

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Take a supplement

If you're the supplement type of person, these Optimum Nutrition L-Glutamin Muscle Recovery supplements which (obviously) relieve muscle soreness are selling really well on amazon. There are 120 pills inside and each contains 1000mg.