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Finding the perfect workout routine is rewarding and exciting. As you gain increasing strength and capabilities your muscles will become stronger, while you burn more fat. The advantage of having a regular workout routine is that your body is still burning calories at rest, increasing metabolism. But there’s one thing you might hate after a good workout: post workout pain.
When beginning a new program, there can be quite some difficulty in getting out of bed with sore and achy muscles. When the body is sore from working out, it is very tempting to just do nothing all day, but that actually isn’t a good idea.
In fact, the opposite is true. When the muscles are painful from working out, it is a good thing and a sign that your body is getting stronger. The term for this is “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness“, also known as DOMS. As your muscles gain more mass and burn more fat, little microscopic tears form as a source of the soreness.
Along with inflammation. Don’t worry, this is normal for beginning athletes.
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How to Heal Post Workout Pain
If you do find that you are experiencing pain or discomfort, here are 4 ways to remedy the soreness that you have.
1. Drink water
In order to flush out toxins released by your workout, you need to drink plenty of water. To make it easier to drink, you might want to try one of these infused water ideas.
2. Keep exercising
As crazy as it sounds, working out when experiencing sore muscles, is an optimal way to make them stronger. As you exercise, your body heats up, creating more circulation within the body. As heat flows, it brings along with it healing nutrients and increased blood flow. This action flushes out any toxins that you have at the sight while warming it up, thus allowing for faster healing.
Don’t expect to beat any world records at this point. It is best to take it a little easier, making the injured site prone to quickly heal. Your other best bet is to simply workout another area that isn’t sore while giving the painful area a break until it feels better.
Keep in mind to always move, even if the only thing you can do is walk it off. Take it easy and be gentle while your body is healing.
3. Exercise a different part of your body
When athletes train, they are usually inoculated to a certain routine for a few weeks or months. The next time that the activity is performed, there is less chance of soreness or fatigue.
Muscle has somewhat of a memory. It is important to change up your routine regularly to challenge your muscle and work on new areas from time to time. Performing the same exercise over and over again can cause a delay in results.
Therefore, work an area for a while, allow your body to get acclimated to the conditioning, then work new areas so that your muscles get stronger.
Keep in mind, that if you are so sore that it is hard to do daily activities such as brushing your teeth or performing tasks at work, then you are too sore and need to rest. Soreness should never be so bad that you can’t perform daily functions of life.
4. Ice the pain, then heat it up!
Applying heat to an already inflamed area is counterproductive. Instead, apply ice or a cold compress, then heat it up with a warm towel or in a bath.
The coldness alleviates any pain and inflammation, so it’s a great idea to go ahead and do that first. Then when the swelling has gone down, apply a warm pack, which will draw in blood and flush nutrients to the area.
5. Take a healing supplement
Another way to relieve pain after a vigorous workout is to take an anti-inflammatory supplement, such as Previnex Joint Health PLUS supplements which will bring down the soreness and inflammation. As always, before taking a drug over the counter, it’s best to check with your physician first or ask your pharmacist in case of a potential reaction. If you already are on medication, then you should check with your doctor before taking any new supplements.
Exercise is as beneficial for your body as it is fun. As you get deeper into your workout routine, you will find that muscle soreness goes away usually within a couple of days. If your muscles are too sore for you to function, consider resting until you feel better and take it easy.
Always remember that if you feel too uncomfortable, that the best thing you can do for your body is to allow your muscles to heal.
Were these tips helpful to you? What is a home remedy that works for you in relieving any post-workout pain? Share your thoughts!
Exercise more when you are sore and tired makes perfect sense. The more you exercise, the stronger you will become. The stronger you are, the less you will hurt.
Ice and then heat always seems to help. Sometimes I do it three or four times before the pain goes away totally. Ice just seems to numb the area and then heat soothes it.
I agree with this. You should stick with your exercise routine. If you stop, your muscles have to get used to it all over again. The best thing to do is keep doing it.
It’s so true! My body tries to tell me to just take it easy, but if I push myself to do even a small workout on my “off” days, then I feel so much better. I just mix it up a little and that seems to work.
I do live by the anti-inflammatory rule. I take an ibuprofen daily for a medical condition and I noticed a big difference for my post workout pain once I started doing this. I wouldn’t recommend doing it every day, unless you are doctor supervised, but it does help.
These tips are great. I have always been told that you should work one area one day and another the next. Of course this is only when you are trying to build muscle. Cardio can be done daily.
I only use ice once and then heat as often as I need to. I like to get massages too. A deep-tissue massage feels great when your body/muscles are sore.
This is true. You have to be careful though. It is important to know the difference between soreness and pain. If you are in pain, stop! If you are sore, carry on.