How to Alleviate Muscle Aches and Pains After Working Out

There is nothing like the feeling of an endorphin rush and satisfaction after a tough and sweaty workout. But then muscle soreness eventually sets in. Muscle aches and pains or soreness related to working out is extremely common and is known as DOMS or delayed-onset muscle soreness.

This sets in after a day or two after a particularly intense workout routine and is due to microscopic tears within your muscle tissue that came about due to strenuous physical activity. This tough reminder of how you were able to push your body to its limits actually serves a real biological purpose while your body is in recovery.

Essentially, pain is your body’s way of telling yourself that you avoid overtraining while it’s recovering. In the event that you have increased the intensity of volume of your workout plan or completely changed it, you can’t avoid DOMS. You can, however, do some simple things to help reduce the inevitable aches and pains to help you heal faster.

What to Do Right After Your Workout Session

• Enjoy a cold bath. There’s a reason why professional and college sports team locker rooms have an ice bath. Studies have shown that athletes who soak themselves in an ice bath for at least 10 minutes feel significantly reduced muscle aches and pains. If an ice bath isn’t possible, consider bathing or showering in really cold water instead.
• Apply heat later. After several hours following your workout session, apply heat to your sore muscles. Tight muscles are a significant cause of increased soreness for plenty of people, so loosening them up and stimulating blood flow through heat application could help make the healing process faster.
• Eat anti-inflammatory foods. Pineapple, for instance, contains bromelain, which is an enzyme that has anti-inflammatory properties comparable to the efficacy of anti-inflammatory drugs. You could also opt for bromelain supplements.

• Move those sore muscles. While this might seem counterintuitive, you can lessen the soreness if you use the same sore muscles in a non-resistant and non-aggravating manner the following day. For instance, if you have sore muscle from biking, consider a short hike or swimming.
• Massage away those aches and pains. In the event that your muscles are still super sore and you don’t like the idea of someone massaging them, opt for a self-massage instead. Massaging your sore muscles with herbal oil for skin might be a better option since you could easily control the pressure. A massage can stretch out your muscles to alleviate tension buildup and relax stiff muscles.

• Apply ice on affected muscles. While an ice bath will help ward off soreness right after your workout, putting ice on all affected muscles would help relieve soreness, you’ll feel the following day after your workout by reducing inflammation.

So if you want to bounce back easily from your workouts, try these tips for relieving muscle pains and aches. And remember that the most practical way to prevent soreness is to always warm up and stretch your muscles before exercising, make sure your form is correct, and hydrate yourself.