Muscle Soreness: Prevention and Relief

All athletes experience it….. sore muscles. Sometimes not too sore, other times so sore you might find yourself taking the stairs one step at a time. The best antidote here is PREVENTION! Do all you can prior to working out to enhance your performance, yet keep soreness in check. 

REMEDIES FOR SORE MUSCLES

1. Stay hydrated at all times

2. Be sure to include extra electrolytes if you’re either drinking an abundance of water daily and/or sweating a lot

3. Maintain a healthy eating plan. Be sure all your nutritional needs are being met. Invest in a meal plan from a reputable source (jillnix.com), that designs the plan according to you, your health needs, athletic needs, allergy needs, and so forth

4.Take 500-1,000 mg. Vitamin C both one hour pre-workout and again
immediately post-workout, depending on the intensity, duration, and your fitness level.

5. Warm-up

6. Stretch

7. Sip on carbohydrate/protein shake throughout your workout, or

8. Consume a 7-8% carbohydrate sports drink during workout, to slow the loss of glycogen.

9. Take glutamine post-workout. (See previous blog for dosage recommendations).

10. Drink PLENTY of water

11. Use a foam roller or good old-fashioned rolling pin over area of soreness

12. Active recovery: Perform light (30% normal lift weight) or simply engage in a light activity such as walking, a casual bike ride, or swim, for 30 minutes. Be sure to stretch well afterwards

13. Yoga

14. Sitz baths

15. Ice baths

16. Hot baths or showers, heating pad but use it wisely, cold generally should be applied first

17. Mixed cold/hot showers

18. Get a massage. If you're a good candidate, get a deep tissue massage, it’s not as comfortable, but works out the knots and stress

19. Use the homeopathic remedy “Arnica Montana”, post-workout

20. Rest / Ice / Compress / Elevate (RICE)

21. Rest/sleep

Something I do NOT suggest is getting into the habit of taking items such as Tylenol and/or Ibuprofen, these are for rare occasions, and recent studies have shown the damaging effects to the liver.  

WHAT IF THE SORENESS PERSISTS?

If you’re still experiencing soreness past the seven day mark, it’s time to get your area of question checked out by a physician.

Personally, I find many times individuals experience soreness and/or pain of the muscles and/or joints due to:

1. Improper warm-up or no warm-up at all

2. Not stretching sufficiently

3. Training way too long for their fitness level

4. Lifting too heavy of weights, too soon

5. Improper form/technique

6. Poor posture

7. Wearing worn-out shoes

8. Not heeding warning signs of the body

IS IT OKAY TO WORKOUT IF I’M SORE?

You’ll have to decide that for yourself. Olympic athletes, military, and the like work through it on a regular basis. Does this mean you can, too? Not necessarily, or perhaps we’d all be Olympic athletes, lol. You must decide what works for you, what you’re comfortable with, and learn from the experience. 

Health!