With all the things that you have to deal with every day like driving through traffic, finishing piles of reports and training for hours at the gym, suffering from sore muscles sometimes become a common struggle.
Sore muscles cause a certain degree of pain and discomfort. Also, soreness limits your productivity so you would want to get rid of them right away. Before you learn the ways on how to manage sore muscles, you have to understand first what’s causing it.
What’s Causing Your Sore Muscles?
Sore muscles are usually experienced after you do your workout routines, play sports games, or finish daily household chores. Sometimes, you could even get sore muscles even if you’re just sitting at your desk for a whole day while typing out reports. It usually happens due to prolonged use of muscles or doing something your body is not accustomed to.
Here are the typical causes of sore muscles:
• You overexerted your muscles after a particularly intense routine. Overexertion happens when you do something beyond your usual routine. Your muscles would suffer from stress and minor injuries, which typically result in the soreness that you endure the following day (or days). This is commonly referred to as delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
• You didn’t give your muscles enough time to heal after a workout. You might suffer from overuse injury if you don’t let your muscles heal before beating them up again, making the trauma to your muscles accumulate.
• You did not observe proper body mechanics when doing your activities. Improper body mechanics would put unnecessary tension and weight to your muscles. Whether you are standing, sitting, lifting, or moving things, proper body mechanics could help you maximize the effort you put in your work by using the appropriate muscle groups. Not observing this could lead to injuries involving not only your muscles but your ligaments as well.
How To Manage Your Sore Muscles?
1. Stretch It Out
During a workout, you contract your muscles repeatedly. Stretching them out again after your routine could lengthen them and facilitate their faster recovery from the tension they’ve been subjected to. Research shows that stretching your muscles before and after exercise could significantly reduce the soreness that you would experience for two days after your workout.
2. Eat Protein
Your muscles could recover faster if you give them the nutrients that they need. Protein-rich foods help rebuild your muscles. Protein itself serves to maintain and repair your body tissues. Studies show that protein supplementation after exercise could facilitate the recovery of your muscles’ performance and function, and thereby help relieve soreness.
3. Put Ice On It
Inflammation is your body’s natural defense to heal itself. Unfortunately, too much inflammation could make your muscle swell, leading to pain and limited movement. It has been shown that applying ice immediately after exercise could significantly reduce the pain that you’d be suffering afterward by reducing inflammation. Ice packs can be found in a range of sizes and shapes, depending on which body part you are looking to treat. For example, if your neck muscles are tense and sore from a long day of working at the computer, you might want to ice them with a specialty ice pack for neck pain.
4. Indulge In A Massage
A body massage has lots of benefits including better blood circulation and lymph drainage. Research shows that a massage could also warm your body and ease the tension and tightness in your muscles. Doing so could reduce muscle soreness and improve your body’s mobility.
5. Soak In A Warm Bath
After putting ice as an immediate measure to relieve pain and soreness, you would be free to immerse yourself in a warm, relaxing bath. Warm water would facilitate blood circulation, speeding up the healing process in your muscles. The heat would also penetrate your body and help relieve the tension in your muscles.
6. Drink Water
Replace the fluids that you have lost during your physical activity by drinking enough water and electrolytes. Hydration could facilitate faster healing. Also, be reminded that your muscles are made of 75% water so replenishing them could aid in their recovery and reduce the soreness altogether. Leafy greens can also be helpful because of their high antioxidant content.
7. Move It
Movement might cause discomfort but you should welcome it. Do not overexert yourself but don’t limit your body’s movement either. Walk or jog lightly. Moving your sore muscles could improve heat and circulation, making you recover faster.
Recover Right
Managing sore muscles doesn’t have to be costly. However, if your discomfort persists even after applying these tips, you might need to consult a healthcare provider for further treatment.
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I hope you enjoyed this article about how to manage sore muscles.
Interested in more articles about injury prevention and pain reduction?
Read My Posts:
- How To Keep Your Hip Flexors Healthy & Injury Free
- Helpful Abdominal Hernia Prevention & Treatment Exercises
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