Ever hiked to a mountain, ran long distances, or even worked out at the gym? If it’s your first time engaging in workout activities, you must experience muscle soreness, and in some cases, your walking is affected. It’s a consequence of overworking your body muscles.
Workout damages the cells in the muscles through what is called microscopic tears on the muscle fibers. The body responds by sending fluid to the damaged area to build new, stronger muscles. That process is what leads to the pain you experience after the workout.
Therefore you need a perfect recovery process to ensure complete healing, and here are a few things you need to do.
Balanced diet
Your body needs many proteins for muscle repair, carbohydrates to supply energy for your next workout, and healthy fats crucial in lubricating your joints. Thus you have to fuel up before and after. You, therefore, should get something like a bowl of quinoa and steamed veggies, chicken, or some nosh on sliced bread. Then you can have a fruit-like apple pre and after a workout. Remember, the key to exercise is not to go hungry.
Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!
Dehydration is a great enemy of post-workout recovery. You need fluid to flush the damaged cells from the muscles, which means having plenty of water in your body. Gulp like 8 ounces of water every 15 to 30 minutes of the exercise. Skipping this step will not only make the soreness more intense but also the condition will last longer. Just step on the scale – how many kilos did you lose? For every lost pound, take 8 ounces of water.
Warming up
Before you begin the workout, learn more and take some 10-15 minutes before to do some stretches and some easy aerobic exercises. You can do some slow jog and a brisk walk to set the mood and get your muscles ready for some serious activity. That allows you to get enough blood to the body muscles before the rigorous exercise. If you’re running in cold weather, your muscles will get some warmth. The activity primes your muscles for post rebuilding activity and as well prevents injury.
Cooldown
After you have worked out for some time and want to go into a resting mood, you must gradually cool down your body. Take time to slow your workout instead of just stopping cold turkey. That’ll ensure the fluid doesn’t pool in the muscles and joints. Again, if your heart is pumping, you need to take some 15 minutes to allow your heart to return to normal.
Some rubdown will do
Getting some good professional massage helps in releasing tightness, and therefore you can relax. Massage done using the correct cream will relief muscle soreness and allows the blood to flow to the areas with soreness and push the fluid out of the body. That speeds up the recovery.
Post-workout soreness can be so discomfiting, and if not handled well, you could suffer pain for a long time. Get some good cream and get a professional to rub it on your muscles as they massage you. That will relieve you from muscle pain.
