Muscle soreness is one thing that seems to hold people back from starting a workout program. “I don’t want to go through that soreness after my workouts.” Well, muscle soreness is inevitable and that’s the feedback you get as your muscles recover and rebuild themselves. So, whether you are brand new to working out or a weight pumping veteran, here are some tips to reduce muscle soreness after workouts.
- Stretch your muscles – When it comes to every workout I have found it is best to warm up and stretch before a workout. And cool down properly and stretch after a workout. This helps lengthen the muscles and helps Stretching is your first line of defense after a good workout.
- Use Recovery Formula – There’s this window of time following in intense workout to restore when your glycogen stores in the muscles are low. You can restore them with a post workout drink with between a 3:1 to 5:1 carb-to-protein ratio. This helps improve recovery time. P90X® Results and Recovery Formula is optimized with the 4:1 ratio and makes a huge difference when it comes to reducing muscle soreness.
- Ice and heat your muscles – Icing your muscles right after a workout may keep inflammation down. Heat may work later on after the muscles have been been returned to normal. This might be where a hot bath or jacuzzi would come in to help with blood circulation in the muscles.
- Choose proper food. Eat food that keep inflammation to a minimum is always helpful. Consuming foods with certain nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytonutrients can reduce inflammation and improve health. Foods to avoid are things like dairy, vegetable oils, feedlot meats, red meats transfats, coffee, and alcohol.
Massage and foam roll – Getting a massage is super ideal for working out those kinks. Another great way is to get a foam roller like the Rumble Roller. As you roll over “hot spots” this is called Myofascial release. Programs like Tai Cheng and P90X2 have incorporated foam rolling into the warm ups and cool downs. In the long run, this can really tone down the soreness. although when you hit a hot spot the feeling can be intense for a few moments!- Exercise and get moving – One thing I think many people avoid after being sore is the very thing that made them sore in the first place.. exercise. Don’t give into this and don’t skip your next workout. Blood circulation is needed to get back into those muscles! You can get that blood to flowing again with a warm up and stretch. Another great way is to use the stretch and recovery workouts included in most Beachbody programs.
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