Workout Tips: Dealing with Sore Muscles
Intense workouts are our favorites for a huge variety of reasons. The flip side is that after attending that one amazing CrossFit class, you can barely get yourself to lift your class than to show up to tomorrow’s class. What do you do? Do you skip class because you are too sore?
Definitely not! Haven’t you heard the famous “No Pain, No Gain” slogan? You will be showing up to tomorrow’s class and you will nail the workout. Meanwhile, here are some things you can do to help ease the soreness.
1: Buy Some Foam Rollers:
The best thing for sore muscles can be to increase or stimulate blood flow in those particular areas. You can opt for getting a massage, but the thing with them is that they are expensive. A cheaper alternative would be to buy foam rollers and use them to apply pressure to the sore muscle group, stimulate blood circulation there and observe as the pain levels drop.
2: Getting Your Stretching Done Right:
Warm up is important. Don’t let anyone talk you into believing otherwise. Make the most out of your warm up by incorporating some stretches in it too. It lengthens tight muscles and can help prepare them for the intense workout that you are about to get started on.
3: Load Up on Omega-3:
Foods like spinach and fish are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Plenty of research suggests that they these fatty acids can help lower the soreness as well as the inflammation that your body may be experiencing. If you are not particularly fond of eating spinach or fish, take fish oil capsules. They are great alternatives.
Bonus points: omega-3 fatty acids have plenty of amazing health benefits too!
4: A Hot Bath/ Heating Pads:
If you have a bathtub at home, treat yourself to a hot bath. Heat helps blood to flow towards the sore muscles and reduce the pain. To take the hot bath to an entirely different level, put some Epsom salt in the water too. They are known for their muscle relaxant properties.
If you do not have a bathtub, you can make the most of heating pads and apply them directly to the place where it hurts the most.
5: Stay Away from Painkillers:
While it may be tempting to just swallow a painkiller and let it handle the pain, opt for a natural solution to it. Warm milk with some turmeric in it can work as a great natural alternative to pain-killers. Turmeric is widely regarded as an excellent remedy to deal with inflammation.
These are just some of the ways you can deal with muscle soreness. If the pain that you experience is too much that it is actually affecting your mobility for longer than 72 hours, consult a doctor at your earliest. It may be that you may have accidentally actually injured yourself. If that is the case, rest may be the thing you need.