Soreness after exercise

#1

What do you do about soreness after exercise? It seems to always happen to me. I’m already taking magnesium and trying to keep my electrolytes up.

(joievawter) #2

Roll your muscles out (it will hurt but you will feel better). You have trapped lactic acid.
Stretch & roll out your muscles after your workouts to lessen the soreness.
Also, if you are new to working out, this soreness will get better over time. Just don’t stop working out.
Also, make sure you are giving your body or the muscles you worked a rest day before working them again. (Regarding weight training)

You can still do activities on your recovery day.

#3

I was reading about foam rollers recently, maybe I’ll give that a try. Thanks :slight_smile:

(joievawter) #4

They are wonder workers. You can roll out before working out too. Just save stretching for after your work out is complete.

(Leslie Andersen ) #5

I had terrible pain in my shins and top of my feet after treadmill use. Started stretching my hamstrings before and after, and it was gone in 2 days. I also get pain and tension in my neck and shoulders ( mostly from desk work) But using the foam roller instantly relieves it!

#6

I try to stretch before and after a workout. I also incorporate some foam rolling and weekly yoga into my routine. Heat also helps…pad, sauna, jacuzzi, or just a hot bath/shower. I rarely get sore and when I do it’s always after an extreme workout.

(Tim Oboyle) #7

Here’s a cure in a bottle… Aleve

(Jake P) #8

I started doing CrossFit last year; I was only able to go for 3-4 months before I got busy with a new job. I only have one Kidney so taking NSAIDS are out of the question for me. Stretching before and after and also rolling out my muscles really cut down on the soreness. I also found this bad boy, The SuperNova. It looks like a torture device, but it feels so good.
Keeping Hydrated also helped me.

(barrytspencer) #9

If sometime well after exercise its called “delayed onset muscle soreness” (DOMS) usually the next day or so, for me particularly when you get out of bed in the morning :grinning:

The bonus is next time you wont have effects as bad, as your body gets used to the exercise(s) and if you are doing them regularly

When I experienced it (i.e just recently after a heavy leg day with a young guy I work with, as I usually do HIIT weights and cardio rather a bodybuilding type HEAVY weights only day) , 24 hrs later my legs felt a bit stiff and sore so I did aerobic activity for the legs to warm them up (C2 rower, jog-sprint-jog,some light kettlebell swings and squats, then foam rolled paying attention to any sore areas, some mobility exercises and finished off with a swim. Back into my normal routine the day after

Caffeine, Pomegranate juice, BCAA’s and Ginger apparently all decreases muscle soreness

Gradually build up volume and intensity in your workouts to lessen any muscle soreness

#10

some are anti-meds plus pain meds just alleviate your awareness of discomfort. it seems more helpful to do things that minimize discomfort from the start.

(Alex Dipego) #11

Soreness isn’t necessarily bad. That doesn’t mean it’s good either. Staying hydrated helps, having good amounts of collagen helps and dynamic stretching helps. Working out that sore muscle can also help pending on your intensity.

I can do a heavy leg workout and then a hard circuit working my legs the next day but I minimalist the weight portion but still work my legs with high volume with reps. It’s an adaptation. If you’re working too hard you can get stuck in recovery and then never really adapt (some people are genetic anamolies and can get away with it). Don’t compare yourself to others just listen to the body. If it’s bad, do less next time. If it’s really bad you may need to look at what you’re doing. You may be doing something wrong and it’s causing pain or you may just have imbalances where parts are compensating.

(Allan Misner) #12

I’d focus on three things:

  1. Get plenty of water.
  2. Make sure you are getting electrolytes.
  3. Active recovery (yes, it hurts to move, but once you’re moving it will hurt less).

Rest and repeat. Over time, two things will happen:

  1. Your body will adapt to the work and DOMS will be less of a thing.
  2. Your pain tolerence will go up and you may even begin enjoying it a bit.
#13

Many good suggestions above but thought I would also mention that BCAA supplements are supposed to help soreness and aid in muscle repair/growth. I use the Dotfit brand and I’ve been pretty pleased with it. I push myself pretty hard at the gym and I’m almost disappointed sometimes that I’m not more sore!

(Andrew) #14

What worked for me best was an Electrolyte supplement. However, be very careful that your preferred brand doesn’t contain too much sugar. The Electrolyte Plus Tablets from MyProtein is my go to brand… Zero Carbs.

(Jason Fletcher) #15

Mark Rippetoe made a good point on this.

(Jamie Hayes) #16

Of course there’s good soreness, being mild discomfort for up to 48 hours.
Then there’s the bad soreness, being acute pain.
Then, there’s muscular and joint soreness (ligaments and tendons).
Then there’s back and neck soreness.

Unfortunately your body doesn’t always give you the correct signals about how it will respond to a given exercise, the intensity and volume until the day after or even the day after that.

My answer is to figure our what you can tolerate, and slowly progress the intensity or weight. many people start too vigorously, especially in group programs and also with running, where it may take up to 8 weeks for the connective tissues to get stronger.

A common soreness is knee soreness. Having your gait checked before buying replacement athletic shoes is a good idea. Keep training! It’s a journey.

#17

I’d suggest everyone read “Body By Science” it explains everything you need to know about getting results without hurting yourself. You will learn about the different types of muscle fibers of the body, recovery, treadmill running vs IRL running, why cardio actually slows metabolism and a ton more.
You should feel something after workouts but repeating before you are fully recovered is not beneficial. If you work the right muscle fibers you should actually have 7 days between excercises.

(Allan Misner) #18

I agree, Body by Science is a good book. I interviewed Dr. McGuff, the shame was it was so early in my podcasting that I didn’t get all of value that I believe I could have.

Rippetoe’s point is spot on. You don’t have to get sore to get muscular growth or strength gains. The point is to challenge the muscle then feed it and rest. Adaptation comes from that cycle.

(Jacquie) #19

Love BBS! :grinning:

#20

always use bcaas and l-glutamine before and after lifting. the glutamine is very helpful with recovery.