How to Prevent Sore Muscles After a Workout
Although exercise is beneficial to your body and overall health, sore muscles can be difficult to bear after working out and prevent you from hitting the gym as often as you would like. Also, muscle soreness can affect your success with your workout goals. But you can continue to reap the rewards of exercising without remaining extremely sore for long periods of time by following some time-tested remedies.
Instructions
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Keep yourself hydrated and limit muscle cramping by drinking at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water daily. Drink sports drinks to supply your body with needed electrolytes.
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Maintain your overall health. Treat your body well by eating healthy to assist with decreasing tension and stress.
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Apply a cool ice pack to your sore muscle areas for 15 minutes to reduce inflammation and soreness. Ice each area two to three times a day.
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Lightly massage your sore muscle areas. Take your time, and massage each muscle slowly because some areas might be sensitive to touch.
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Take a hot bath. Fill your bathtub at least half way full with hot --- but bearable --- water. Allow your body to soak for at least 15 to 20 minutes, slowly letting the soreness leave your muscles.
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Engage in a warm-up routine before beginning your workout. Do a 10-minute aerobic warm-up, and rotate your joints around to get your blood circulating.
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Stretch your sore muscles. Focus on stretching the parts of your body that you will use during your workout. Hold each stretch for 20 seconds and move on to the next one.
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Engage in light workouts while you are experiencing muscle pain and soreness. Decrease the intensity of your usual workout routine, and allow your muscles enough time to recover.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not rush your stretches, which can result in physical injury.
Do not overexert yourself while exercising, or you might feel the urge to avoid working out the next day.
Avoid bouncing while stretching to reduce the possibility of injury.
References
- Photo Credit stretch image by Frenk_Danielle Kaufmann from Fotolia.com
