What to do about muscle pain?

A day of intensive exercise can give you a wonderfully satisfied feeling. However, getting out of your bed the next morning may cause some more problems! When your muscle pains make you crooked, it simply prevents your movements from getting strong ... And the worst part is perhaps that the pain can easily last for a few days if you have been really busy. Https://herbalsdaily.com

The good news is that you can indeed take measures to limit the damage. What to do about muscle pain? We will elaborate on that question in today's blog!

What is muscle pain?

To know how to reduce muscle pain, we will of course first have to see how muscle pain is actually caused. That is not, as many people think, due to a surplus of lactic acid. Although this waste material is stored in large quantities during exercise, it is then immediately removed again.

The cause is therefore more in the muscle damage that occurs during training. With a heavy load your muscles tear a little bit in many places. That sounds more serious than it is: your muscles actually grow because this damage is repaired with extra tissue. So you need it to become stronger. Unfortunately, that process is accompanied by a good dose of muscle pain in the days that follow!

What can you do about muscle pain?

Muscle pain cannot be completely eliminated immediately if you experience it. The best way to remedy it is to prevent it as much as possible in the first place. If your muscles are less severely damaged, they also need less painful recovery time. So make sure you never do very intense training when you are not in shape.

Always start quietly at your own level. In addition, good warm-ups are essential. If your muscles are still cold and stiff, they will be 'frightened' much harder by the sudden effort. And you feel that when you wake up the next morning!

There are various options, both immediately after training and during the course of the following day. We give you the four most important tips to consider after your workout if you want to relieve your muscles a little!

1. Eating after training

Muscle pain is, as said, caused by damage to your muscles. The sooner things are recovered, the sooner the pain has disappeared. And the best way to speed up recovery is to ensure that your body has all the necessary building blocks for it. So eat a good meal after your workout, preferably within half an hour.

Of course you need proteins in it: after all, they provide the amino acids that make up your muscles. However, carbohydrates are also important. These supplement the glycogen reserves, so that you can make new efforts soon after your training. Carbohydrates also help you to process those proteins better. A protein shake works, but with a bowl of curd cheese with fruit or rice with some chicken fillet you can go a long way!

2. Take a warm bath

To speed up the recovery of your muscles, you want to keep them warm and relaxed . A good cooling down is of course the first thing you have to do, but it doesn't have to stop there. A shower or a hot bath is also an ideal tool for loosening the muscles. Not a bad idea, therefore, to start using those showers in the dressing room!

And do you want to tackle it in a really luxurious way and completely unwind? Then you can also sit in the sauna for half an hour. Many gyms have the option to do this themselves, so you don't have to leave the house extra.

3. Do gentle exercises

When every movement hurts, more training is probably the last thing you want. And intense exercise you must not do. Your muscles need their recovery time. However, you can choose to do some quiet exercises carefully. Twenty minutes of very light cardio, for example, helps to keep your blood circulation better after training.

A round of jogging the next day also boosts blood circulation. This keeps the supply of nutrients to the muscles going and they are loosened enough to reduce the pain.

4. Ensure adequate sleep

The importance of sleep is often thoroughly underestimated. You can perform all your workouts perfectly and eat ideal meals, but if you do not sleep well, the results will continue to be disappointing. The reason is very simple: it is only when you sleep that your body really has the opportunity to fully recover. In addition, various hormones are produced in your sleep that will benefit you for the rest of the day.