Experiencing muscle soreness after a strenuous workout is normal. Your muscles that also feel soreness if they are exposed to a new physical activity.
Here are natural ways to relieve soreness of muscles, as well as preventing and minimizing muscle soreness.
1. Eat right
Your sore muscles need mainly protein along with carbs and fats to repair itself. Getting extra proteins may help your body to recover faster.
2. Drink water and recovery sport drinks
If your muscles are sore from lifting weights, it is caused by small tears from yor muscle being stretched out. Drink a lot of water to flush out the lactic acid. Pineapple contains an enzyme called Bromelain, which helps to reduce pain and inflammation in joints. Bromelain is also good for muscle soreness.
Vitamin C and Vitamin E are very effective antioxidant defenders against damage to muscle tissues. Vitamin C is found in fruits such as oranges, berries, melon etc. Vitamin E can be found in leaf of green vegetables and whole grains.
3. Ice
Ice helps to reduce inflammation in your sore muscles. It is best to start using ice mostly in the first 2 days after a tough work out, where you think you may end up having a significant amount of muscle soreness.
4. Active recovery
Active recovery means that you stay active even though you are still sore. Stay active by doing an activity that is a lot less intense than the activity that caused your muscle soreness. Active recovery gets rid of muscle soreness and stiffness. It improves circulation to the muscles without over exerting your already sore muscles.
5. Massage
Massage works the tension out of the sore muscles. Using an electric handheld massager or form roller, you can massage the muscle for up to 20minutes to reduce soreness after a tough workout.
6. Heat
Heat will get rid of soreness by bringing more blood to the sore area thus, speeding up recovery. Heat bets rid of stiffness while relaxing your muscle. You can apply heat to your sore muscles for about 10 minutes by taking a hot bath or shower, using heat packs.
7. Epsom salt bath
Soak your affected muscles in a warm bath mixed with Epsom salt. Magnesium sulfate in this salt plays an important role in relieving muscle soreness. Epsom salt helps to restore body’s magnesium and sulfate by absorbing it through your skin.
Image courtesy of: lethow.com, thefitindian.com.
