Top 9 Tactics to Help Fight Post-Exercise Soreness
Grumbling about aches and pains might be the first language among you and your training buddies. Muscle soreness occurs after intense exercise due to lactic acid build-up and small microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. There are a few foods you can include in your diet to help your body heal itself and soothe muscle soreness, as well as some other ways you can take care of your post-workout bod:
- Tart cherry Juice – a few recent studies showed that athletes who drank pure tart cherry juice reduced muscle soreness and pain post exercise due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
- Water – dehydration causes sore muscles and increases pain post exercise. Concentrating on hydration before, during and after exercise reduces soreness.
- Ginger & Turmeric – add ginger and turmeric to your food to decrease inflammation, especially if you experience joint pain.
- Recovery Nutrition – post-workout protein is used to repair microscopic tears in your muscles while carbs are used to replenish glucose and glycogen and spare protein from being used as energy.
- Foam Roller – foam rolling massages out muscle “knots.”
- Mobility – stretching, yoga and other mobility exercises helps muscles recover from soreness and lessen future soreness from exercise.
- Keep Moving – exercising lightly when you are really sore can help your muscles heal more quickly.
- Hot showers – hot water soothes sore muscles. If your muscles are painful beyond sore, alternative heat and cold.
- Topical magnesium – magnesium relaxes muscles. Our favorite is Life Flo’s Magnesium Sport Roll-On.
Become a Rock It Nutrition Coaching member and access our Top DIY Sports Food Recipes and Top Grab & Go Sports Products to learn how you can easily add tart cherry juice, ginger and turmeric to your arsenal of performance enhancing strategies. When you choose our one-year membership you will also receive our Sweat Rate Worksheet to help you customize your hydration plan. Plus, access our forums and chat with our coaches to learn even more! Click here to get started.
Check out our Pinterest boards for more ideas on using the tips from this blog:
Photo by Lyndon Avenue Photography.
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