Help Heal Sore Muscles
When you exercise, your muscles get stronger by breaking down and building themselves up stronger than before. However, this process is also what makes your muscles sore for days after a workout, and makes you so uncomfortable. Try these tips to help heal your sore muscles after a workout.
Massage Your Muscles
Many people find relief from sore muscles by massaging their muscles after a particularly taxing workout. When you exercise, you put great strain on your muscles that causes them to tear, and grow back stronger. Massaging your muscles can help this process go more quickly. When you massage your muscles, you increase blood flow to the area to help the tissues repair quickly. Besides these benefits, getting a post-workout massage can help your muscles to relax. The more you tense your muscles, the tighter they will be. This extra tension in your muscles can make them more sore and painful, instead of less. Massaging and relaxing these muscles helps you be able to heal and grow stronger more quickly.
Take a Warm Bath
Another way to help your muscles relax after a workout is to take a warm bath. The heat in the water reduces the inflammation around your muscles and joints, combining heat therapy and hydrotherapy to help you release muscle tension. Hot water can soothe your muscles and reduce inflammation. You can also add oils, Epsom salts, and more to further relax your muscles. Many people find the morning after their workout to be the time when their muscles are most sore. Taking a warm bath the night after you complete a workout helps loosen your muscles before you become too sore.
Stretch!
Each of these recovery options can help you minimize the soreness after a workout, but the most important step is to stretch immediately after completing your workout. Stretching helps you cool down, minimizing the strain on your muscles and helping you not be as sore the next day. The increased flexibility also allows you more mobility after your workout. Continuing to move and stretch your muscles makes it easier to move without soreness the next day.
Sore muscles are one of the most uncomfortable parts of completing a workout. The day after a hard workout can be nearly unbearable if you are dealing with sore muscles. Try out some of these tips to make your muscles less sore after a workout.
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