Muscle Soreness

Muscle soreness associated with exercise is known as delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS. DOMS can make it difficult to walk, reduce your strength, or make your life uncomfortable for a couple of days.

What Causes Muscle Soreness?

One of the consequences of vigorous exercise—heavy weight lifting, a tough day of speed work on the track, or the stairclimber at the gym—is an accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles. Lactic acid is a normal byproduct of muscle metabolism, but it can irritate muscles and cause discomfort and soreness.
But lactic acid isn't the only culprit in DOMS. In fact, lactic acid is removed from muscle anywhere from just a few hours to less than a day after a workout, and so it doesn't explain the soreness experienced days after a workout. What is it then that causes DOMS for days after exercise? The answer is swelling in the muscle compartment that results from an influx of white blood cells, prostaglandins (which are anti-inflammatory), and other nutrients and fluids that flow to the muscles to repair the "damage" after a tough workout. The type of muscle damage I am referring to is microscopic (it occurs in small protein contractile units of the muscle called myofibrils) and is part of the normal process of growth in the body called anabolism. It is not the type of damage or injury that you see your doctor about. The swelling and inflammation can build up for days after a workout, and that's why muscle soreness may be worse two, three, or even four days after a workout (it can take up to five days for muscles to heal completely depending on the intensity of the workout).

How to Relieve Sore Muscles

1. Stretch

Stretching is your first line of defense after a good workout. When you train, you contract your muscles, and the muscle fibers get shorter. Lengthening them after a workout promotes mobility, and can lead to a more thorough recovery. While fitness experts can’t seem to agree on this strategy—one Australian study claims that stretching had no impact on sore muscles—it certainly won’t hurt, especially if your flexibility is limited. If you’re new to stretching (or at least new to stretching routines), check out five of our favorite total-body mobility moves.

2. Foam roll

Using a foam roller to massage your sore muscles after a workout can significantly reduce DOMS, according to a recent study in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. Give each major muscle group at least five rolls, starting with your calves and working your way up your body. Spend extra time on sore spots. For a more detailed tutorial on foam rolling, check out Tai Cheng.

 
3. Massage your sore spots

Don’t limit foam rolling to your post-workout routine. Do it between workouts to ease muscle soreness and boost mobility. Indeed, to see significant improvements in the latter, you have to foam roll even on the days you don’t train, report scientists at the University of Oregon.

4. Eat for rapid recovery.
Even if you’re eating at a calorie deficit, you want to make sure to get enough healthy proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, all which play important roles in repairing and maintaining muscles, and warding off sore muscles. Beyond that, consider strategically-timed protein supplementation. A couple hours after working out and when you sleep are two times when protein synthesis (muscle repair) increases, so a post-exercise scoop of Beachbody Performance Recover and a pre-bedtime scoop ofBeachbody Performance Recharge assures your body access to amino acids. “Amino acids are your body’s building blocks,” explains Beachbody’s Director of Nutrition Content, Denis Faye, “consuming them at the right times assures they’ll be there when you need them.”

Anti-inflammation food: Ginger, Gingsen, tummeric, cinnamon in the hot tea, it helps move the built up inflammation product out of system faster. 

5. Get heated with Epsom salt, hot spring mineral bath.

Heat increases circulation, especially focused heat like that of a jacuzzi, making it a powerful recovery tool between workouts—emphasis on “between workouts.” Immediately after a training session, such heat can exacerbate inflammation, and the jets can pound your already damaged muscles, resulting in more muscle soreness instead of less.

 
6. Favor fatty acids

“When your muscles are sore, inflammation is a significant part of the problem,” says Denis Faye, Beachbody’s senior director of nutrition. To help reduce this inflammation, consume foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids—such as salmon, free-range meat, flax, avocado, and walnuts—to your diet. The natural anti-inflammatory properties of these foods can help dial back soreness after overexertion.

 
7. Keep moving

The last thing you want to do when everything hurts is to move, but that’s exactly what you need to do. If you’re using a Beachbody program, it probably comes with a recovery workout or two. These workouts are designed to help your body work out kinks and soreness. They can be used anytime you need them, can’t be done too often, and always leave you feeling much better than before you started.

If your program doesn’t have a recovery workout, a gentle yoga class or going on an easy hike are good options. Fitness pros call this kind of activity “active recovery,” and if you find yourself winded or unable to hold a conversation while you do it, you’re over-exerting yourself. If you want to be technical about it, wear a heart rate monitor and stay below 140 beats per minute.

8. Take Arnica Pills

When 82 marathon runners took 5 Arnica Pills twice a day on the day before, the day of, and 3 days after their marathon race they had less soreness than the marathon runners who didn't take arnica pills.

9. Take CoQ10

CoQ10 or coenzyme Q10 is very important for muscle cell function and you can reduce your soreness by 50% when taking 100mg of CoQ10 daily according to a study done at Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center.

references

https://draxe.com/anti-inflammatory-foods/

https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/blog/recovery-done-right-8-ways-prevent-muscle-soreness

http://www.nowloss.com/How-to-get-rid-of-muscle-soreness-after-a-workout.htm