Recover Like a Pro: Say Goodbye to Muscle Pain and Soreness with These Expert Strategies
Sometimes, when you push yourself too hard with excessive bench presses and intense aerobic exercises, you feel completely drained. Your muscles ache unbearably, and you start to feel like you’re sick. This is a clear sign that you’re suffering from the adverse effects of overtraining.
Every athlete, at some point in their life, experiences a day when they feel exceptionally powerful. On that day, they engage in a vigorous exercise routine beyond their normal routine, and the next day, they experience pain in their muscles and joints.
Many young individuals relentlessly exercise a particular body part every day without giving it proper rest, depriving their muscles of recovery and relief, which is why they experience such intense pain in their muscles.
Muscles can experience various types of pain. Sometimes, you may only feel a little fatigue, while other times the pain can be so intense that moving or performing any tasks with that muscle or body part becomes impossible. So, what should you do when you experience this kind of pain in your muscles?
Most people endure the pain and wait for it to subside. Unfortunately, during this waiting period, you not only waste precious time and disrupt your training routine, but your progress also slows down. Now, scientists have discovered several solutions to this problem that will help alleviate muscle pain and accelerate recovery.
You can avoid the dangers of overtraining by following a vigorous exercise routine, using proper technique, and adjusting the sets and reps according to your needs. However, remember that simply changing your exercise routine is not enough. You must also ensure proper rest and provide your body with the necessary nutrients to enable your muscles to recover and prepare for the next routine.
Healthy athletes mostly experience four types of pain: immediate muscle discomfort after exercise (muscle pain), delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), fuel depletion, and the negative effects of overtraining.
Apart from these, there are certain dangerous diseases that can cause severe muscle pain. If your pain persists even after trying the techniques mentioned, it is advisable to consult your doctor immediately.
We are only addressing the relief of muscle pain caused by exercise. If you are experiencing pain in your joints, tendons, or ligaments, these solutions may not alleviate your discomfort. In such cases, separate treatment may be required.
DOMS — Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
This is the most common pain experienced by bodybuilders and is found in most athletes at all levels. The leading cause is the strain on muscle fibres during exercise. Various chemical substances accumulate in the muscles, which are released when the fibres are strained, leading to increased pain. This is why the pain intensifies during the 1 to 3 days following exercise.
DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) often results in muscle swelling, preventing nutrients from reaching the muscles. When muscles are damaged, chemicals such as prostaglandins and histamine are produced, which prolong the duration of pain.
Can you avoid DOMS with a Vigorous exercise routine?
Some scientists suggest that athletes should stretch their muscles thoroughly the day after their exercise routine. This helps to some extent in relieving muscle pain.
Many athletes believe that if you warm up properly before exercise and cool down fully afterwards, you can significantly reduce the risk of DOMS. Make sure to incorporate stretching exercises during warm-up and cool-down sessions. This will reduce muscle soreness.
If you engage in light activities like gentle exercises or light chores during rest days, it increases blood flow to those areas. The affected areas receive nutrients through blood circulation, allowing the muscle fibres to recover quickly from fatigue and pain. DOMS is not a cause for concern.
Most individuals who exercise regularly experience this. When you exercise with weights, your muscles undergo new stress. In this process, your muscle fibres break. Rest and nutrition help your muscle fibres become stronger before the next exercise routine. This process contributes to physical development.
Fight with Inflammation
Whenever you sustain an injury, it’s common for that area to experience inflammation, whether it’s visibly apparent or not. There are several medications available that are non-steroidal but can help reduce swelling.
Even without medication, you can alleviate swelling and pain through techniques like applying ice, heat, or massaging. Nowadays, most coaches and trainers will advise you to try these methods. Each of the recommended approaches has its benefits and drawbacks.
The Marvel of Medications
These medications are not steroids; they assist in reducing swelling. When an injury occurs, prostaglandins and other chemical substances are produced in the muscles, which increase pain and swelling.
These medications either inhibit or significantly reduce the production of these substances. It is believed by scientists that these medications can alleviate post-exercise pain (muscle pain) to some extent but may not completely eliminate it.
Many athletes misuse these medications by taking excessive amounts. These medications should only be taken occasionally when the pain becomes unbearable.
Excessive use can lead to stomach ulcers. Consult a doctor for complete information about the side effects of these medications. Always take these medications with food or immediately after eating.
Heat and Cold Treatment
Most exercise experts believe that applying ice is beneficial in the initial stages of pain. It is known to provide rapid relief for muscle pain. By immediately applying ice to the affected area, you can significantly reduce the pain the following day when muscle fibres are torn.
Ice helps reduce swelling, and it also slows down the metabolism of the muscles, facilitating quicker recovery. You can either use an ice pack or place ice cubes in a plastic bag and apply it to the injured area.
Remember to always wrap the ice pack in a cloth or towel and avoid direct contact with the skin. You can apply ice for approximately 20 minutes.
Heat therapy can also help combat muscle pain, especially when there is no apparent injury to the muscles. You can use heat therapy approximately 12 hours after your exercise routine.
Heat increases blood flow to the muscles, which provides nourishment to the affected areas and helps them recover faster from pain. Avoid applying heat therapy to the injured area or any visibly swollen area before 72 hours have passed.
You can use a heating pad or soak a towel in warm water and apply it to the affected area. You can even warm the towel on a stove.
Pain Relief Balm & Ointment
Most pain relief balms & ointments provide temporary relief from pain, but the pain often returns afterwards. Many of these creams contain ingredients that prevent pain signals from reaching the brain, thereby reducing your perception of pain.
Some creams also contain substances that decrease the production or activity of pain-inducing chemicals in the body. Certain homoeopathic creams can provide relief from pain.
Different athletes experience varying effects from these creams. If one cream doesn’t provide significant benefits, try another one and observe the results.
Massage Therapy
For many years, wrestlers in India have included daily massages in their routines. In Europe as well, massage has been used to quickly relieve post-exercise fatigue among athletes.
In recent years, this practice has gained popularity in the United States too. While receiving a massage feels good and relaxing, several scientific experiments have failed to prove that massage is effective in alleviating muscle pain. Many scientists and exercise experts believe that massage increases blood flow to the area being massaged, which can help reduce pain in that area.
It also helps normalize pH levels. However, claims that massage removes lactic acid from the muscles are baseless. Modern research has found no harmful effects of massage. If you feel good after getting a massage, then you should definitely go for it.
Lack of Nutrition (fuel depletion)
During exercise or any physical activity, your body uses carbohydrates, fats, and proteins as fuel. Although all three elements are essential, intense physical activity primarily relies on carbohydrates. Your body stores carbohydrates as glycogen in muscles. Another storage site for glycogen is the liver.
During exercise, glycogen in the liver is broken down to release glucose into the bloodstream. If your muscles lack sufficient glycogen or if your blood sugar level is low, you will feel weak.
Scientists have conducted numerous experiments on athletes and bodybuilders and found that intense exercise gradually depletes muscle glycogen levels. As glycogen levels decrease, energy levels decline, and fatigue and muscle pain set in.
To prevent fuel depletion, you can consume energy-providing nutrients during exercise. Pay attention to a well-balanced diet that includes all essential elements.
Immediately after exercise, consume a carbohydrate-rich meal to replenish your glycogen levels. This will ensure that your body’s glycogen stores are quickly refilled. You can also consume a sports drink during exercise, which contains some carbohydrates and provides immediate energy without depleting your fuel stores.
The first two hours after the workout is crucial for any bodybuilder. During this time, the body readily absorbs nutrients and replenishes glycogen stores. Glycogen is used throughout the day to carry out various activities.
To provide your body with carbohydrates, consume a meal rich in carbohydrates immediately after exercise. You can also opt for a post-workout meal or shake, which should ideally contain around 70% carbohydrates, both simple and complex.
Additionally, the shake should contain approximately 20% to 25% high-quality protein that is quickly digested and around 5% to 10% fat.
Post Workout Effect
Immediately after exercise, muscles often become quite restless. The main reason for this is the exertion and tension placed on the muscles during exercise. Experiencing hamstring or leg cramps or feeling muscle stiffness at night are signs that the muscles have become restless.
When the water and salt levels in your body change, your brain sends such signals. Drinking water in the right amount can help alleviate this issue to some extent.
During workouts, it is also important to stay hydrated to prevent dehydration. Many people consume an excessive amount of salt in their diet. To maintain a balance in the body, they should also drink water in the appropriate amount.
People living in hot climates, especially, need to pay special attention to their water intake as they lose a significant amount of water through sweating. If you want to avoid muscle cramps, you may need to increase your salt intake slightly.
If you perform static stretching on your targeted muscles after exercise, meaning holding a stretch for around 20 to 30 seconds, you can prevent excessive muscle restlessness. Incorporate these types of stretching exercises into your routine.
Overtraining
When you reach a state of overtraining, a clear sign is a poor performance at the gym. Your muscles become excessively fatigued, and your enthusiasm and energy levels significantly decrease. You are unable to maintain your exercise routine at a moderate intensity. This condition is referred to as a negative nitrogen balance.
In this state, your body loses much more protein than it consumes. Scientific research has found that consuming branch-chain amino acids can significantly reduce the breakdown of protein. Another study has shown that a deficiency of glutamine leads to a state of overtraining in the body.
Overtraining weakens your immune system, which fights against illnesses, and increases the likelihood of various diseases. It also has a negative impact on the production of hormones in your body.
In men, overtraining leads to a decrease in testosterone production and an increase in cortisol production. In women, it results in bone weakness and other ailments.
Plan your diet, rest, and exercise routine thoughtfully. Pay ample attention to your nutrition and rest. Consume all the essential nutrients in the right quantities. This helps maintain an anabolic state in the body, which is conducive to muscle development.
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Originally published in Hindi at https://joginderposwal.com
