How To Relieve Muscle Soreness | The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans LLC

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Strenuous workouts can illicit feelings of euphoria, immortality, and world domination. While these feelings may be short-lived, another less-desired result of grueling exercise can hit you the next day and linger longer than welcome. This often unavoidable outcome is that of muscle soreness. Perhaps you have felt this in the last week by participating in the Sisterhood’s Summer Blowout Weight Loss Challenge or Shrinking Bootcamp. You can take comfort in knowing that you are not alone in suffering sore, stiff muscles.

I put muscle soreness into two categories:

  1. The ‘feel good’ sore. That’s the sore that is constant, but not overbearing; a reminder of what a badass you are for pushing yourself to be a better you. I like the ‘feel good’ sore; it lets me know I’m on the right track with my body and am getting stronger every day.
  2. The ‘holy-sh**-I-feel-like-I-got-run-over-by-a-herd-of-rhinoceri’ sore. Often, ‘what the (4 letter word of your choice) was I thinking?!’ crosses my mind with this one as well. Getting up from the couch, out of bed, lifting anything heavier than a toothbrush, or, heaven forbid, having to go up and down the stairs is the very last thing you want to do. This can be an indicator of using a muscle group that hasn’t been engaged for a long time until now, or and indicator of clearly over-doing it.

Earlier this week, muscle soreness #2 hit me straight in the quadriceps area, and decided to stay with me all week. That’s what I get for starting up CrossFit again and doing barbell squats with way too much added weight, and then going on a long, elevation increasing hike that afternoon. Let’s just say that walking, alone, has been quite a chore, and the stairs have become my enemy.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) describes a phenomenon of muscle pain, muscle soreness or muscle stiffness that occurs in the day or two after exercise. This muscle soreness is most frequently felt when you begin a new exercise program, change your exercise routine, or dramatically increase the duration or intensity of your exercise routine. DOMS is thought to be a result of microscopic tearing of the muscle fibers. The amount of tearing (and soreness) depends on how hard and how long you exercise and what type of exercise you do. Any movement you aren’t used to can lead to DOMS, but eccentric muscle contractions (movements that cause muscle to forcefully contract while it lengthens) seem to cause the most soreness (sportsmedicine.about.com).

image found on www.apmct.com

Although sore muscles may be an inevitable side-effect of a butt-kicking workout, there are several methods to assist in relief. The ultimate healer, though, is time.

  •  Heat it up. Sauna, steam room, hot tub, or heating pad, applying heat to sore muscles increases blood flow to the area, reducing pain. The blood flow helps the small muscle tears, which are the cause of the pain, to heal faster. It also makes you feel less stiff and more relaxed.
  • Stretch. Warm your muscles up the next day with light cardio (this is called active recovery) and stretch them out. This will lengthen the muscle fibers and increase blood flow to the muscles. Although it doesn’t provide long-lasting relief, it sure feels good while you’re doing it. Yoga is also a great alternative.
  • Massage. Any excuse for a massage is a good one. Massage can relieve the muscle tension, pain, and swelling, helping with the healing process. It can be a DIY massage with a foam roller or tennis ball (or, obviously, with your fingers), or a good excuse to get a friend, partner, or a professional to help you out.
  • Cool it down. Although you’ll never catch me doing it, many athletes swear by a post-workout ice bath. This can help with inflammation by constricting the blood vessels. The body warms up quickly after the ice bath, improving circulation and blood flow, which helps with healing.
  • Try an NSAID. Aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen sodium may help to temporarily reduce the muscle soreness, although they won’t actually speed up the healing process. Sometimes, temporary relief is better than nothing.
  • Drink H2O. Drinking plenty of water during and after a workout can assist in detoxing the body and the muscles, as well as increase healing.
  • Rest and relaxation. This is probably the best thing you can do to heal. Give your muscles a day or two of rest before another intense workout.

If you’re just getting back into working out, or if you’re trying something new, don’t let muscle soreness deter you from getting back out there (after a day or two). Even if you hobble around, have trouble washing your hair, or can’t laugh without wanting to cry after, it’s worth it. Do not, however, completely over-do it and cause yourself an injury; listen to your body. Muscle soreness, though inconvenient, is normal.

It will get better, you will get stronger, and it will get easier.

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Melissa lives in beautiful Colorado with her favorite person in the whole world: her dog, Klondike. She’s an avid traveler, a wine enthusiast and an adventure junkie. She likes all things outdoors and tries to live a healthy lifestyle, except for when it comes to key lime pie — then it’s just game over.