As the saying goes, no pain, no gain. You want to push yourself at the gym, see how far your body can go. There’s something special about the strength you feel after a good workout, but there’s something not too special: the soreness. Sore muscles are caused by “microtrauma” of muscle fibers and connective tissues, a completely natural result of breaking down muscle that occurs during weight lifting or strenuous training. These tiny tears take several days to repair, making your muscles feel sore. But often-times, the nagging pain and discomfort from sore muscles stays with you for days at a time, getting in the way of your future workouts. And that’s a problem. I recently read five proven methods to prevent muscle soreness when you’re working out, so without further ado, here they are:
Warm up: Warming up before a workout is a simple way to prevent and ease any delayed onset muscle soreness. You want to have a dynamic warmup that mirrors what you’ll be doing in your actual workout. So if you’re focusing on lower body training, then you’ll want to perform dynamic movements working on your lower body. Such a warm-up will take about 10 minutes.
Get enough protein: Getting enough of the right kind of protein is essential to fight muscle soreness; the body can’t repair the microtrauma of muscle fibers without protein. Getting protein immediately before and after exercise, combined with a little bit of carbs, is a great way to fight muscle soreness. Try to eat whole-food sources of protein combined with healthy amounts of carbs and fat.
Eat anti-inflammatory foods: Piggybacking on the above point, there are foods other than protein that are great at fighting muscle soreness. Anti-inflammatory foods such as turmeric, ginger and fatty fish are all great.
Soak in Epsom salt: Epsom salt is a natural mineral compound with a proven ability to ease stress and reduce inflammation. It absorbs best through the skin, and soaking in it a few times a week is an effective way to ward off muscle soreness.
Foam roll: Foam rolling is a cheap and convenient way to give yourself a deep-tissue massage. It releases deep knots formed in muscles that cause pain and stiffness. It’s also been shown to ease muscle fatigue and soreness, and even improve future performance. The ideal time for foam rolling is immediately after a workout, but you can do it any time that you feel stiffness or soreness.