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Post exercise pain may be in the cards for you if working out or if summer fun activities are on your agenda this weekend. Don’t let the thought of that stop you and keep you on the couch. There’s a few simple things you can do to help ease the pain.
DOMS can be a real pain…
Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a conditioned athlete, you can become sore after exercise. Especially if the activities are more intense than usual or if you haven’t done them in a while. This type of muscle pain – DOMS Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, often times rears its ugly head 12-48 hours after the activity and will usually go away on its own in a few days to a week.
Possible causes of DOMS
It was once thought that the buildup of lactic acid was the major cause of after exercise muscle soreness. However, Szymanski revealed in 2001 that blood lactate levels returned to normal 30-60 minutes after exercise.
What actually produces the bulk of the pain is the damage and resulting inflammation of the muscle tissue itself. Tissue micro-tears, damage to the cell membranes and an increase in free radicals cause the inflammatory response that stimulates the nerve endings and produces the pain sensation.
3 Post Exercise Pain Remedies
However, there are 3 things you can do to help speed up the recovery process and reduce the pain.
1.) Active recovery movement – This strategy does have both practical and research support. Performing easy low-impact exercise increases blood flow and is linked with diminished muscle soreness. Simple things as a gentle walk or easy bike ride after an intense workout or activity really helps and should be made part of your cool-down routine.
2.) Foam Rolling and Stretching – I've found this technique very helpful and use it with much success to reduce my own muscle soreness. Foam rolling then stretching the effected muscle areas as part of my cool-down or later on after the activity really does the trick because it irons out the wrinkles in your fascia and restores and stretches the muscle tissue back to where it optimally functions. This not only helps with mobility, but it also helps reduce soreness, stiffness and pain.
3.) R.I.C.E. therapy – Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation really helps if performed within 48 hrs of intense activity or injury. Follow these easy steps:
- Rest – Take a break from the activity and either relax or do something gentle and calm like a walk.
- Ice – Place an ice pack or frozen veggies on the sore area for 15-20 minutes about 3 times per day. The ice reduces blood flow and therefore swelling to the area.
- Compression – Wrap a compression (ace) bandage around the area to also help reduce swelling.
- Elevation – Elevate the appendage above heart level if possible. This also helps reduce blood flow and swelling.
Hopefully these easy techniques will help the soreness go away more quickly and make your time post workout less miserable. Be on the lookout though, if the pain is severe and lasts longer than a week or so please consult a physician. Have any other post workout pain busters that help you? Please share them in the comment section.