Understanding Muscle Pain

When your muscles ache after a long workout, it is usually a good design. This means you are dealing with DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) to indicate the muscles have been worked hard. This includes tiny tears in the muscle fibers that will recover and make the muscle grow stronger.

Just a little increase in the intensity of your workout can create this effect. The more you do this, the fitter you are going to get.

You always want to keep moving to feel good during the recovery process. Even something light will get the blood pumping to the muscles.

A lot of people do something light such as going for a bike ride or swimming. It is just about doing a little lightweight cardio to stay fit.

It is important to rest a lot. This is just as important as burning the muscle out during a workout.

If you are not taking rest days, you are not optimizing your approach to working out. 

A lot of people don’t take days off and this makes it harder for their muscles to recover. It also zaps your energy levels quickly. It is important to always change the intensity after a tough workout day. This means the next day you go a little bit lighter if you are not taking a rest day.

It is also smart to apply heat to the muscles. This is a good approach if your muscles are still aching after a couple of days. This can get blood to the area and improve your muscle’s ability to heal.

You can also use a heating pad or a warm towel if necessary. Remember, don’t overdo it. Just use heat enough to heal the muscle. This means don’t place it right against the skin as that can lead to burns.

Pain patches can help to relieve muscle pain in between work outs.

You can also get a massage to relieve muscle aches while increasing your range of motion in the joints. It can also improve your mood for the day.

When the muscles are sore, a good massage session can go a long way. Just a little bit of pressure is often enough such as seen with Swedish massages. You can even give acupressure a shot with the help of a massage therapist.

In some cases, you may want to take anti-inflammatory meds as a way to reduce the swelling in the muscle. This can include naproxen, ibuprofen, or aspirin.