How to decrease soreness after a work out

The do’s and don’ts of post workout recovery, and some tips too!

Oh no. You get out of bed the morning after leg day and you take your first two steps and wince in pain. Immediate regret falls over you. Stepping in and out of the shower is dreadful, and you know you must walk down three stories to get to your car. You think back to yesterday morning when you could walk freely, even run and jump.

You think, “what have I done to myself?”.

According to science our muscle tissue has “micro tears”, which means there are tiny microscopic tears in your muscle fibers from you working them out. Good news is, when they tear they repair and get stronger. Sometimes you even experience soreness two days after, which is called delayed onset muscle soreness. Good news again, we can reduce this pain and give you enough information that you can help prevent this again in the future.

Don’t worry! You’ve done nothing wrong, this will go away with time and some TLC you will have to give yourself over the next couple days (you’ll enjoy it).

Here are a few tips and tricks to help reduce muscle soreness

Post workout stretching and mobility

It is very important that you keep things loose and happy. The muscles in our bodies are all connected in groups called myofascial chains or slings. Think of it as a subway or bus route, when one area is jammed it throws the whole route off.

Do: Spend time stretching out muscles that you targeted during that session.

Tip – Try also hit the surrounding joints and muscles worked that day, that way when your specific muscle group is tight you don’t feel discomfort in the surrounding area.

Don’t: Don’t ever stretch to the point of pain. It should feel like a whisper, not a shout.

Have a post workout protein/carb recovery drink

Within 20 minutes after your work out it is important to have some protein and carbohydrates to help repair your torn, hungry muscles and replenish the glycogen stores lost.
There are many options to choose for proteins. Some people drink whey due to its benefits, others choose to drink plant protein, and now some drink beef protein (sounds gross but its not what you think).

It is recommended that you drink your post workout “meal” due to it being easily digested in its liquid form and therefore delivering it to your muscles quickly.

Do: Take one scoop of your favourite protein and shake it up with a juice of your choice.
Tip – Try pure tart cherry juice with some vanilla protein. The pure cherry juice will help with the soreness. Don’t ask me about the science behind that because it came from my varsity soccer coach who was once a crazy Scottish pro soccer player.

Don’t: Go home and make a meal that will take one or more hours to prepare and cook. Your body needs fuel ASAP!

Proper nutrition throughout the rest of your day

This is one of the most important rules. If you have a great workout and great stretching session, get that carb/protein drink, but the rest of the day you binge on cake and tacos, you may have just taken some steps in the wrong direction.

Sugar causes further inflammation, which in turn will keep your muscles unhappy.

Do: try and have balanced protein, carb and good fat meals throughout the rest of your day.

Tip – if you have a sweet tooth, try and eat some 70% dark chocolate if you absolutely NEED something.

Don’t: get into the mindset that just because you worked your body hard, you can eat whatever you want. Keep fueling it properly and it will feel great

Proper hydration and sleep

As you may know, your body recovers when it sleeps. When you are sick what is the main thing that everyone tells you? Drink plenty of fluids and get proper sleep. This is very true when it comes to rebuilding your muscles. When you hydrate it properly, your body muscles will flow nicely and will be less “tight”.

Do: Try and set a bed time for yourself where you can get 7 to 8 hours of sleep. As busy adults I know how hard it can be to get that proper rest.

Tip - When you wake up in the morning try and drink one glass of water. I promise you’ll thank me.

Don’t: don’t gravitate towards pop or juice instead of water throughout the day. Also, try and limit the phone and TV time before you go to sleep, it helps you fall asleep faster and have better rest.

Supplements

This is a sensitive topic. There are tons of supplements out there that do different things for different people. That’s for another post!

These are some tips and tricks I have mastered over the last few years. Its normal to be sore, it means you’ve worked hard. There are circumstances where sometimes it lasts a few days, if you are concerned in anyway, please visit your doctor.

I hope this helps you in one way or another, and you can hopefully bring this information to another fellow athlete!

P.S. the cherry juice is a real thing and it does help.