By Reyhana Harper on November 15, 2015
By a show of hands, how many of us love the stiffness and achy feeling after a good workout? For some individuals, sore muscles are a reward after a hard workout, right? While some of us love it, others may use that as an excuse not to go back. Don’t let that happen to you.
I go by the saying “sore today, strong tomorrow” and it’s true. Many gym-goers skip their gym visits due to DOMS (Delayed On Set Muscle Soreness) but this is a normal reaction after strenuous workouts, so don’t be alarmed. During a high-intensity workout, your muscle fibers have stretched and broken down and this causes the muscles to swell up, thus resulting in stiffness and aches.
So what can you do to reduce the effects? Here are the top 5 tips that I swear by:
- Run a hot bath with ½ cup of Epsom Salt – the salt will draw out the toxins and remove them from your muscles and as an absolute bonus, this even helps reduce the appearance of cellulite! Viola, I’m sure the ladies will love the double benefits.
- Eat tart cherries – the antioxidant containing anthocyanins are believed to reduce inflammation. Easy and delicious, huh?
- Massaging arnica oil into the body – its anti-inflammatory properties make it ideal for providing relief and comfort for injured and tired muscles.
- Deep tissue massage – this will help increase the blood flow to the muscles and speed up the removal of inflammation. Of course, it doubles as a bit of well deserved “me time”.
- Roll it out – Use a foam roller and work over those achy muscles. We all know that “hurts so good” feeling.
So the next time you find yourself feeling a little sore and stiff, try these tips out and you will feel good in no time!
