1. If you start exercising, muscle soreness is a guarantee. There’s also a higher risk of an injury, especially if your body is not used to exercise at all. Consequently, it pays to learn and use different ways to manage DOMS, improve recovery, and prevent injuries.
Post-workout foam rolling is an effective way to reduce delayed onset muscle soreness as well as prevent injuries. Sports massage is also helpful, but only serves psychological soreness-reducing benefits. Drinking caffeine has been proven to decrease the perception of soreness, too.
Proper nutrition can also promote recovery as well as reduce pain after the exercise. Getting essential amino acids in the form of BCAA’s can help, and so can anti-oxidant rich inflammation-reducing foods like blueberries or tart cherry juice.
Dynamic stretching before workouts help with performance and reduces the risk of injuries, while static stretching after workouts help optimize recovery. Don’t forget about the proper warm-up and cool down routines as they help your body get ready for exercise (or help it transition from exercise to rest) and prevent injuries.
Going to a sauna after a workout is another strategy that can help you reduce soreness and feel better, though it mostly provides temporary psychological effects. For an additional pain-reducing and warming-up dose, consider a short 5-minute session in a sauna prior to exercise.
Don’t forget that recovery – both physical and psychological – can’t happen without high-quality sleep.
Lastly, one of the most effective ways to deal with soreness and help your body recover more quickly is to exercise again. Even a low-intensity walk can help reduce soreness.
2. A popular cold therapy for improving recovery and reducing DOMS can actually be detrimental to your performance during the next workout, thus making it more probable you’ll give up exercising. Studies are inconclusive, but they suggest that ice for DOMS only provides a placebo effect and makes sense only for psychological benefits and not for maximum strength and endurance.
3. When taking a break from exercise, don’t stop exercising altogether. Try to have some physical activity so that when you resume your routine, you won’t dramatically increase the amount of exercise you get immediately.
Regular breaks – when not taken on a whim and planned in advance before developing injuries or burnout – can help you stay motivated to exercise for years to come. Don’t feel guilty about taking them. When done properly, they’ll only help you progress.