How to get rid of muscle pain after exercise: ointments, tablets, pain relieving gels, folk remedies

Muscle pain may appear after exhausting workouts. This effect is familiar to both experienced athletes and beginners. Painful sensations arise after 24 hours and can last up to 3 days.

Why muscles hurt after exercise

Muscle pain after exercise signals that strength training is working. It can form after the introduction of new exercises or an increase in the duration of a regular activity.

Muscle pain is part of adaptation that increases muscle strength as it regenerates and builds. It gradually decreases as the muscles get used to the stress.

The benefits and harms of muscle pain

Pain after grueling exercise can be beneficial or harmful.

Benefit:

If pain appears after strength training, it means that damage has formed in the muscles. In about 2–3 days, the muscles will heal and form scars, which will increase muscle mass. It is very important to give the muscles a break during this period to consolidate the result.

That is, it is a beneficial pain that, when resting after exercise, increases muscle growth.

Harm:

If you train too intensely, not allowing the muscles to recover, then pain occurs within 1-2 hours after exercise. It arises from overwork, which reduces muscle growth and strength.

Muscle pain after exercise can also occur with injury. If, while doing the exercises, you feel a sharp pain, which gradually increases and swelling appears, you must interrupt the training. These are signs of injury, in which you must definitely go to the hospital.

Harmful pain not only reduces the effectiveness of the exercises, but is also hazardous to health (surgery may be required).

Mechanisms of muscle pain

Muscle is made up of protein (80%), which when strength training breaks down into amino acids that feed other organs. During exercise, protein is processed ahead of time and the integrity of the muscle tissue is disrupted. This process is called catabolism. At the same time, pain and fatigue appear, which warns of the need for rest. It is during rest that muscles grow.

This is how myofibrillar muscle hypertrophy occurs, in which pain is formed. There is a slip of contractile proteins (myosin and actin) inside the muscles, which causes contraction and mobility of the muscle ligaments, making them stronger.

Types of pain

Types of pain after exercise:

Lactic acid as the main cause of pain

During strength training, glucose is broken down in the muscles. The result is lactic acid, which is composed of hydrogen and lactate. With a high content of lactic acid, significant pain is formed after exertion. This state lasts up to 7 days.

During physical exertion, muscles require a lot of oxygen, which is involved in the regeneration process. During strength training, the muscles are under tremendous stress, which reduces the oxygen content. In this case, the movement of blood slows down.

With a lack of oxygen, the synthesis of adenosine triphosphoric acid begins, which leads to the formation of lactic acid. The level of this substance rises, as a result of which it accumulates, causing pain.

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Other causes of muscle pain after exercise

Muscle pain after exercise arises from the following reasons:

1. Grueling strength training... When the body is overloaded, muscle tissues do not have time to recover, which leads to increased pain, fatigue, and a decrease in the strength of the ligaments.
2. Accumulation of metabolic products. These are mainly hydrogen and free radicals. They appear in significant numbers among beginners to play sports, especially during the first lessons.
3. Classes with a large amplitude. When stretching the muscles, pain cannot be avoided. Therefore, before performing such exercises, you need to warm up the muscles.
4. Injury. The appearance of sharp pain in case of muscle damage leads to a loss of performance. Muscle fibers do not regenerate with rest.

Treating muscle pain

The following guidelines should be applied to treat muscle pain:

• Medicines. Pain relievers (tablets, ointments, patches, gels) can be used. It is recommended that you consult a specialist before using any pharmaceutical preparations.
• Light exercise. Improves blood flow to muscles by providing them with oxygen. In this case, the content of lactic acid decreases.
• Massage. Improves blood flow and muscle nutrition. Relieves tension and reduces pain.
• Hot bath (sauna). High temperatures improve blood flow and lower lactic acid levels.
• Healthy diet. It is necessary to include in the diet more fruits, vegetables and herbs. The antioxidants they contain fight radicals.

Medicines to relieve muscle pain

Muscle pain after training is eliminated with the help of medications:

Ointment for muscle pain after exercise

To eliminate muscle pain after exercise, ointments are used that have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and also warming properties. They also improve blood circulation in the muscles and relieve swelling.

The most popular ointments:

• Finalgon. Warms and dilates blood vessels. It has an analgesic effect.
• Viprosal. It has regenerating properties. It has an analgesic effect, dilates blood vessels.
• Capsicam. It has analgesic, warming and vasodilating properties.
• Long. Pain relieves and relieves inflammation, eliminates edema.

Muscle pain pills

To eliminate pain, tablets from the group of non-steroidal drugs are used. They have analgesic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, relieve puffiness. Tablets are recommended to be taken with drugs that protect the gastric mucosa.

For pain, pills such as nimesil, ibuprofen, diclofenac, indomethacin are used.

Ways to reduce muscle pain without medication

The main ways to relieve muscle pain:

• Cold and hot shower. It is necessary to start the procedure with a pleasant body water temperature. Then gradually increase the temperature to hot for 1-2 minutes. Then turn on cold water sharply. The exposure time is about 20 s. Then turn on hot water again. Repeat the procedure up to 3 times.
• Compress with ice... Cold accelerates muscle tissue repair and stops inflammation. It is necessary to apply ice to problem areas.
• Pool. Swimming slowly before and after training reduces and prevents muscle pain.
• Sleep. During sleep, muscle tissue is restored and pain is reduced.

Hot bath after workout

For muscle pains, hot baths can be taken, which have a relaxing, revitalizing, soothing and vasodilating effect.

When taking a bath, you need to follow some rules:

• the water temperature should not be too hot (39-41 Сº);
• take a bath for no more than 25-30 minutes. to avoid heavy stress on the heart;
• add 200 g of sea salt to the bath, which will calm and restore muscle fibers;
• take a bath while sitting in order to avoid drowsiness and loss of strength;
• if the procedure takes place in a shower stall, it is necessary to open the door so that the hot steam does not choke.

Massage

Muscle soreness after exhausting workouts can be relieved with massage. At the same time, muscle tissue is restored, and the supply of oxygen to cells increases.

A massage performed by a professional will have a positive effect. Developing the muscles deeply will improve blood flow, thereby lowering lactic acid levels faster. Massage procedures must be performed 12 hours before the next workout.

If you cannot use the services of a professional massage therapist, you can perform the massage yourself. This will require special devices in the form of rollers. In this case, it is necessary to use models made of soft materials so as not to cause additional stress to the muscles.Also, massage after exhausting workouts can be done with your hands.

To do this, you must use the following rules:

• apply massage cream or oil to the problem area;
• about 3 min. perform light and non-intermittent stroking;
• you need to listen to your feelings and try to identify places with special tension;
• then kneading follows, but do not press too much on the muscles;
• discomfort is common and the pain will go away by the end of the procedure.

Ice massage can also be done to reduce muscle strain.

Folk remedies

You can get rid of muscle pain even without medication, using traditional methods.

The following recipes can be applied:

1. Grind bay leaf with juniper (6: 1) and add petroleum jelly. Rub the resulting product into problem areas 2-3 times a day.
2. Mix together badger fat (40 g), horsetail (10 g) and some vegetable oil. The resulting mixture is good for pain relief.
3. Take a cabbage leaf, grease with soap and sprinkle with baking soda. Apply to problem areas at night.
4. Pour adonis herb (0.5 tablespoons) with hot water (1 tablespoon). After an hour, strain and take 3 times a day as a course (1 month). After 10 days, repeat the course.
5. Mix the yolk, turpentine (0.5 tbsp. L.) And apple cider vinegar (2 tsp. L.). Treat problem areas at night, wrapping a warm scarf.

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Proper nutrition and drinking regime

With proper nutrition, you can influence the intensity and duration of muscle soreness after exercise. It is necessary to exclude unhealthy foods from the diet: fast food, carbonated drinks, fried, fatty and salty. You need to eat more vegetables and fruits.

Pain-reducing foods:

• Cinnamon. Replenishes muscle glycogen stores, thereby accelerating the recovery process. Stops inflammation. It is recommended to add cinnamon to a protein shake.
• Ginger. It has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects due to the gingerol it contains. This root should be in food eaten immediately after exercise. Clove and rosemary have the same properties.
• A fish. The best source of omega-3 for the body. Fatty fish should be included in the diet 3-4 times a week.
• Eggs. They are a source of protein involved in the regeneration of injured muscles. They contain amino acids as well as antioxidants that reduce inflammation.
• Green vegetables. Any cabbage, spinach, celery and many others contain substances that help the body restore cell integrity. At the same time, the content of the stress hormone (cortisol) decreases and muscle pain decreases. It is recommended to drink a glass of green juice immediately after exercise.
• Cherry. Reduces pain after strength training. Its antioxidants help repair damaged muscles. It also removes toxic products from the body, thereby relieving pain.

Drinking regimen plays an important role in the regeneration process after exercise. With insufficient intake of water, the volume of blood in the body decreases and nutrients do not enter the muscle cells. Because of this, the elimination of toxic substances is slowed down and inflammation increases.

Therefore, it is necessary to consume plenty of water throughout the day (40 ml for each kg of body weight). It is recommended to drink no more than a glass of water immediately after classes, and after 20 minutes. thirst can be removed.

Rest from intense workouts

Rest is recommended after any prolonged work, including after exercise. The amount of time you need to rest depends on your age, fitness level, fatigue and level of exertion. On average, the body spends up to 10 days to restore muscle tissue.

Beginners should not train more than 3 times a week.As you increase your endurance, you can increase the number of workouts. A coach can help determine the length of the break between sessions. Further, the body itself will tell you how much time it needs to recover.

If you do not allow the body to rest between workouts, muscle tissue will not have time to recover, which means that muscle growth will stop.

Prevention

In order not to look for ways to eliminate pain, it is necessary to prevent its occurrence.

The main methods of prevention:

1. Stretching. Stretching before and after exercising prevents muscle pain. Several exercises that stretch the muscles before stress can reduce the likelihood of tissue injury.
2. Alternating exercise. It is necessary to alternate easy exercises with difficult ones.
3. Training duration. The lesson should last no more than 45 minutes, since after an hour of training, the level of the stress hormone rises.
4. Cardio load. It is recommended that your training plan include exercises that strengthen the heart muscle. This will speed up the regeneration process and the reduction of lactic acid.

Can you train when the muscles are still sore from the previous workout?

With very severe pain, it is better to refrain from exercising. Strength training should cause development, not pain and fatigue. If you do not give the muscles time to regenerate and continue to load them, this will lead to an overload of the body.

You can even train with pain, but you need to load other muscle groups. Physical activity speeds up the process of muscle tissue regeneration. This is due to increased blood flow and excitation of the nervous system.

If after classes there is a sharp and aching pain, it means that the muscle ligaments are injured. It is necessary to stop training and allow the body to recover.

With muscle pain after strength training, you should correctly build a training plan. A trainer can help with this, who will competently select the optimal level of loads.

Article design: Mila Friedan

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