Your fitness routine needs to be an integral part of your health journey, whether you want to lose weight, increase strength, or simply protect your immune system. Depending on your fitness goals, you will draft a workout schedule that meets your needs. So the first question is: How often do you exercise throughout the week?
As a rule of thumb, the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) encourages individuals to aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 to 150 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercises. Aerobic activities actively support cardiorespiratory health. They, however, do no enhance flexibility or strength, which the HHS recommends incorporating into your fitness regime too. Ultimately, most people exercise between a couple of days to every day of the week to meet their goals. Your muscles hurt after you’ve been training, which can affect your motivation and commitment to a fitness routine. Is there any way to reduce pain? The answer is yes, and here’s how it can improve your health too!
Supercharge your muscles
Muscles sustain microtears during any exercise routine. Tears in the muscle fibers are part of a healthy self-improvement journey. The muscles will then heal the microtears, gaining strength and endurance through the process. More often than not, the pain you experience is caused by the microtears in the muscle fibers. It’s crucial to differentiate microtears from damaging tears, which occur when you put your muscles through a high amount of pressure. Microtears can heal by themselves, using muscle-friendly nutrients. Juicing, for instance, will let you consume a large amount of vegetables and fruit, which means you can get plenty of healthy vitamins. You can also support muscle recovery with clean protein meals or shakes, as muscles use proteins for growth. Protein powder is a fantastic option to reduce muscle soreness and support the recovery process. You can find animal or plant-based protein shakes, depending on your dietary preferences.
Use health-enhancing recovery
By definition, the recovery process is the moment when your body heals after a workout. Healing is an essential step of the fitness journey for two reasons. Firstly, the muscles experience microtears, which can cause soreness. This has to do with building up strength and endurance at a muscular level. Secondly, the body needs to replenish its energy levels. Exercising causes a significant expenditure of energy levels, which the recovery period aims to replenish. You can support the natural recovery process through health-boosting activities and choices, from the food you eat to body-positive activities. Understanding the benefits of yoga, for instance, can encourage you to seize the opportunity to boost your metabolism and immune system gently as part of the recovery period. Indeed, your metabolism affects energy expenditure and production along with your immune system. Maintaining those also assists with the recovery.
Focus on active recovery days
Active recovery is a buzzword in the fitness industry. In short, active recovery means that you still exercise during recovery days but at a lower intensity level. One of the most commonly quoted benefits of active recovery is to reduce muscle soreness. It’s important to listen to your body when you engage on the recovery journey so you don’t start new exercises when you are already exhausted. According to a study, if you do high-intensity exercises, your body will need passive recovery. However, for other types of workout, active recovery techniques can decrease muscle soreness and help the healing process.
Listen to your body
Your body is constantly trying to talk to you. When you start your fitness journey, your priority task is to learn to listen. Your body has a way of letting you know when it’s best to skip your workout altogether. When you are going through a lot of stress, your body can find it hard to exercise safely. Exercising increases the level of stress and pressure on the body, making injuries and soreness more likely. General fatigue, sickness, and existing soreness are also unlikely to disappear when you work out. Sometimes, it’s best to rest rather than stick to your fitness routine.
Stay hydrated
Lactic acid is a natural part of most exercise routines. It is a byproduct of energy production via anaerobic respiration. Its concentration increases when you exercise hard, but the body rapidly regulates it. The muscles switch to anaerobic respiration during a workout because it’s the quickest way to deliver energy. Lactic acid is often blamed for muscle soreness. However, excess acidity can lead to temporary inflammation and pain. Yet, you can help the body regulate lactic acid by keeping hydrated. Water will help move the excess acid to the liver, where it goes to waste.
Exercise soreness can be unavoidable, depending on your exercise routine. However, you can manage pain by focusing on the proper recovery regime for your body and supporting healing. Don’t let soreness stand in the way of getting fit! Instead, learn to identify its cause to keep it at bay.