We’ve all been there – the day after a hard training session or game, your sore achy muscles make it difficult to do everyday tasks such as getting out of bed and pulling up your jeans. This physical pain is not made any easier by the frustration that builds with having to patiently wait to recover before you can train again.
During this post-workout lull, it is important to remember that recovery is an essential part of training and is just as important as crushing your last workout or game. A post-workout recovery routine helps to reduce the impact of training on your body, restore vitality and maintain optimum energy levels so that you can successfully charge ahead with your fitness goals.
Why am I sore after a training session?
Those aches and pains after a workout are known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). During exercise, muscle contractions can cause microscopic tears in the muscle fibres and nearby connective tissues. These tiny tears and the inflammation that accompanies them causes the soreness.
While muscle soreness can be painful, it is a sign that you’re getting stronger, and is nothing to be alarmed about. As the muscles repair themselves, they become tougher than they were before.
Ways to speed up recovery
Here are our four favourite tactics to encourage faster recovery after training.
Increasing magnesium
Magnesium is essential to include in your post-workout routine. It is an important mineral for the body, keeping energy levels high and making sure protein is processed efficiently. Research has shown that exercise can result in magnesium deficiency which can lead to muscle cramping and soreness, impacting exercise performance[1]. There is a correlation between magnesium and muscle performance, with magnesium directing blood to muscles efficiently and supporting muscle recovery by alleviating soreness.
After your workout, replenish your magnesium levels by using SaltLab’s Magnesium Oil Spray which is a superior method for safely increasing magnesium levels in the body. It's100% natural and readily absorbed through the skin for enhanced recovery and performance.
Icing your limbs
Ice is one of the oldest and most effective remedies for curing pain, injury and providing relief after exercise. Icing reduces inflammation, allowing blood flow to increase to our muscles to repair the tiny tears caused during exercise. Icing also causes blood vessels to contract which pushes out by-products that the body does not need like lactic acid. This helps decrease soreness [2].
BodyICE has created a range of ice packs specifically designed to aid recovery by molding around joints and body parts which allow you to ice with ease. Grab one and start icing!
Get on your yoga mat
It is common knowledge that practising yoga is beneficial for the mind and body, so it is no surprise that it assists in muscle recovery and can ease the discomfort associated with DOMS. Yoga helps your body to bounce back from the stress of training by increasing the blood flow to muscle to aid repair. When you work out, your muscles contract so yoga helps stretch out your muscles back to their normal state and ready to work out again [3].
For environmentally conscious products for yoga and recovery made from 100% cork, we love BodyICE’s ZONE range.