Do your muscles hurt after you exercise?
No pain, no gain – an adage that is literally taken in bodybuilding. Anyone who has worked out to their limit will tell you that you better prepare for serious pain if you plan on gaining muscle mass. It’s no wonder that the bodybuilding community is a closely-knit community that pays respect to men and women who were able to get the body that they want, since everyone in the community knows just what it takes to shape your body.
Muscle pain after working out or after strenuous physical activity is known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS. Even seasoned bodybuilders can experience DOMS, especially when starting a new exercise program or a change in their exercise regimen. Muscle pain is normal for anyone starting an exercise regimen, and learning how to effectively manage pain is the key to muscle gains. Here are 5 ways to deal with muscle pain after training:
- Rest
This one is too obvious, but rest is your ally when it comes to muscle pain. Additional strain on your muscles won’t help you build muscles. That’s why interval training is one of the most effective training schemes in bodybuilding. Let your muscles rest after a strenuous workout to speed up your recovery. Once your muscles recover, you can do more workouts and progressively overload your muscles to promote muscular hypertrophy. It’s true that training more would make you build muscles faster, but training to the point of pain wouldn’t do you any good.
- Define FATIGUE and PAIN
Muscle fatigue and muscle pain are separated by a narrow line. When you experience a burning sensation in your muscles while training, you’re most likely experiencing muscle fatigue due to the buildup of lactic acid in your muscles. Muscular pain, however, is defined by the soreness in your muscle groups that occur in a day or two after strenuous muscular activity. If you push your muscles beyond what they can handle because of fatigue, you’re risking more muscle pain for far less muscle gain.
- Warm your muscles up before workouts
You’ve seen athletes wear compression clothing for added athletic performance. You can do the same for yourself by using a warm compress on the muscles that you’ll train for the day. An increased range of motion and it also prevents injury during training. The added heat relaxes your muscles, which in turn provides better blood flow to your muscles. Increased blood flow provides your muscles with better strength during training, and less pain after working out.
- Ice treatment
When your muscles are already sore, putting a hot compress on the affected area may not be the most comfortable thing to do. You can use an ice pack to stop the progress of swelling. An ice compress also has some pain relieving benefits that can provide you with some comfort. Taking an analgesic for pain isn’t recommended especially when you train regularly. Some topical ointments and gels may work by diverting the pain receptors, but ice packs work by taking care of the inflammation.
- Take muscle recovery supplements
The best supplements for muscle gain work by increasing your body’s capacity to work out and recover from training. That’s why supplements like NitroGenix 365 contain vasodilator ingredients that improve blood flow to increase your strength during training, and also to help your body recover post-workout. You can greatly reduce DOMS by taking NitroGenix 365 daily to help your muscles recover faster, so you can hit the gym more often.
Muscle pain is something that you need to expect when training, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything about it. You can manage your muscle pain by simply being smart with your training, and making the most out of your exercises. Simple things like ice packs, heat treatment gels, and the best muscle building supplements can effectively lessen the pain you feel after working out. Less DOMS after working out enables you to do more frequent, more intense workouts. No pain, no gain you say? I say smart pain, more gain.
