Feeling sore from your last workout?Here are some tips for prevention and recovery.

Here’s a quick checklist for helping to reduce the amount of muscle soreness you may experience. You can use one or all of these the next time you feel a little too sore from your last workout.

For Sore Muscles This Works Like Crazy

As discussed in some previous articles, muscle soreness can be caused by three hypotheses, muscle damage, tissue damage, muscle spasms,  resulting in cumulative micro trauma resulting in some type of cellular damage. At times, this can be the leading cause of overtraining and being uncomfortable for a few days after training.

Pain treatment for muscle cramps and spasms

Continual cellular damage over and over to the point where the body cannot recovery can result in overtraining.

Don’t worry…

Here’s a quick checklist for helping to reduce the amount of muscle soreness you may experience. You can use one or all of these the next time you feel a little too sore from your last workout.

Phase 1 – Pre Training Recovery

Leg Elevation: Many of us stand or sit for long periods of time before going to the gym and training. This is a less than optimal condition because your overall circulation is less than ideal. What you can do is 20-30 minutes before you train, lay down with your feel against a wall or other object and get the blood back to your upper body and heart.

You’ll improve your circulation especially when you train legs or your lower back.

If you want, you can take this opportunity to listen to music or take a quick nap and begin the mental transition into training.

Phase 2 – Recovery During Training

Rest Intervals Between Sets:

A great way to boost the intensity of any workout without changing a single thing is to decrease the rest time between sets. You’ll instantly get more work done in less time. If you feel that the intensity is too high, you can increase the time between sets and help reduce the build up of lactic acid as well. The time you take to rest between sets has a significant impact on your next set as well as future performance.

Movement Between Sets:

Just think about it. It’s like a warm up and cool down all over again but between the sets. Most people understand the importance of warming up before lifting weights. They also know about a proper cool down after working out.

But did you know that you can use those sample principles on a minute level in between your sets?

This movement not only serves as a ‘transition’ between an all out effort and recovery but it aids in better circulation and helps reduce the swelling of muscular tissues.

Periodization:

Remember that soreness can be caused by a few hypothesis (tissue damage, muscle damage, spasms). But did you stop to think that if you keep on training “heavy” you just keep on damaging the muscle at a micro level over and over without a change to recover?

Incorporating a light day or week into your training can help flush the area with new blood, reduce the formation of scar tissue and flush waste from the area.

Planning these type of workouts in your training program will speed up the time needed to recover as well as add variety to your program which in turn provides overall recovery.

Phase 3 – Post Training Recovery

My strong hunch is that most people will be unable to avoid soreness at some point and seek treatment.

So that’s why there’s a few ways you can help reduce the severity of soreness during your training as well as aid in the recovery process after your training.

Contrast Showers:

Done on your lumbar area, this involves using short bursts of hot and cold water to improve the circulation. You can further stretch during this time to flush new blood to the area.

Post Workout Nutrition:

Needless to say…

After your workout your body is in a prime time to devour nutrients. This is an ideal time to give it the protein it needs with the carbohydrates for energy recovery.

You see, if muscle soreness is caused by micro trauma resulting in cellular damage then obviously you want to give your body plenty of materials quickly to repair itself.

Proper post workout nutrition can reduce the amount of soreness you can experience.

Therapeutic Modalities:

This can encompass such things as massage, sauna, whirlpool, chiropractic adjustments, acupressure and others are among the more popular therapeutic modalities. Make no mistake….

Recovery really begins when you leave the gym. Depending on factors such as your level of fitness, age, medical conditions, you may be wise to use some or all of these post workout recovery methods to speed up overall recovery.

There’s no magic formula per se but anything you can do to help speed the recovery process will result in less muscular discomfort and quicker recovery for the next workout.

Have you heard that 90% gym-goers overtrain 90% of the time?

Could it be that they simply “under-recovered” and could easily stand to train more if only they could recover quicker?

Sleep:

While there is not a set number of hours you need to sleep as that depends on the individuals schedule, personal preferences and level of stress it’s still clear that sleep is vital to recovery.

This is the time your body repairs all that micro trauma.

If you aren’t getting enough quality sleep, it can affect your overall recovery and body’s ability to repair itself. That can lead to prolonged muscle soreness. The amount of sleep each person needs will vary.

Home hypnosis programs can help you get a good full night’s rest

Make no mistake about muscle soreness…   It’s uncomfortable!

But using any or all of the above recovery methods you can significantly reduce the duration of muscle soreness.

More important than that…   Create a periodized program that helps to keep your body in a state of recovery and avoid overtraining.

About the author:
Marc David is a bodybuilder and author of the, Beginner’s Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding. You can get info on Marc’s e-book here. To get Marc’s free e-zine, visit http://www.JustAskMarc.com

By Marc David

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Technorati Tags: abdomen, after, back, cramps, extremely, for, leg, muscles, Ow cramps, remedies, sore muscles, sore neck, treating, working out

About half of all premenopausal women develop cramps at some point during their menstrual cycle. For most women the cramping causes mild to moderate abdominal pain for up to a few days each month. However it is estimated that up to 10% of the women who have cramps experience severe cramps. Sometimes these appear as  nighttime leg cramps and cramping in the lower back also.

Pain medication may be immediately helpful but it isn’t the only answer.

Menstrual Cramps – Use Vitamins, Herbs and Exercise

Menstrual cramps are the result of uterine spasms which occur as it is expels the lining. The resulting uterine tension impedes the blood flow to the uterus, which causes more cramping. There is a relationship between the level of toxicity in your body and the severity of menstrual cramping. Smoking makes the problem worse. Chemicals in cigarette smoke constrict blood vessels including those that go to the uterus. These chemicals also add to the body’s toxic load.

Many women use pharmaceutical analgesics to relieve menstrual cramp pain. Analgesic medications can help and may be needed if the cramping is severe. However, these drugs are not free of side effects and in the long run they can make the situation worse as they add to the toxic load of your body. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to relieve the problem of menstrual cramping. Some of the things that you can do include: making changes to your diet, taking vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements and doing exercises.

What you can do for menstrual cramps and  leg cramps at night

Dietary changes

• The following dietary changes will help. Avoid or drastically reduce your consumption of: sugar, alcohol, salt, coffee, tea and chocolate. Removing these from your diet will help to balance your blood sugar, water and hormonal levels. These foods also contribute to the body’s toxic levels and removing them will reduce your toxicity..
• Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables whole grains, nuts and seeds, beans and pulses and unrefined cold presses vegetable or seed oils. These foods will provide you with a range of nutrients that will assist in calming your muscles and nervous system so that the cramping is reduced. They will also assist the body to remove toxins.
• Treat any constipation (which will aggravate cramping) by adding plenty of fibre to your diet, drinking plenty of water and getting plenty of exercise.
• Avoid fatty meats, processed fats and fried foods. These foods add to your body’s toxicity.
• Avoid additives and preservatives as far as possible, as these are also major contributors to the body’s toxic load.

Do not smoke If you smoke join a quit smoking program such as at Growerz.com. They will help you to give up smoking for good and this will greatly improve your health and will help to alleviate menstrual cramps.

Relaxation and exercise

Menstrual cramps can cause tension and anxiety which in turn make the pain worse. Exercise and relaxation are able to break this cycle. Exercise will also increase the blood flow to all areas of the body including the uterus. Choose the relaxation and exercise which appeals to you. You might like walking, gardening, meditating, deep breathing, massage or yoga.  Hypnosis for relaxation and sleep is good too.

The following exercises will be useful as they direct the blood flow to the pelvic region. Use them, particularly, when you are in pain.

• Lie flat on your back, bring your knees up to your chest and clasp them with your arms. Maintain this position for a few minutes. You can leave one leg on the floor and bring the other leg up if that is more comfortable.

• Kneel down and stretch your head and arms out along the floor in front of you with your head between your arms and your elbows and forehead on the floor. Stay there for a few minutes.

• Lie on your back with your legs in the air and rest for a few minutes. You can rest your legs against a wall if this is more comfortable.

Vitamin, mineral and other nutrient supplements

The following nutritional supplements will assist with increasing blood flow and decreasing the actual cramping. They are: calcium, magnesium, essential fatty acids (in evening primrose oil), edible linseed oil, vitamin B complex, vitamin C, Vitamin E and zinc. These can be obtained in a good multivitamin and mineral supplement.

Herbal muscle relaxants

Black cohosh, black haw, chasteberry, dong quai, evening primrose, kava and raspberry are herbs that are used to treat menstrual cramps. Other herbs that are also traditionally used are passionflower, yarrow and yucca. These herbs have plenty antispasmodic compounds that relieve muscle spasms and therefore also can serve to relieve cramping. Many of these work whether used internally or externally. So you can use them as a herbal tea, add them to a baths or both. You can also use the essential oils from some of these herbs and rub these into your abdomen.

• Wild yam, blue cohosh, cramp bark, black haw, and motherwort help to relax tension in the uterus and cervix.
• Garlic, cayenne pepper, ginger, rosemary and ginkgo biloba can be used as a circulatory tonic to ensure that you are getting sufficient blood flow to all areas including the pelvis.
• Skullcap, lemon balm, chamomile, lavender, or vervain can be used where there is general tension and stress. You can add hormonal balancing herbs such as chaste tree or false unicorn root.

Herbal mixtures

Two herbal mixtures that will help calm menstrual cramping are as follows:

1. This liniment is applied to sooth muscle tension and relieve menstrual cramps. All of the herbal ingredients have anti-spasmodic agents.

• 2 parts lemongrass
• 2 parts lemon balm
• 2 parts eucalyptus
• 2 parts lemon thyme
• 1 part oregano
• 1 part rosemary
• 1 part thyme
• Olive oil or unscented massage oil.

In an appropriately sized bowl combine the herbs and sufficient oil to cover them. Allow this to stand over night. The next day strain out the herbs.

Massage the oil onto your abdomen and any other areas of muscle tension. You can use the oil at room temperature or slightly warmed if you wish.

2. You can get relief by drinking by taking a tea that is rich in a compound called borneol. Borneol is a muscle relaxing spasmolytic compound. Cardamon is one of the best sources and this is followed by sage, rosemary and mountain mint.

Use any combination of the following herbs:

• cardamon
• coriander
• mountain mint
• rosemary
• sage
• savory
• thyme
• lemongrass
• 1 cup of water

Combine the herbs of your choice and add the lemon grass for a lemony flavour.

Place 1 teaspoonful of your combined herbs into a cup of freshly boiled water. Allow this to stand for 10 minutes and then strain out the herbs.

Allow this to cool slightly and drink. You can use this up to three times per day.

Menstrual cramping is problem for many women but there are many things that you can do to overcome the problem and so that you will not have to use potentially harmful pharmaceutical medications. You can make changes to your diet, reduce and remove the toxic load that your body is under, increase your intake of vitamins and minerals, use relaxation and exercise and take herbal remedies. These changes will not only improve your menstrual cramping problems but the will enhance your total health and well-being.

Author: Dr Jenny Tylee

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Menstrual cramps are the pains occurring in the abdomen (belly) and pelvic areas as a result of the menstrual period. These pains are not similar to the discomfort felt during premenstrual syndrome

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