soothing sore muscles...

amehrkens
amehrkens Posts: 162 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
What is the best way to soothe sore muscles? I went to gym yesterday for the first time in about 5 months.....of course I am all sorts of sore! Any good reccomendations?

Replies

  • TexasBridgett
    TexasBridgett Posts: 84 Member
    In my experience, yoga. It sounds silly to work the muscles that are sore, but the stretching releases the soreness. AND use eucalyptus. If you can find this stuff called Olba's oil, that's the best. It's a liquid usually in the health food section at the grocery store. (http://www.olbas.com/) If you can't find that, then eucalyptus is the best. My mom has used so many products for her sore muscles over the years and she (and now I) swear by just plain eucalyptus. Put it in a warm bath and you're good to go!
  • LilacSnow
    LilacSnow Posts: 238 Member
    my gym has a pool, sauna and whirlpool. i use all of 'em when i'm sore.
  • chubbygirl253
    chubbygirl253 Posts: 1,309 Member
    Take a bath in epsom salts. And massage the sore areas one spot at a time, try using something like Bengay or Aspercreme. Heating pad and stretching.
  • brittaney0625
    brittaney0625 Posts: 268 Member
    Icy Hot!!!
    Or heating pad.. / warmed up wash cloth
  • faceoff4
    faceoff4 Posts: 1,599 Member
    I actually find that a really good cardio session is a good way to break up the lactic acid build up that causes a lot of the soreness. Also, as pointed out already, lots of stretching and or yoga is very helpful for this as well. Aside from that I use a lot of ice packs and heating pads. The bad news is the soreness usually never really goes away if you are working hard at it, but its a good sign that you are doing the right thing :)
  • marvybells
    marvybells Posts: 1,984 Member
    i don;t have a tub so i can;t take baths (boo!) but a hot shower helps. I also like Yogi tea "muscle recovery". It won't totally eliminate the soreness but it helps a bit. I sometimes do very gentle beginner's yoga that is basically just stretching, there's a few freebie routines on youtube
  • Doberdawn
    Doberdawn Posts: 733 Member
    1. Take Magnesium (500mg x2 a day) and MSM (1000mg x3 a day). Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxer/anti-inflammatory. MSM is the building block (sulfur) that your body uses to fill in fiber tears in the muscles that are created from exercise. Helps speed healing/growth by providing the nutrient used for that purpose.

    2. Massage out the muscles (roll bars like "The Stick" and foam rollers can help with this).

    3. Soak in Epsom salts bath 20-30 minutes, nice and warm.

    4. Rub Arnica gel into muscles. This increases blood circulation and helps promote healing. Then, apply a coat of aspercreme over top which is an analgesic for the pain. And on top of that I like to mist a light spray of Kool-n-Fit. It has the menthol type stuff that provides a different type of muscle relief. This trio is magical in its effectiveness... or such has been my experience, and that of my family and friends who tried it.

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  • littlewhittles
    littlewhittles Posts: 402 Member
    I actually find that a really good cardio session is a good way to break up the lactic acid build up that causes a lot of the soreness. Also, as pointed out already, lots of stretching and or yoga is very helpful for this as well. Aside from that I use a lot of ice packs and heating pads. The bad news is the soreness usually never really goes away if you are working hard at it, but its a good sign that you are doing the right thing :)

    Seconded.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    Several options.

    1. Massage
    2. hot tub/sauna
    3. bananas (potassium helps with muscle soreness)
    4. when first starting an activity after a period of inactivity, you may want to take an ibuprofen (or other pain reliever) BEFORE engaging in the activity... This helps prevent the soreness in the first place

    Hope some of these suggestions help....

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