Ouch! My Sore Aching Muscles! What Can I Do To Ease The Pain

I've been meaning to write this quick little blurb for the past few weeks now but have never found the time, and when I did find time I often forgot. That said, I've got the time and I've since remembered so here it goes.

I've seen many MFP people wondering how to ease sore aching muscles from a workout, be-it running, strength training, etc.

I have two very simple all natural remedies I'd like to share with you that have almost always worked for me. L-glutamine powder and magnesium powder. Personally I prefer powders to tablets or pills because they dissolve and enter the blood stream almost immediately whereas pills and tablets can take up to 45 minutes to digest before entering the blood stream. Thus powders are rapidly more effective.

1) L-Glutamine Powder

L-glutamine comes in powder form and can be purchased at most Walmart and Health Food stores as well as online. It costs approximately $20-$30 CDN for 300 grams. Personally, I purchase North Coast Naturals all natural fermented L-glutamine non gmo vegan, unflavored and take 1-3 tablespoons in a glass of filtered water after each workout.

When muscles are worked hard, they tear. The tears are tiny but significant enough to produce soreness. L-glutamine works to quickly repair muscular damage, which enables you to work out more often while developing increased strength.

L-glutamine is found naturally in beef, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, dairy products, wheat, cabbage, beets, beans, spinach, parsley and pineapple. Small amounts of free L-glutamine are also found in vegetable juices and tofu.

For more in-depth information about L-glutamine, please visit:

http://www.vitamins-supplements.org/amino-acids/glutamine.php
http://www.whathealth.com/l-glutamine/
http://www.mens-total-fitness.com/L-glutamine.html

2) Magnesium Powder

Most people in North America suffer from too much calcium and not enough magnesium. Although the ratio differs from person to person, the normal range ratio of calcium to magnesium is 2:1. Thus for every gram of calcium you intake you should also be consuming 0.5 grams of magnesium for proper muscle, bone and blood development.

Too little magnesium is becoming obviously apparent in western society in the form of chronic sore muscles, stiffness and fibromyalgia.

Magnesium works to keep muscles relaxed and works to stabilize the proper rhythm of the heart.

According to the article, "The Health Benefits of Magnesium" written by the Alternative Medicine Digest (http://www.alternative-medicine-digest.com/health-benefits-of-magnesium.html),

"The crucial health benefits of magnesium include solving or preventing osteoporosis, heart attacks, hypertenstion, constipation, migraines, leg cramps, kidney stones, gallstones and more."

The article further cites,

"According to Dr. Nan Kathryn Fuchs, who publishes the Women's Health Letter newsletter, it's not more calcium you need for stong bones; it's magnesium. Although the government has raised the RDA for calcium from 500 milligrams to 1,000 milligrams a day, and U.S. women have one of the highest levels of calcium intake in the world, osteoporosis has gone up instead of down. Fuchs (no relation to this writer) says that the problem isn't too little calcium but too much. In order to be absorbed, she says, calcium must be taken with magnesium, yet experts estimate that most American women are deficient in magnesium."

That's about a half teaspoon in the morning and another half teaspoon at night before bed. I strongly urge you not to take one full teaspoon at a time, as I can verify the almost immediate strong laxative effects magnesium has on the body when taken in large doses.

As an aside, magnesium, taken regularly, can also help prevent severe cramps, blood clotting, and heavy bleeding associated to women's monthly cycles. After years of suffering from severe cramps, clotting and heavy bleeding, taking birth control to no avail, and running out of options, I took my daughter to a homeopath. The homeopath suggested a teaspoon of magnesium, every single night, in a cup of warm camomile tea 30-40 minutes before bed. The remedy, when taken as instructed, helped enormously.

You can purchase magnesium powder at most Walmart and Health Food stores as well as online. Prices range from store to store.

To read more about magnesium please visit:

http://www.acu-cell.com/acn.html
http://www.brighthub.com/health/alternative-medicine/articles/43417.aspx
http://www.alternative-medicine-digest.com/health-benefits-of-magnesium.html


Hope you found this post helpful :happy: