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Picture this: you had a great leg workout at the gym yesterday and feel so proud of yourself. You then step out of bed to start your day only to find out you are struggling to even walk to the bathroom. Ouch!
You now have a case of post-gym muscle soreness. How is it possible that you felt on top of the world yesterday and now you feel like you have aged 30 years overnight?
This is why it’s important to have a post-workout strategy for adequate muscle recovery. With the right strategy, you will feel less pain and discomfort in the days following your workout. Plus, you will minimize your injury risk and promote proper growth of your muscle tissue.
In this article, we will go over 7 tips that can help you reduce post-gym muscle soreness and promote muscle recovery.
7 Tips for Sore Muscles After a Workout
1. Post Workout Cool-Down
Do you tend to skip your cool-down after a workout? You might want to rethink this. Here are some of the benefits of performing cool-down exercises:
- To slow down your heart rateYour heart rate goes up when you do a workout, cooling down gives it a chance to go back to baseline.
- To prevent blood pooling in your legsCooling down should be active and not standing still, this will help the blood in your legs to make its way back toward the heart.
- To promote recoveryCooling down helps to bring our nervous system back to a state of rest which is when muscle recovery can begin to happen.
- To improve psychological healthThe cool-down encourages you to take a moment to be proud of the workout you just finished and to mentally prepare for the rest of your day.
The 3rd point concerning recovery is especially important when it comes to reducing muscle soreness after a workout. If we skip the cool-down, it’s a missed opportunity to help our muscles recover optimally.
So, what should a post-workout cool-down look like? The number one thing to note is that it doesn’t have to be long or complicated. Here are a few tips to ensure you are successful with your cool-down:
- Keep it between 5 and 10 minutes.
- Perform light aerobic activity (this could be walking on the treadmill or some light cycling).
- Use a foam roller (this will be discussed further in this article at tip #3).
- Do some light mobility exercises depending on the areas that you have worked on. For example, if you worked on your quadricep muscles you could gently bend your knee back and forth. Or if you worked on your calves, you could include some ankle rolls.
A note on static stretching: this is when you stretch a muscle and hold the position typically for longer than 30 seconds. I still see a lot of people doing this as part of their cool-down after a workout.
If you feel good doing this after a workout, please continue. However, it’s important to note that research has shown that static stretching after a workout doesn’t help prevent muscle soreness (Herbet et al., 2011).
2. Hydration and Fueling
It’s important to stay hydrated and properly fuel your body before, during, and after a workout to aid in post-workout muscle soreness.
To help you with this, below is a breakdown of what this could look like for every phase of your workout.
Before a workout:
- Make sure you are well hydrated before a workout by drinking plenty of water. Start this several hours before a workout if you are dehydrated as this could take time. You are well-hydrated when the color of your urine is a light yellow to almost clear color (ACSM, 2007).
During a workout:
- Drink water when you are thirsty throughout your workout without forcing yourself to drink.
- If you are doing a prolonged endurance exercise like running or cycling, make sure you are drinking less than 700 mL per hour of exercise to avoid overhydration (Armstrong, 2021).
After a workout:
- Drink water to thirst after a workout. The amount will vary according to the intensity and duration of the workout as well as how much you sweat.
- Drinking a beverage that contains electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium can help muscle recovery by restoring electrolyte balance.
- Eat a snack after a workout, within 30-45 minutes, that has a combination of carbohydrates and protein. This should ideally be a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. A good example of a post-workout snack could be having a smoothie with Greek yogurt and a banana or eating an English muffin with some peanut butter. Eating carbohydrates will help to replenish glycogen stores which are used for energy during exercise. This is an essential step for recovery and to ensure that you can perform well in your next workout. On the other hand, eating protein will encourage muscle protein repair and growth. This will aid in reducing muscle damage and promote recovery post-workout (Kerksick et al., 2017).
3. Foam Rolling
This is a big one. I often see people running straight toward the foam roller after their gym workouts in the hopes of limiting soreness the next day. But does it actually work?
Research indicates that foam rolling can alleviate some of the muscle soreness experienced after vigorous exercise. For instance, Pearcy et al. (2015) found a notable reduction in muscle tenderness following intense physical activity. That’s great news!
What we need to be mindful of is how to properly use a foam roller to get the most out of it and promote muscle recovery.
How long should you foam roll for?
Currently, the methods for using mobility tools like foam rollers vary widely. Studies have found benefits from using foam rollers for durations that can go as long as 20 minutes.
However, studies by Sullivan et al. (2013) and Halperin et al. (2014) suggest that even short sessions of 10 to 30 seconds (per muscle group) can be effective