Muscle Soreness
Muscle soreness or better known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is the pain in the muscles that occurs for approximately 24-72 hours after strenuous physical activity. It differs from the pain you feel at an injury and it is completely normal to experience this. The pain is caused by microscopic tears that occur in muscle after intense exercise. Afterward, the muscle begins to be built up again, and it is this process that allows the muscle gets bigger and stronger than before. Muscles grow in other words, after the workout, when you are resting (assuming you get enough of the nutrients needed).
A person who has never exercised before can experience quite a lot of pain in the beginning, but the body adapts gradually and the pain reduces after a while. To continue to increase muscle mass, you need to gradually increase the intensity and alter your routine to continuously stimulate the growth of muscles. It is difficult to completely avoid muscle soreness if you want to increase muscle mass, but there are some methods to reduce the pain:
• Warm up properly before exercise. Increase the intensity slowly, it takes a while before the body adapts. You must rest a few days after the workout if you are just getting started or start with something easy, such as swimming or walking.
• Drink plenty of fluids before, during and after training.
• Finish the workout with walking or jogging at an easy pace a few minutes.
• Light stretching ten minutes before and after your workout can help prevent aching muscles.
• Rest and recuperate. Sore muscles recover after three to seven days without treatment.
• Take appropriate amount of carbohydrates. Lack of carbs can lead to muscle soreness. Deficiency of protein in meals can also hinder muscles from recovering and cause pain.
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