Exercise and Muscle Soreness

Wellness Wednesday

There's nothing like a few rounds of golf, a hike in the woods, an intense workout at the gym, or a bike ride down the Cardinal Greenway to reinvigorate you. After my husband and I took an 18.3 bike ride last week, we decided to take the rest of the day off…being lazy.  We soon realized you have to keep moving even when those muscles are aching.  We work hard all week, so when the weekend finally rolls around we are ready to play just as hard. But all of that activity can result in soreness and stiffness that shows up a day or two later… I usually feel it on day 2!  Don’t be sidelined by muscle pain. Find out the causes and proper treatments so you can stay on your game

You did do any unusual exercises, in which you lengthened instead of shortened your muscle (like walking downhill or extending your arm during a bicep curl). According to WebMD, these changes to your exercise routine can lead to tiny injuries in the muscle fibers and connective tissue. About a day or so later, you'll start to feel sore.

"We call that delayed onset muscle soreness," says Ethel Frese, PT, DPT, CCS, associate professor of Physical Therapy at St. Louis University. "It peaks within about 48 hours, and then it will gradually get better." The good news is that when you do the same activity again, your muscles will start to get used to it and you’ll actually have no soreness or less soreness because now you've strengthened the muscle or connective tissue."

Don’t forget to stay HYDRATED. Water is very important to the human body in innumerable ways, and drinking plenty of water is a very good answer to how to get rid of sore muscles. Water facilitates the quick passage of lactic acid from the body and also provides the minerals necessary to prevent cramps and soreness. To be sure you’re drinking enough water, take your body weight and divide by 2. That is how many ounces of water you must drink per day in order to stay hydrated.