Muscle Soreness Pt. 3: Management

by Melanie Brohm, B.Sc., RMT

Welcome back to our 3-part series on Muscle Soreness! If you've read the first and second parts, you will have learned a lot of information about muscle soreness and ways to prevent or minimize it during your workouts. In this final part of our blog series, learn how to manage the symptoms of a hard workout!

MANAGEMENT:

Don’t Stop Exercising

Reduce the intensity of the exercise if you feel sore or tender. A short 30-minute walk, gentle stretches, mobility work will actively promote blood flow to the muscles and help with recovery. In general – if you don’t move, you lose. It is also important to gradually build your fitness – strength, cardio, flexibility or endurance. Stick to a consistent schedule that slowly builds intensity, volume and includes times of rest and recovery.

Get Quality Sleep

Deep sleep – also known as non-REM - is most effective at rebuilding muscle tissue with the production of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) (The effect of acute sleep extension vs active recovery on post exercise recovery kinetics in rugby union players - PubMed (nih.gov),