Here’s all you need to know about muscle soreness recovery and treatment.

Muscle soreness is something that most of us have felt at some point in our life.  Whether it was from helping someone move, working out, or even doing yard work.  It’s something that seems inevitable after doing an activity that hasn’t been done in a while or changing how something is done.

Cause

Muscle soreness is caused by a byproduct of energy metabolism when exercising. The byproduct is called lactic acid and it can stay in the muscle tissue for up to several days. This lactic acid buildup is not as bad as it sounds. It builds up simply because your working rate is higher than what the body can remove the lactic acid. The soreness that is felt 24-72 hours after the activity will go away in a few days so there is no reason to worry. The human body is an amazing mechanism and learns from its stressors (in this case, the lactic acid buildup). This means that your body won’t be as sore after the next bout of the given activity. With this being said, it is not recommended to do the same activity again while being sore.

The body needs rest to recover from the stressor.

Muscle Soreness Recovery

There are a number of things that you can do help with muscle soreness. For muscle soreness recovery, first and most important thing you need is rest. This doesn’t mean to give up using that body part completely while you’re sore. It just means to avoid doing things that challenge that area of the body.  If your legs are sore from climbing up and down a ladder to get things from the attic you should avoid things that put added stress on your legs. Things such as cutting the grass, climbing the ladder, etc. This doesn’t mean to not walk at all for a couple of days, that would be nearly impossible.

Another way to help speed up the recovery process is to massage the area. This will allow the area to get more blood flow, resulting in the body being able to flush the lactic acid build up faster.

If the pain is more than a soreness and lasts longer than a few days, it may be a good idea to contact your doctor.  Also, if you experience soreness after a workout with a personal trainer, it is a good idea to tell your trainer the next time you see them.