How to relieve muscle pain after training and physical activity. How to relieve muscle pain after exercise

Natalia Govorova

Reading time: 6 minutes

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Do your muscles hurt after training? So, as they say, you didn’t try hard! But seriously, muscle pain that appears on the 1-2 day after exercise is quite normal. The muscles worked, which means they must hurt. True, in cases where the pain causes significant discomfort, you should look for a more precise cause. How to relieve pain and protect yourself from it in the future?

Causes of muscle pain after exercise

There are many theories about the appearance of muscle pain. We will highlight the main ones:

• The action of lactic acid. Accumulating quite quickly in muscle cells, it is a definite by-product of physiological processes. When it leaves the body, discomfort occurs, and with repeated training, this acid becomes more and more abundant. This substance is washed out by the blood within 24 hours, and its accumulation in the muscles during exercise is absolutely safe.
• Delayed pain. It happens that muscle pain “covers” only on the 2-3rd day of classes. The reason is microtrauma of muscle fibers. There is nothing to be afraid of here: muscle injury provokes the body to activate its defenses and increase the secretion of hormones to quickly rid the muscles of toxins and restore damage. After 3-4 workouts, the pain begins to subside. A constant change of loads and intensity of exercise is recommended.
• Increased muscle reactivity. This case is caused by an exacerbation of the sensitivity of nerve endings due to heavy muscle loads due to a change in the biological balance of fluid and salt. That is, imbalance. In addition to pain, this cause can also lead to seizures calf muscles. For prevention, stretching “before and after” is recommended, as well as replacing fluid deficiency directly during exercise.

• Overtraining. With a constant feeling of weakness in the muscles, severe pain and loss of strength, you can safely conclude that your body is exhausted - you have overtrained. From a biochemical point of view, this is explained by a nitrogen imbalance or the loss of more protein compared to the gain. Unabated symptoms lead to decreased immunity, hormonal and menstrual cycle disruptions, and even infertility.
• Injury. In this case, the pain is aching and constraining in nature, intensifying with sudden movements and with loads of any force. Often accompanied by swelling at the site of injury, as well as worsening general condition. The onset of pain is immediate, less often the next day.
• Full range of motion training (horizontal bench press with a barbell, deadlift with absolutely straight legs and deep squats, etc.). In addition to muscle stretching, the fact of receiving a load in those areas of amplitude where it is in ordinary life can not be. Pain reduction can be achieved through partial range of motion training.

6 best quick ways to get rid of muscle pain after sports activities

What can you do to relieve pain quickly? The best express methods for your attention!

• Water procedures

Contrary to stereotypes, it is cold water reduces muscle pain, but the most effective is alternating cold and warm. This can be a contrast shower for 10 minutes or a warm bath (for 20 minutes, with sea ​​salt), which is immediately followed by dousing cold water or a cold shower.

• Russian bath

One of the best ways eliminate pain with a combination of low/high temperatures and heavy drinking.

• Swimming in cold water

Regardless of the muscle group being trained and the intensity of the activity, swimming (especially regular swimming) for 15-20 minutes relieves pain more effectively than other methods. Many athletes suffering from post-workout soreness become big fans of swimming. Pain reduction occurs due to improved blood circulation and dilation of blood vessels.

• Massage

If there is no professional massage therapist nearby, then you can do it yourself. The most important thing is to warm up the muscles and knead the painful areas to allow blood to flow to them. Can be used to warm up muscles olive oil with the addition of 2-3 drops of essential oil ( clary sage, lavender, marjoram). Also popular today are massage rollers (note: Pilates machines), which improve blood flow in the muscles and help reduce pain. The procedure with this video lasts about 15 minutes.

• Ointments and creams

An option for the laziest. Ointments from the pharmacy with herbs, with essential oils and bile, balms or anti-inflammatory creams. Typically, such products contain active components or special substances that affect pain receptors (Voltaren, capsicam, etc.).

• Movement

Yes exactly. Immediately after training - warm up. Muscles must work, especially antagonist muscles. Does your back hurt? So, you need to “download” pectoral muscles. Sore biceps? Pump up your triceps. Stretching before and after exercise reduces the risk of pain by 50%. In addition, warmed muscles reduce the risk of injury.

How to avoid muscle pain after sports in your next workouts?

To prevent muscle pain from tormenting you after training, remember the main rules for their prevention:

• Proper nutrition

The amount of protein absorbed should match the amount consumed. It is also worth remembering that to restore the body you need 2-4 g per 1 kg of weight - carbohydrates (per day), about 2 g / per 1 kg of weight - protein, as well as about 20% of the total calories as healthy fats .

• Water

Its amount per day depends on weight. Calculation of the formula: person’s weight x 0.04 = amount of water/day. Due to the lack of water intake, the body's ability to eliminate toxins is impaired, and the muscle recovery process takes much longer and more difficult. Drink water!

• Cardio exercises

3-4 cardio workouts per week help speed up recovery. Additional oxygen and increased blood circulation help quickly get rid of lactic acid and directly toxins.

• After training - water procedures!

We alternate between cold and hot water in 3-5 cycles.

• Don't forget about massage

After training - on your own (or ask someone to “stretch” your muscles), and once a month - professionally.

• Supplements

Some of the most important are fatty acids (300 mg per 1 kg of weight), which reduce inflammation in the muscles and stimulate the immune system. We are looking for them in linseed oil and fish oil.

• Cycle your workouts

Alternate exercises with a high number of repetitions (from 10 to 15) and solid weight with classes with a small number of repetitions of exercises (from 6 to 8) and light weight.

• Avoid workouts that last more than 1 hour

Maximum lesson time is 45 minutes. After an hour of training, testosterone levels decrease and cortisol levels increase.

• Dream

When it is deficient, cortisol levels begin to go off scale, resulting in a disruption of the recovery process and an increased risk of injury. Optimal time for normal sleep - 8 hours.

• Additional antioxidant intake

It is necessary to neutralize decay products in the body. We are looking for antioxidants in retinol, carotenes, ascorbic acid and tocopherol, in selenium, in succinic acid, as well as in flavonoids (blue cabbage and cherries, raisins, dark grape varieties).

• Eating watermelon

One of the methods to quickly recover after exercise. Watermelon juice (only natural!) relieves muscle pain, thanks to the amino acid in its composition (L-citrulline), which helps remove lactic acid from the body. You should drink this juice an hour before classes and an hour after.

• Foods that can relieve pain

In addition to watermelon juice, there are also blackcurrants, blackberries and blueberries, cranberry and grape juices. The anthocyanins contained in these foods help reduce inflammation and pain levels. Peeled potatoes, cucumbers and figs with pomegranate will also be useful for these purposes. walnuts and parsley, ginger. Do not forget about decoctions of licorice (the most effective), chamomile and linden, rose hips or currant leaves, white willow bark, bearberry or St. John's wort.

When should you contact a specialist?

Joint and muscle pain should not be confused. Joint pain, unlike muscle pain, is very serious problem which could result in critical injury. Remember also that severe muscle damage can result from chronic overexertion. Therefore, the reason to see a doctor is pain that lasts more than 72 hours.

Often muscle pain is the complaint with which patients turn to specialists. However, to eliminate it, it is necessary to determine which of the many diseases it is a manifestation of.

Myalgia is a pain syndrome in the muscles, acute or chronic, occurring spontaneously or when moving/pressing on them. The nature of such pain depends on the etiology and location. With acute muscle lesions, the pain is usually intense, sharp, sharp. Chronic muscle pain is often less intense, pulling, aching, tingling in nature. Pain is always a signal to the body about the presence of a pathological process or disease. Myalgia is often only a clinical manifestation of a particular disease, and therefore, to relieve pain, it is important to identify and eliminate its cause.

Why might muscle pain occur?

Both acute and chronic muscle pain can occur due to a large number of reasons, among which the following can be noted:

• injuries to muscles, nerves, tendons (impacts, sprains, tears and ruptures of muscles, dissection of muscle fibers, tear or rupture of tendons, compression of nerve bundles, roots due to herniated intervertebral discs, spinal stenosis, etc.);
• overload or abnormal impulses (convulsions, excessive and unbearable physical exertion);
• brain or spinal cord injuries;
• myositis, polymyositis (inflammatory processes in the muscles of an infectious or non-infectious nature);
• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Charcot's disease is a fairly severe neuromuscular disease);
• dermatomyositis;
• rhabdomyolysis (extreme myopathy with destruction of muscle tissue);
• myopathies (hereditary, destructive);
• abscesses, muscle phlegmon;
• multiple sclerosis;
• infectious diseases(Lyme disease, leptospirosis, etc.);
• Parkinson's disease;
• strokes;
• rheumatic polymyalgia;
• benign and malignant neoplasms;
• fibromyalgia;
• depressive states;
• heat bodies with chills;
• hypothyroidism;
• electrolyte disturbances (changes in the content of potassium, calcium, trace elements in the blood);
• acute respiratory diseases;
• systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma;
• renal failure;
• deficiency of vitamins D and B12;
• pregnancy;
• taking some medicines(statins, ACE inhibitors, etc.);
• taking narcotic substances;
• mental disorders.

How to determine the cause of muscle pain?

Of course, one of the most informative components of diagnosis are the medical history and clinical manifestations. What matters is the time of onset of muscle pain, the connection with provoking factors, how long the pain lasts and how it is relieved. For example, when a muscle is injured, pain occurs acutely (immediately after injury), has a pronounced intensity and is not relieved either by adopting a certain position or by medications available to the patient on an outpatient basis. With constant physical activity or a sedentary lifestyle, on the contrary, the pain appears and increases gradually (in the evening) and decreases after a warm bath, massage or simply sleeping on a flat surface. Such pain is often chronic in nature due to patients seeking treatment only after the occurrence of morphological pathologies (for example, with the development of complicated kyphoscoliosis after several years of sitting in an uncomfortable position).

For the purpose of differential diagnosis of myalgia, the following studies are carried out:

• general clinical blood test (for diagnosing inflammatory processes, indirect signs of autoimmune diseases);
• biochemical blood test (including determination of CPK);
• ultrasonography;
• computed and magnetic resonance imaging;
• electrophysiological research methods (can detect conduction disorders along nerve fibers in the case of radicular syndrome or other neurological pathologies, as well as determine the presence of degenerative or inflammatory muscle diseases);
• muscle biopsy (used extremely rarely).

How to relieve acute and chronic muscle pain?

Treatment of myalgia directly depends on the cause of its occurrence. Sometimes it is enough to start sleeping on a flat, hard surface and not slouch (if you have back pain at the end of the working day), stop taking medications if you experience muscle pain caused by taking medications. In other cases, complex medical and even surgical treatment in a hospital setting is necessary.

In case of acute muscle pain associated with injury or excessive physical activity, the pain will be effectively eliminated by applying cold to the site of injury, rest (sometimes immobilization) of the damaged area. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, muscle relaxants and even narcotic analgesics can be used in the medical treatment of pain.

For chronic muscle pain, it is possible to use acupressure, acupuncture, thermal procedures (contraindicated in the presence of inflammatory processes), electrical stimulation, manual therapy, physiotherapy, therapeutic and preventive physical education.

Surgical methods for the treatment of muscle pain are used mainly for injuries, radicular syndrome, and in some cases of ineffectiveness of conservative therapy.

In most cases, myalgia is an alarming signal, a symptom of some disease, and therefore, diagnosis and treatment of the underlying disease is the treatment of muscle pain itself. Symptomatic treatment without identifying the root cause can only aggravate the course of the disease and, as a result, muscle pain.

The end of each workout brings not only a feeling of self-satisfaction, but also muscle pain. It can be completely different. You may feel both pleasant fatigue and aching pain that prevents muscle tissue from fully contracting. To understand why this happens, you need to take a closer look at how loads act on muscles. By understanding the onset of pain after training, you can minimize and muffle this not always pleasant sensation.

Most often, beginners and athletes experience strong painful sensations after a long pause in training or changing one program to another. Everyone wants not to suffer from aching pain, but this consequence can only be avoided when there is a clear idea of ​​why the pain appears in the first place.

Pain is a reflection of the process during which muscle structures are destroyed. According to a study conducted by Sterlig and Morozov, implementation physical exercise displaces the myofibrils of muscle fibers, mitochondria disintegrate, which provokes an increase in the level of leukocytes in the blood. A similar condition occurs with injuries, inflammation, and infections.

As a result of the destruction of muscle tissue fibers, protein fragments of molecules are formed, and cells that digest damaged tissue, called phagocytes and lysosomes, are activated. They secrete products that cause pain. Muscle fibers, when destroyed, form satellites, which are cells that provoke the production of protein by tissues.

There is another fact that does not raise any doubts, which is that pain during bodybuilding is felt especially acutely only after the first workouts, and then, when they become regular, they are almost no longer felt. If there is a long pause in classes, they appear again.

When training is completed, protein production in the body accelerates, which leads to the accumulation of creatine phosphate in muscle tissue, increasing the level and activating glycolytic enzymes. This process becomes much more efficient over time, and therefore oxidation occurs, which is the source of energy for muscle contractions. The amount of training you do makes it almost impossible for your muscles to deplete their energy source.

Thanks to regular training, the energy potential for the muscles increases, and, consequently, performance indicators with strength. On the other hand, there is a reduction in applied stress and training impact. The reverse reaction is that muscle adaptation slows down. This phenomenon is called a training plateau, when in order to make a breakthrough it is necessary to change the load and training factors, changing splits, rest time between sets, exercises performed using supersets, drops, and so on.

Types of muscle pain

There are several types of pain that occur after every workout.

Begins to be felt in the muscles the next morning after performing strength training. Muscles become stringy, cottony, swollen and full when any action is performed through the muscle group involved in training. A pleasant feeling of fatigue and almost imperceptible pain, which intensifies if the muscles stretch or contract.

The pain continues for several days. This is evidence that microtraumas have appeared in the muscle tissue and the recovery process begins, accompanied by the formation of new structures.

Lagging

Appears two to three days after completion of training. If the muscles are stretched or contracted, then it becomes strong. It most often occurs after changes in the training program, a long break in exercise, and also among beginners.

Aching, severe and incessant pain is evidence that the load is too excessive, the weights are taken too heavy. It is recommended to increase the load gradually. This allows joints, muscles, ligaments, nervous central system strengthen and get used to it.

When the muscles have not yet fully recovered before the next training session, that is, they continue to hurt, a recovery session should be performed. It is not necessary to change the exercises, but the weight is reduced by half - by 50 percent. If you perform sets of 15-20 repetitions each, the damaged muscle will receive a large amount of blood, which improves circulation and supplies them with nutrients that promote recovery processes.

It can be stiff and acute, occurring both the next day and immediately after classes. It does not allow you to do any exercises, since the pain is quite strong. Injuries, as a rule, occur when the weights are taken to the maximum limit and a minimum of time is devoted to warm-up.

Pain in ligaments or joints is not normal. Therefore, it is recommended to completely stop doing the exercise until you can find out the exact reason why the pain occurs. It may be that the injury is not completely cured, the technique is incorrect, the simulator is not configured for anthropometric personal parameters, and so on.

Another type of muscle post-workout pain is the occurrence of a burning sensation when performing final repetitions in various exercises. This is the result of oxidation of muscle tissue by lactic acid. It fills muscle cells and prevents nerve impulse pass, which causes the burning sensation.

This feeling is absolutely normal and represents a response of the body that protects it from overload. Lactic acid waste products are eliminated approximately 20 or maximum 30 minutes after the end of the training.

Training goals most often lead to the need to exercise until a burning sensation is felt, that is, for lagging, slow, straight muscle groups.

Are muscles sore after workouts a good or bad sign?

Muscle pain is an optional sign of growth muscle mass, but they confirm that when performing training, muscle structures are destroyed and microscopic injuries are formed, and, therefore, the process of treatment and formation of new structural tissue begins.

The success of training is not measured by pain. The absence of this feeling does not mean that the lesson was unsuccessful. Contreras and Schoenfeld - American researchers this process, they say that experiencing post-workout soreness is not always a sign that muscles are growing.

The main goal of each training should not be to experience pain, but to progress the loads received. The effectiveness of exercise is indicated not by pain, but by an increase in the girth and volume of the muscles, as well as a comparison of the physique before the start of exercise and after training.

It is almost impossible not to feel muscle pain completely. As training increases, it becomes less pronounced. There are several important points, allowing you to exercise effectively, but feel extremely pleasant, but not aching or breaking pain:

1. Loads must progress. Thus, only a small amount of weight is added to the resistance each week. If you perform a bench press with a barbell, then the optimal increase will be from 2.5 to 5 kg every week. After increasing the weight, you should master the execution technique, maintain a given number of sets and approaches, and then start adding weights.
2. The technique must be mastered to perfection. You can contact a trainer or someone knowledgeable. If this is not possible, then you can always find information on how to do this or that exercise.
3. Be sure to do a warm-up. It is an integral part of the beginning of training, includes a full range of movements for the whole body, as well as preparation for the upcoming training. If you do the bench press, then perform 2 to 3 warm-up sets with light weights and a small number of repetitions. This will ensure a rush of blood to the muscles and establish communication with the nervous system.
4. Don't train when tired. A large number of work, lack of sleep, bad mood and inability to eat well during the day are a good reason to refuse training so as not to expose your body to additional stress.
5. Maintain drinking regime. During class you need to drink at least a liter of water. The daily norm of fluid intake is 0.04-0.05*own weight. Thanks to water, the blood does not thicken, the delivery of oxygen and nutrients is accelerated, and the passage of nerve impulses to muscle tissue is improved.
6. Try to sleep well. It is best to get at least 8 hours of sleep.

To reduce pain, you must resort to the following methods:

• Massage. It allows you to disperse blood throughout the body and ensure the flow of nutrients to the right areas.
• A restorative activity. This workout involves using 50% of normal working weights with 15-20 repetitions per set, which provides blood flow to the muscles. They receive nutrients and recover faster. The point of such exercises is not only to reduce pain, but also to repeat the technique of movements, honing your skills.
• Cool down. By stretching the muscles, blood flow increases, which increases and accelerates the process of removing damaged cells, and, consequently, reduces pain.
• Proper nutrition. The diet must contain a lot of protein, the amount of which ranges from 2 to 2.5 g per 1 kg of body weight. To prevent catabolism and obtain simple amino acids, you should take BCAA. This also applies to glutamine, which also strengthens the immune system, which helps accelerate the full recovery of the body. Taking creatine can increase endurance and strength of muscle tissue by increasing the concentration of creatine phosphate.
• Have a good rest. If there is pain that prevents you from exercising, you should take a break for 2-5 days. This will allow you to fully recover and start exercising with renewed vigor.

Along with these methods, you can resort to hardening, visiting a bathhouse, sauna, using a warming ointment, and so on. These methods lead to improved blood circulation in damaged structures, which allows muscles to recover much faster.

Summarizing

Painful sensations after training are a sure sign that the muscles are sore, which means that microtraumas have been sustained, which are evidence that the training was effective. The main thing is to be able to distinguish between bad and good pain. You shouldn’t be afraid of it, but you definitely need to give your muscles rest and recovery. Otherwise, there will be no positive result from the training.

1. A cup of coffee, drunk 30-40 minutes before training, increases muscle endurance. Scientific research shows that athletes who do not give up coffee can train longer and are less tired during training. One report from the International Coffee Organization (ICO) even suggests that 100-150 mg of caffeine, roughly the amount found in one cup of coffee, can reduce muscle fatigue, especially during aerobic exercise. .

2. After training, drink freshly squeezed cherry juice or eat 100-200 grams of its berries(due to the lack of fresh ones, you should not ignore frozen ones) - and the muscles will hurt less. Cherries have long been used in folk medicine as a painkiller and stamina enhancer. This is largely due to the polyphenol and coumarin compounds that it is rich in: they tone the body and increase its regenerative abilities.

3. Take your time during the workout itself, don’t push yourself, if the trainer advises you to rest between “sets,” don’t shorten the rest time: the muscles need this time to recover. In addition, with each repetition, the production of lactic acid, a kind of “by-product” formed after active exercise, increases in the muscle fibers. physical activity and affecting the body's pain receptors. The longer and stronger the load, the more lactic acid accumulates, the stronger the muscle pain. And during breaks, some of the lactic acid is absorbed into the blood and excreted from the body.

4. Finish your workout with stretching exercises– they provide blood flow to the muscles, promote their faster relaxation, thereby reducing subsequent pain.

5. After an active workout: heat perfectly relaxes muscles and very quickly removes excess lactic acid from the body. If you feel like you overtrained today, go to the steam room: the next day the pain will be minimal.

6. Train with breaks of 1-3 days. Otherwise, microtraumas that muscle fibers receive during active training (especially if you prefer strength exercises), will not have time to heal. It is also recommended to alternate the load on different muscle groups so that they have time to recover normally.

7. Watch your diet! Provide your body with enough protein and healthy carbohydrates. The first ones are necessary for muscles for rapid recovery (if, due to intense physical activity, the body loses more protein than it receives, muscle pain, a feeling of weakness and loss of strength are inevitable). Carbohydrates are the main source of energy: if you don’t have enough of them, your muscles will quickly get tired.

8. Drink water during training It is especially important not to suffer from thirst if you train for a long time and at full strength. As practice shows, banal dehydration of the body, dehydration, is one of the most common reasons rapid fatigue and nagging muscle pain that occurs from playing sports.

Almost all athletes and fitness enthusiasts experience periodic muscle pain. It is generally accepted that slight pain after intense sports training is nothing more than an indicator of good physical activity. Most often, pain indicates excessive physical exertion or an ill-conceived approach to training. In case of severe pain, the athlete admits that he “overdid it” and did not calculate his strength. But much less thought is given to the causes, consequences of such pain, and the possibility of preventing them.

Why do my muscles hurt after training? The most common cause of muscle pain is lactic acid. What it is? During training, glucose molecules begin to rapidly break down, forming pyruvate, a special substance used by muscles as energy fuel. In addition to pyruvates, lactic acid is also formed during the breakdown process. The more intense the workout, the more acid. It causes a burning sensation in the muscles. Pain receptors are irritated and the athlete experiences pain. Approximately 20-30 minutes after stopping training, lactic acid begins to be washed out into the general bloodstream. As less of it remains in the muscle tissue, the pain goes away. This usually takes from 7 to 20 hours.

If during this time the muscle pain does not go away, most likely the cause of the ailment was microtrauma. Paradoxically, ruptures of short muscle tissue fibers - myofibrils - occur during the negative phase. That is, in those moments when the athlete lowers rather than lifts the weight. This is a scientifically proven fact. When fibers are damaged, their restoration mechanism is launched, the body begins to more intensively produce hormones that stimulate wound healing and suppress the inflammatory process. In places of ruptures, the process of protein cell division sharply increases. Typically this process lasts 2-4 days after training, during which time the athlete experiences pain, which is usually referred to as delayed pain. Myofibrils are aligned and delayed pain weakens with regular exercise, but it makes itself felt strongly after breaks in exercise.

Another common cause of pain after training is injury. Aching pain in muscles, joints or tendons indicates injury. Typically, with injuries, sudden movements and heavy loads cause acute pain. Swelling or bruising may appear at the source of pain. Naturally, during the recovery period you need to give up all stress and undergo a medical examination.

First, you need to know exactly what caused the pain. If you categorically rule out injury, pain immediately after training may be caused by accumulated lactic acid. To get rid of muscle pain after a workout and “help” the acid flow into the bloodstream faster, do not stop moving after a workout. Continue doing simple exercises without any stress for about 15-20 minutes. This could even be regular continuous walking with swinging arms, slow riding on an exercise bike or bicycle, etc. Studies have shown that during movement, lactic acid “leaves” the muscles much faster than during passive rest. Showering and massage will only be useful if you have not stopped training abruptly, but have given yourself a little more time. Then they will act as a muscle calming factor, and there will be no trace of pain 2-3 hours after training.

If microtraumas become the cause of pain, the loads should be increased gradually. The body can adapt to the rhythm of the load that the athlete sets for it and withstand it. Therefore a simple calculation own strength and opportunities will help you avoid unpleasant sensations. This approach to training will somewhat delay the desired result in building the body and achieving the necessary relief, but will be less traumatic.

The problem of muscle pain did not go unnoticed by developers sports nutrition. There are medications that help relieve muscle tension before and after training, and, accordingly, less injure muscles during exercise. Patches have been developed with a cooling and warming effect that can provide relief from severe pain. But the surest way to avoid muscle pain is to increase the load slowly.