Although a little soreness after a workout is both expected and even healthy, for some, it can be exacerbated into excessive discomfort. This usually is a sign that you're doing something wrong either before or during your work, but fear not - instead of giving up exercise, you can just make these simple changes.
Look at Your Diet Although under-exercisers are more likely to intake too many carbs, carbohydrate intake becomes more important the more physically active you are. If you're dieting and doing high-intensity workouts at the same time, chances are high that you'll under-fuel your muscles, resulting in pain with no gain. Some vitamins, like vitamin C, also are of particular benefit.
Don't Fall for the Stretch Hype Stretching, while widely promoted as a way to prevent muscle soreness, actually does little good prior to a workout. Save the stretching for afterwards. Instead, your pre-workout warmup cycle should consist of light to moderate exercise to get your muscles literally warmed up, increasing blood flow to areas soon to be under stress.
Double-Check Your Workout Technique
Proper technique is important to doing any exercise correctly, and an exercise done repetitively that puts too much unusual strain on your body may just hurt you for no positive result. Whenever you're performing a new exercise, verify that you're doing it properly, instead of just eyeballing an approximation of the basic maneuver required. Even something as simple as slightly misplaced footing can have a huge impact on how you feel afterwards.
Armoring Your Body... with Tape
Sports tape like KT Tape has its place, not just for athletes, but also for fitness enthusiasts simply interested in averting further harm to previously injured areas, such as metatarsophalangeal joint sprains. It also is considered helpful for preventing damage to pivotal areas strained over time from repetitive exercise routines, such as the joints.
Give Your Body a Break
Never exercise the same group of muscles two days in a row. Because proper exercise will temporarily damage your muscles to encourage them to grow stronger, you'll need to let your muscles rest for at least one day to prevent damage. However, you can still work out other parts of your body on 'off' days - for example, by alternating between jogging on even days, and weight-lifting on odd ones.
Try not to confuse excessive soreness from pushing your body too hard with the natural soreness of pushing it just enough. Remember that the micro tearing of your muscles is essential to pushing them to grow stronger, and don't be afraid to hit your limit - as long as you don't exceed it!
Contributed by Lizzie Weakley
Look at Your Diet Although under-exercisers are more likely to intake too many carbs, carbohydrate intake becomes more important the more physically active you are. If you're dieting and doing high-intensity workouts at the same time, chances are high that you'll under-fuel your muscles, resulting in pain with no gain. Some vitamins, like vitamin C, also are of particular benefit.
Don't Fall for the Stretch Hype Stretching, while widely promoted as a way to prevent muscle soreness, actually does little good prior to a workout. Save the stretching for afterwards. Instead, your pre-workout warmup cycle should consist of light to moderate exercise to get your muscles literally warmed up, increasing blood flow to areas soon to be under stress.
Double-Check Your Workout Technique
Proper technique is important to doing any exercise correctly, and an exercise done repetitively that puts too much unusual strain on your body may just hurt you for no positive result. Whenever you're performing a new exercise, verify that you're doing it properly, instead of just eyeballing an approximation of the basic maneuver required. Even something as simple as slightly misplaced footing can have a huge impact on how you feel afterwards.
Armoring Your Body... with Tape
Sports tape like KT Tape has its place, not just for athletes, but also for fitness enthusiasts simply interested in averting further harm to previously injured areas, such as metatarsophalangeal joint sprains. It also is considered helpful for preventing damage to pivotal areas strained over time from repetitive exercise routines, such as the joints.
Give Your Body a Break
Never exercise the same group of muscles two days in a row. Because proper exercise will temporarily damage your muscles to encourage them to grow stronger, you'll need to let your muscles rest for at least one day to prevent damage. However, you can still work out other parts of your body on 'off' days - for example, by alternating between jogging on even days, and weight-lifting on odd ones.
Try not to confuse excessive soreness from pushing your body too hard with the natural soreness of pushing it just enough. Remember that the micro tearing of your muscles is essential to pushing them to grow stronger, and don't be afraid to hit your limit - as long as you don't exceed it!
Contributed by Lizzie Weakley
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