There is perhaps no greater feeling than the emotional high you immediately get after a great workout. Your endorphins are firing, you feel energized and healthy, and the sweat dripping from your brow is proof that you put in a good day in the gym. Life is great — until the soreness sets in. Believe it or not, muscular pain and stiffness from a workout is a good thing, but we do get asked quite a bit by our active patients and athletes if there is a way to reduce or avoid soreness and to recover quickly.

The answer is a resounding, yes! Besides chiropractic care, there are a variety of strategies to reduce or avoid soreness after a great workout or athletic activity, whether it be stretches or even certain snacks and drinks that promote recovery and function.

Before-workout snacks

Regularly consuming certain snacks and drinks a few days before or on the day of a workout or athletic event can decrease inflammation, boost energy, and lessen existing pain almost as well as over-the-counter medications. Examples include:

High protein:

  • Fish (salmon, tuna, cod)
  • Protein bars (whey, oatmega)
  • Trail mix, nuts (pecan, brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds)
  • Protein shakes

After-workout snacks

The reason why we experience delayed muscle soreness and fatigue after a workout is because we cause microscopic tears in our muscles with each exercise we do. This is important, as we have now put our muscles in a position to repair, grow, and become stronger for the next workout. Once the workout is complete, it is essential to feed our bodies a post-workout snack or meal — usually one that is high in carbohydrates and protein — so that we recover in time for the next go-round. Examples include:

High Carb, High Protein:

  • Meat (beef, bison, elk, salmon)
  • Brown rice, black rice, jasmine rice, basmati rice, quinoa
  • Sweet potato, purple potato
  • Green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale)

* Note: Another great after-workout boost is Curcumin, a natural anti-inflammatory supplement that speeds up recovery time.

Stretching your way to avoiding soreness after a great workout

While making sure your body is properly fueled is critical, it is also essential to make time before and after a workout or athletic event to stretch. This can include static stretches where you hold a stretch position for a certain number of seconds or minutes to dynamic stretches that keep you moving lightly to get blood pumping and muscles into a position to perform.

Examples of easy stretches to do before, during, and after a workout include:

  • Foam roller
  • Massage therapy (we offer that here at Brain-Body Connection Chiropractic)
  • Light recovery workouts
  • Yoga
  • Static and dynamic stretches

Call Brain-Body Connection Chiropractic today

We hope you enjoyed today’s blog post on the best ways to avoid soreness after a great workout. Remember, the goal at Brain-Body Connection Chiropractic is to continue offering all your chiropractic and wellness needs under one roof. This allows us to treat everything from a backache to poor posture, range of motion issues, post-injury management, a herniated disc, scoliosis, and more. Sometimes, all you need is a quick adjustment from a chiropractor, but Dr. Twila Henderson and her growing team will always do a complete evaluation to see if more techniques are needed to help your brain and body function properly.

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Call us today for your next chiropractor appointment.