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What to do if you have muscle soreness after exercise. Muscle stretching is very important.

Asked by:Amelia

Asked on:Apr 02, 2026 09:53 AM

Answers:1 Views:530
  • Prism Prism

    Apr 02, 2026

      Many people who love sports will experience muscle soreness after high-intensity exercise. This soreness is caused by the lactic acid produced by the body's tissues consuming oxygen during exercise. This lactic acid will increase with exercise until it accumulates to a certain amount, which will cause the body to excrete it too slowly, causing muscle soreness. So how to eliminate muscle soreness after exercise?

      1. Do not stop activities immediately after exercising:

      For example, after running, don't stop to rest immediately, but do longer activities, such as jogging. Gradually stop exercising and it will take about 10-20 minutes to release the lactic acid produced by exercise.

      2. Properly stretch muscles after exercise:

      Static stretching can speed up muscle relaxation and help recover from spastic muscles. Or shake the limbs, first shake and slap the thighs or upper arms, and then shake the calves or forearms.

      3. Relax after exercise:

      After exercise, you can lie on a sponge mat or rattan mat to rest for a while. When lying down, your feet should be placed slightly higher than your head, or at the same level as your head. Never lie on the ground where there is moisture.

      4. Appropriate cold compress:

      Immediately after high-intensity training, use ice packs to train target muscles. Generally, apply cold packs for 10 to 15 minutes. Separate clothing or towels between the ice packs and the skin to prevent frostbite. skin

      5. Take a cold shower:

      Since the microstructure of muscles is destroyed after exercise, hot water baths or hot compresses will accelerate blood circulation in injured muscles, thereby aggravating the damage to the microstructure of muscles. After heavy weight training, if you take a hot water bath, you will definitely feel more sore the next day than if you take a cold water bath.

      At the same time, hot water baths accelerate the metabolism of muscle tissue, and training before hot water baths has consumed a large amount of muscle glycogen in the muscles. Using hot water baths to continue to accelerate metabolism will increase people's fatigue and even lower blood sugar. Taking a hot water bath after training will make people feel more tired and sleepy. ; Taking a cold water bath or a warm water bath can significantly reduce people's fatigue.

      6. Nutritional supplements:

      Ingesting a large amount of carbohydrates within 2 hours after training can help restore muscle glycogen levels, so a meal should be eaten within 2 hours after training. There is no need to take supplements for general fitness training. Just pay attention to replenishing carbohydrates in a timely manner, eat more fruits and vegetables, and supplement food protein.

      7. Full body massage:

      The purpose of massage is to relax muscles. The main parts of massage are limbs, neck, back and waist.

      But it is worth noting: do not massage the target muscles and soft tissues immediately after training. The reason is similar to the principle of not applying hot compress immediately after exercise. Immediate massage will increase the damage to the microstructure of the muscles, increase the damage to the body, and slow down the recovery speed. Generally, massage is done 48 hours after training. If the trainer still feels pain in the leg muscles, it means that the trainer's ability to remove lactic acid is weak and there is still lactic acid residue in the muscle tissue. At this time, massage can be used to perform "external acid discharge".

      8. Apply hot compress:

      After 72 hours of training, the microstructure of the general muscles is destroyed and healed. Through the previous cold compress, strengthened stretching, nutritional supplements and other methods, most people's muscle soreness will disappear.

      However, some people who have not exercised for a long time and have poor lactic acid resistance may still have pain. In this case, use hot compress method. Hot compresses can be used to accelerate blood flow to take away the remaining lactic acid and other metabolic products around the healed tissues, and bring fresh blood rich in nutrients and oxygen to the target muscles to provide more nutrients for excessive recovery.

      9. Ensure nutrition and sleep relief:

      After a large amount of exercise and a heavy exercise load, the muscles need to be replenished with sufficient carbohydrates and proteins after overload work. Sufficient sleep can effectively restore energy. More importantly, the synthesis of most energy substances basically occurs during sleep. Sufficient sleep and adequate nutrition are important foundations for muscles to get rid of pain as soon as possible.

      How to prevent it?

      1、exercise The arrangements must be reasonable. After a period of exercise, the muscle soreness that originally occurred will lessen the symptoms. And the performance is specific. For example, downhill exercise can reduce muscle soreness caused by downhill exercise after a period of time.

      2. Apply local warmth and apply medicine. Use warm after exercise blister Washing can relieve muscle soreness. Topical application of oils, pastes or rubs can also relieve pain. Every night, those who can afford it take a hot bath. sleep Soaking your feet in warm water before exercise can help relieve muscle soreness.

      3. Muscle stretching exercises can reduce soreness. Stretching muscles can accelerate muscle relaxation and relieve antagonistic muscles, helping to restore tense muscles. This muscle stretching exercise also lays the foundation for preventing strains during exercise.

      4. Carry out preparation and organization activities for exercise. Adequate preparation and proper finishing exercises can help prevent or reduce muscle soreness. Never start exercising without any preparatory exercises. Preparatory exercises before exercise are very important and must not be ignored. (Reference website: Medical Network)