These are my best tips for dealing with delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS):
- Always stretch after your workouts – there are conflicting opinions about whether or not stretching has an effect on muscle soreness, but it certainly can’t hurt, and it has other benefits.
- Even though it hurts to move, do some light exercise – a walk or some gentle swimming would be perfect.
- The longer you spend sitting in one position, the more you’ll stiffen up. So if you have a job where you sit at a desk all day, make a point of getting up and moving around regularly. Also do some gentle stretches.
- Take some L-glutamine – it’s important for muscle repair and may be helpful in easing the soreness more quickly. If you already take L-glutamine, consider increasing the dose for a few days.
- Add some Vitamin C to your supplementation regime – it’s a natural anti-inflammatory.
- Keep up your water intake.
- Epsom salts in a warm bath are soothing and can ease the pain a little. If you don’t have a bath, a nice hot shower will do.
- Some gentle massage can help – if you don’t have someone to help out, just massage whichever parts you can reach yourself.
- Sports rubs are also helpful, if you can stand the smell.
- If the pain is severe, ice the affected muscles and/or use an anti-inflammatory gel.
- If it’s really severe, consider using analgesics or oral anti-inflammatories.
