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People who love running and fitness often experience muscle soreness in their legs or body after running, which seems to have become a rule of exercise. Muscle soreness caused by running is a good thing; it means the muscles have been adequately exercised and need to repair themselves to become stronger.
However, even if it's a good thing, excessive soreness can affect daily work, study, or life. So, how should one properly deal with this muscle soreness?
Why do muscles get sore?
In fact, muscle soreness is a normal and positive physiological response. People often experience noticeable muscle soreness and discomfort after long-distance running, excessive strength training, or high exercise volume.
There are two types of muscle soreness: one appears immediately after exercise but disappears quickly, known as acute muscle soreness.
The other type appears a few hours or a night after exercise, accompanied by fatigue and even muscle cramps and stiffness. This type of muscle soreness disappears more slowly, often taking 3-4 days or even 6-7 days to fully recover. This is known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) or post-exercise fatigue.
The muscle soreness we commonly refer to is mainly the latter, i.e., delayed onset muscle soreness.
How to distinguish between muscle soreness and strain?
There is a clear distinction between muscle soreness and strain:Muscle soreness naturally disappears after a period of rest, and when the same exercise is performed again, the soreness is significantly reduced or does not occur.
Muscle strain caused by exercise is different. Muscle or ligament strain can cause large-scale pathological changes in skeletal muscle, such as cell degeneration and necrosis, which not only affects continued exercise or training but can also have more serious consequences.
Muscle soreness can be alleviated through rest, stretching, and massage. However, muscle or ligament injuries must be addressed with medical intervention.
How to alleviate muscle soreness?
1. Patting and massageMassage the sore area to relax the muscles, promote blood circulation, and aid in damage repair and cramp relief. Self-relaxation treatments can also be performed, focusing mainly on the neck, back, and limbs, with the head and chest/abdomen as supplementary areas. Methods such as patting the lower back, massaging the legs, shaking the legs, and kneading the chest/abdomen can help alleviate soreness.
2. Static stretchingStretching the muscles can accelerate muscle relaxation and the relief of antagonistic muscles, aiding in the recovery of cramped muscles. Perform static stretching exercises on the sore area, maintaining the stretch for 2 minutes, then resting for 1 minute. Repeating this several times a day can help relieve cramps.
3. Energy replenishmentImmediately after exercise, eat foods high in carbohydrates and protein, such as lean meat, fruits, and peanut butter toast, to help retain muscle protein, enhance muscles, and reduce soreness.
4. Hot compressHot compresses are one of the most effective methods. Applying a hot compress to the sore muscles can promote blood circulation, increase metabolism, and speed up the relief and recovery of muscle soreness. Combining this with light stretching or massage can further accelerate the elimination of delayed onset muscle soreness and promote recovery.
5.Rest and recuperationRest can alleviate muscle soreness and gradually promote blood circulation, speeding up the elimination of metabolic waste and providing nutrition and repair to the sore muscles, helping them return to normal.
6. Light exerciseIf the body continues to feel sore, you can pause training for 1-2 days, then start with light exercise like riding a stationary bike at an easy pace for 15-30 minutes. Gradually increase the speed to reduce soreness. When the body is ready, run at 50-60% effort for 45-70 minutes.How to avoid post-exercise back and leg pain?
1. Warm-up exercises
Perform adequate warm-up exercises before exercising, such as low-intensity aerobic exercises or low-load weight training, to relax the joints of the active muscle areas and accelerate blood circulation. Proper stretching of the active muscle groups is also necessary.2. Gradual increase in exercise volume
Gradually increase the load and duration of exercise in a progressive manner, without exceeding personal capacity and tolerance all at once.3. Avoid excessive exercise
Many people who rarely exercise feel they need to exhaust themselves to feel satisfied when they occasionally exercise. This often leads to back and leg pain the next day. Therefore, people who don't exercise regularly should exercise in moderation. Excessive exercise not only fails to achieve fitness goals but can also harm the body.4. Get familiar with unfamiliar exercises slowly
For unfamiliar exercises, get familiar with them gradually rather than jumping in directly. Unless guided by a coach, it's easy to experience muscle soreness or injury.5. Post-run stretching
Stretching after exercise is very important, especially stretching the active areas, to promote circulation and help reduce or even avoid muscle soreness.Summary
Running should be regular: Consistency and regularity in running not only improve fitness but also increase body tolerance and reduce the occurrence of muscle soreness.
If you experience muscle soreness after running, you can use the above methods to address it promptly. This will not only alleviate muscle soreness but also help you recover quickly from fatigue.Daily QuestionDo you experience muscle soreness after running?