As a high performer, you're familiar with it: muscle soreness. But what exactly happens in your body when you have sore muscles? And how can you take some of the wind out of the sails of muscle pain so you can get back on track quickly? We'll explain why muscle soreness is delayed and how it develops. We'll also show you how to avoid muscle soreness, which home remedies and nutritional tips help with muscle soreness, and whether you can train with sore muscles.
Table of contents
1. What happens in the body when you have sore muscles?
Muscle soreness occurs primarily after a particularly intense or unfamiliar workout [1]. Furthermore, the risk of muscle soreness increases with physical activity after a longer break [2]. But what is muscle soreness? Essentially, it is nothing more than painful damage to muscle cells after excessive strain [2]. The pain, as we now know, originates less from the muscles than from the fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds the muscles [3].
It's perfectly normal for your muscle fibers to tear during intense exercise. This process ultimately leads to muscle growth during recovery.
Severe muscle soreness occurs when, after intense training, water penetrates the muscles through this damage, causing them to swell and disrupting blood flow [1]. This often leads to tissue acidification, as the acidic waste products that accumulate in the muscles during physical activity cannot be removed as usual.
These consequences manifest themselves – usually the next day – in pain, especially when exerting pressure or moving. You can also no longer extract strength from your muscles, and your muscles become stiff [4].
But how long does muscle soreness last? Don't worry: After 1-3 days, the pain reaches its peak, and even extreme muscle soreness slowly disappears on its own. The sterile inflammation caused by muscle soreness is resolved through the normal repair process [1], until the muscle soreness disappears completely within a week, and the muscle emerges slightly strengthened [2].
Take-Home Message #1
After a strenuous, unfamiliar workout, or when returning to exercise after a long break, we often suffer from muscle soreness in the days following. This occurs because the muscle damage causes water to penetrate the muscles, causing them to swell and preventing the removal of lactate.
2. Why does muscle soreness occur several hours or days late?
But why does it sometimes take hours or even days for us to feel muscle soreness?
The answer is quite simple: The water penetrates the damaged muscles only slowly. The resulting swelling does not appear directly during or immediately after exercise, but develops afterward [1].
Take-Home Message #2:
Fortunately, we don't have to complain about muscle soreness during exercise. The water takes time to penetrate the muscles and cause swelling.
3. Tips: How to avoid muscle soreness
Muscle soreness during exercise primarily occurs after so-called eccentric contractions. These are the periods during which the greatest force is released [1]. An eccentric contraction occurs when the force applied is greater than what your muscles are actually capable of generating [5], such as an explosive movement with an unfamiliar weight during Olympic weightlifting. The simple answer to the question of how to avoid muscle soreness is to avoid the triggers: Don't perform unfamiliar training and avoid eccentric muscle contractions. This way, you won't get muscle soreness.
In the long run, the opposite is advisable: A proven way to prevent muscle soreness is to get used to it. This way, an unfamiliar exercise becomes familiar. Typically, after about the third intensive workout of the same type, muscle soreness will disappear on its own or be significantly reduced [1].
4. What home remedies help against sore muscles?
For very few people, the methods mentioned above are always available. But what do we have around the house that can relieve us of sore muscles?
Traditionally, there are many items in the kitchen that can be repurposed for this purpose. Do you have a rolling pin or a sturdy water bottle? A foam roller is a perfect replacement! A bottle is more suitable for large muscle groups, such as placing it on the floor and rolling over it, or for smaller groups, rolling it up and down in a doorway. A quick look in the freezer might reveal something else helpful – a bag of frozen peas is the perfect replacement for an ice pack. Just be sure to wrap it in a tea towel to avoid painful freezer burn.
Next, we move on to the bathroom. It might be enough to lie in a bathtub filled with cold water for a few minutes [6] – an ice bath is essentially the same. If you're hardened or suffering from particularly sore muscles, you can also add ice cubes to the tub.
Another source of help for overcoming your sore muscles is your bed. Adequate sleep is essential for effective recovery */Link to review article? /*.
Take-Home Message #3:
There are all sorts of items at home that can help you get over your sore muscles. A rolling pin is the perfect substitute for a foam roller, a cold bath is just an ice bath, and in bed, you'll find the rest your body needs for complete recovery.
5. Fight muscle soreness with proper nutrition
Fundamental to combating or alleviating muscle soreness is a diet tailored to the level of exertion. Micronutrients play a fundamental role in this.
Magnesium , for example, is important in almost all metabolic processes that are crucial for you as a high-performer. This also applies to the removal of lactic acid, which is responsible for the acidification of your muscles, making it a reliable remedy for sore muscles. The problem: Like many other minerals and electrolytes, magnesium is flushed out of the body through sweat. Therefore, a targeted intake of 4-6 mg per kilogram of body weight, evenly distributed throughout the recovery phase, is recommended [8].
Potassium is also flushed from your body when you sweat [8]. The mineral is important for regulating blood pressure and transport processes in various metabolic processes, such as water and protein metabolism. It is also important for glycogen storage, which is essential for muscle performance [9]. A potassium deficiency also slows regeneration [10] and recovery from muscle soreness.
Zinc , like magnesium and potassium, is excreted through sweating [8]. However, it is important to have zinc in the body – it promotes muscle-building processes and wound healing. In addition, zinc maintains a balanced acid-base balance [11] and also affects testosterone levels [12]. Thus, it has a positive effect on muscle building and against muscle soreness in various ways.
In addition to minerals, vitamins also play an important role. Vitamin B1, for example, is a key component of carbohydrate-energy metabolism and promotes concentration as well as physical fitness. Vitamin B2 also affects carbohydrate metabolism. This vitamin also plays a key role in protein and fat metabolism, for which it is also important. The effect of vitamin B6 on your muscles is even more significant: As the most important vitamin for protein metabolism, it plays a key role in the muscle protein supply. Without this vitamin, efficient protein absorption in the muscles is not possible [12]. Therefore, B vitamins are an important component for athletes in regeneration and in combating muscle soreness.
In addition, amino acids such as L-citrulline D-malate are very popular as a dietary supplement. Experiments have shown that it can significantly improve muscle performance and also significantly reduce subsequent muscle soreness [13].
For example, the amino acid gamma-aminobutyric acid ( GABA ) , which is also the body's most important inhibitory neurotransmitter, causes an increase in growth hormone levels. This promotes muscle adaptation to the stress that causes muscle soreness [14]. Furthermore, a GABA deficiency can manifest itself in carbohydrate cravings [15].
Taurine should also not be neglected in connection with GABA, as it helps to activate GABA in the body [17].
Take-Home Message #4:
Many micronutrients and vitamins influence muscle building and thus muscle regeneration. If you're malnourished, the process can be slowed down—and muscle soreness can linger longer than you'd like. Amino acids are also extremely important and can severely impair your recovery and thus your muscle soreness.
BRAINEFFECT hack: RECHARGE provides amino acids and electrolytes to optimally support recovery directly after training.
6. Can muscle soreness be prevented?
There's no miracle cure for sore muscles [1]. However, there are tips that can help and treat them. For example, performing the same exercises the next day is recommended – but with significantly less effort. It is therefore possible to train with sore muscles, to a certain extent. However, you should definitely avoid strenuous exercise on the same muscle groups [2]. The same applies to a cool-down, such as a gentle jog or stretching immediately after training [6].
Massages promote blood circulation. This can release blockages [2]. Foam rolling, also known as fascia rolling, has a pain-relieving effect. 24 hours after training, treatment with the rollers has a slight effect on the pain of sore muscles [7], which primarily originates in the fascia [3]. 48 hours after training, foam rolling can even significantly reduce pain [7]. Another option is cold immersion [2]. If you feel that heat is more helpful than cold in overcoming your sore muscles, it makes sense to give it a try! Nutrition also plays a huge role in the fight against sore muscles – but more on that later.
Take-Home Message #5:
Muscle soreness can only be avoided if you avoid unfamiliar, intense training with excessive muscle contractions. But what can you do about muscle soreness? By repeating the movements that trigger it, your body can get used to the strain, which will prevent muscle soreness in the future. You can also alleviate the progression of muscle soreness and its consequences to some extent through exposure to cold and massage.
Conclusion
While there's no miracle cure that can quickly relieve sore muscles, it is possible to limit their effects. A proper diet with a focus on various micronutrients and vitamins, as well as getting used to exercise, can go a long way. Should muscle soreness occur, recovery exercises, cool-downs, foam rolling, ice baths, and massages are proven remedies. If you don't have these available, you can also resort to simple household items—a rolling pin makes a great foam roller. However, that doesn't mean you can't do anything with sore muscles: Light exercise despite sore muscles isn't a bad idea!
If you're not sure what a wholesome, balanced diet is right for you, or how to most effectively build your physical and mental strength, we can help. Try our Performance Coach and get tailored tips that fit you and your daily routine.
