How to relieve muscle soreness after exercise

Muscle contraction helps people perform different movements. However, muscle contraction also requires energy. Generally speaking, during aerobic exercise, the sugars in the muscles will be broken down into carbon dioxide and water. But when people exercise vigorously, that is, anaerobic exercise, the sugars will be broken down into lactic acid. When lactic acid accumulates, the muscles will become sore. So how can we relieve muscle soreness after exercise?

1. Relax after exercise. After exercise, you can lie on a sponge pad or rattan pad to rest for a while. When lying flat, your feet should be placed slightly higher than your head, or at the same height as your head. Never lie on the steamy ground. After resting for a while, you can do headstand or handstand against the wall for 3-10 seconds, which can be done several times. It is beneficial for blood in the lower limbs to return to the heart. Then shake your limbs, first shaking and tapping your thighs or upper arms, then shaking your calves or forearms.

2. Massage after exercise is an important way to eliminate fatigue. The main methods of massage include vibration, acupressure, kneading, tapping, and rubbing. The first step is to vibrate the limbs, primarily relaxing the elbows, knees and limb muscle groups. Commonly used acupoints for pressing on the upper limbs include Pianli, Quchi, Shouwuli, Biyuexu, etc., which can relieve soreness and swelling in the arms and elbows, as well as various discomforts caused by exercise such as shoulder and arm pain, neck cramps, etc. Commonly used acupoints for pressing the lower limbs include Chengfu, Weiyang, Chengshan, Kunlun, Zusanli, etc., which can relieve symptoms such as pain in the lumbar, sacral, buttocks and thighs, cramps in the legs and feet, stiffness in the waist and legs, stiff neck, low back pain, and soreness in the knees and shins. When kneading and tapping, massage the large muscles first and then the small muscles. After massaging one side, massage the other side. In this way, you can massage each other's whole body. Most of the Shu points on the back are located 1.5 inches away from the spine. Massage and relaxation are mainly focused on the points 1.5 inches away from the spine and the shoulder's outer shoulder, shoulder well, and Tianzong on the shoulder blade. This can relieve back pain and neck stiffness. Combining several methods can have a good relaxation effect and recover quickly. It also has health-care effects on the human body's internal organs.

3. The exercise organization should be reasonable. After a period of training, the muscle soreness that originally occurred will be less evident after exercise. And it shows specificity. For example, downhill exercise training for a period of time can reduce the muscle soreness caused by downhill training.

4. Warm the area and apply medication. Soaking in warm water after exercise can relieve muscle soreness. Partial application of oils, pastes or massage creams may also provide relief.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that muscle soreness can be avoided or alleviated as long as you pay a little attention during exercise, and choose an exercise method and intensity that suits you. If you do not exercise regularly, try to choose gentler exercises such as jogging, and do warm-up exercises before exercise, etc., which can reduce the occurrence of muscle soreness.