5 Super-Fast Ways to Ease After-Workout Soreness

Nothing beats the satisfaction of pushing yourself to new levels during your workout. The only downside is the muscle pain you know is coming! DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) is inevitable when you work a new muscle group or increase the intensity of your workout. When that happens, you’re probably used to dealing with a few days of soreness. But wait… What if you could ease after-workout soreness faster? Try these five tips to get back into peak form faster.

Don’t Skip the Warm-Up

This one might be done before your workout, but it’s a quick and effective way of minimizing the effects of DOMS. Stretching and warming up before you hit your workout prepares your muscles for exercise. One of the best ways you can warm up your muscles is by taking a soak and stretching in your hot tub! The warm water increases your flexibility and makes your muscles more pliant. When your muscles are warm and ready for your workout, you’ll avoid unnecessary pain.

Cold Bath

As painful as a cold bath sounds, it’s a proven way to minimize muscle soreness after a hard workout. Professional athletes routinely use an ice bath in their locker room to lower the severity of pain they would otherwise experience. But not to worry because later in the day you can indulge in…

Heat Therapy

It’s when your muscles get a chance to rest after a hard workout that they begin to tighten up. This is why you sometimes get out of your chair limping or groan getting off the couch a few hours after exercising. Heat therapy is a great solution to muscle tightness. While moist heat penetrates muscles faster and might offer longer relief, both moist heat and dry heat will help ease tight muscles. Climb in your hot tub for a soothing soak, take a hot bath, or use an adhesive heat wrap or a heating pad.

Keep Moving

When DOMS sets in, you’d probably rather lay on the couch or stay in bed than get up and exercise, but a recovery workout will do just that—help you recover faster. Some gentle cardio or yoga will increase blood flow to your sore muscles (which speeds recovery) and ease some of the tightness you’re feeling.

Take Full Advantage of Your Hot Tub

When it comes to dealing with after-workout soreness, your hot tub can help in more ways than one! We’ve already mentioned that it’s great for warming up before you hit the gym, plus it can ease tightness a few hours after your workout. But, possibly the most effective time to use your hot tub is a couple of days after working out. After all, it usually takes 24-48 hours for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness to set in. Once it does, your hot tub can help minimize the pain and promote faster recovery. How? While you soak, the water’s buoyancy relieves pressure and tightness, which provides a measure of immediate relief. Plus, it increases circulation. The increased blood flow to your muscles helps the microtears (the main cause of DOMS) to heal faster so your recovery time is shorter. Incorporate these five easy tips into your routine and your experience with DOMS will be less painful than it could be! Are you interested in the ways a hot tub could help, but you’re stuck using the public spa at your gym? Let us change that for you! We carry a full range of high-quality hot tubs to fit every need (and budget!). Visit us at our Bally or Sinking Spring location and learn more about our selection, from luxurious Jacuzzi® and Caldera® hot tub models to our selection of budget-friendly plug-n-play Freeflow® Spas. A spa from Fronheiser will be your new best friend in post-workout recovery.

Fronheiser Pools

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