Should I make ice cream or heat sore muscles?

Let's say it: sore muscles are not a ray of sunshine. The type of sore that you experience the next day of your clbad super hard spin or your intense weightlifting session with your trainer is called DOMS, or late muscle pain. It is thought that this is mainly due to the micro-rings in the muscles, causing a gradual inflammation during the 24 to 48 hours following the training (although two experts we talked to in a previous interview told us that there was no scientific evidence to date). Eccentric contractions, movements that strain your muscles in an extended position, can usually cause this stress. So when you feel bad, what is there to do? We asked for professional advice to help you get through this.

First of all: should I make ice cream or heat sore muscles?

Short answer: There is conflicting research that ranks against each other, and there is also research that supports both as useful methods of treatment. Stan Dutton, NASM certified personal trainer and head coach of the Ladder fitness app, told POPSUGAR to avoid the ice because "it was discovered that icing hindered recovery. "First, that we suffer from ice will help reduce this inflammation, it's not necessarily the truth." Instead, he said, opt for the heat because it has been shown that It helps to relieve pain badociated with pain. In addition, he added, "Who does not want another excuse to sit on the couch with a blanket while watching Netflix after a hard workout?" He has a point.

Tedd Keating, Ph.D., an badociate professor of kinesiology at Manhattan College, had a different position: ice, then heat. The general recommendation is initially icy because, he says, "his history of painkiller [aka pain reliever] is certainly better than that to speed up the healing process of DOMS. (Note: Michael Fredericson, MD, professor and director of Physical and Sports Medicine at Stanford University, told POPSUGAR in a previous interview that ice within 24 hours of exercise can to help relieve pain.) Dr. Keating stated that heat could be used after the first 72 hours (some research indicates that heat exacerbates initial inflammation due to injury). "lightly hasten the recovery", but there is no "surefire cure once the pain is installed".

What are the other ways to help with sore muscles?

Although there is no proven cure, light exercises can help, but you do not want to overdo it. Dr. Keating said you should expect mild pain during the first workout on sore muscles. But your body will adapt to an exercise that hurts you the more you do it, what is called "repeated effect," which, he explained, is probably your best way to relieve pain (he also talks about it here, and Dutton mentioned that as good). For example, Dr. Keating recommends, if your legs hurt, to work a different muscle group than your arms the next day. Indeed, rest is also important: "Strategic rest is a way to avoid overtraining, just like incorporating variety into your program so that no muscle group is overworked. "

Some other poorly known healing methods? Dutton said curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, "has been shown to have a moderate impact on improving pain." Dr. Keating added that limited research suggests that tart cherry juice and the wearing of compression garments may be helpful in relieving some of the muscle soreness induced by training.

Dr. Keating has a general message to convey to you: "It's a perfect case where an ounce of prevention is really a healing book, the gradual adoption of workout routines, remember that big changes are the one of the causes [of DOMS]. Be particularly careful when adding or riding exercises with a strong eccentric component. "The main examples, Dr. Keating explain, are the cracks, the squats and the variations of the deadlifts … keep up the good work!