Did the pain get you down? Learn the fastest methods to kill lactic acid.
Whether you’re a competitive runner who needs to get rid of muscle soreness for the next workout or the average runner just hates soreness, here are several ways you can get rid of soreness NOW instead of LATER.
- Steroids: that’s a joke, but to be honest, that’s the best method. There is a little misconception that steroid use results in bigger muscles. However, steroids simply give the body a way to radically and unnaturally recover and rebuild itself. In this way, an athlete can run to the ground and yet, through steroids, be fully recovered the next day, ready to achieve unnatural muscle gains again through rigorous work. Steroids are terrible for your body, and your body should NEVER speed up to 4 times its natural rate, never use steroids unless a specific medical condition requires it.
- RI-CE- Rest Ice Compress Elevate is a familiar phrase in the athletic world about dealing with a general injury. Minus the “CE” will give you a basic step to recover from muscle pain.
- Rest: When you run, your muscles deteriorate and the fibers that the muscles are made of begin to tear with use. As your body heals the damage to your muscle fibers, it creates more fibers than the original amount and/or with greater force (depending on the type of muscle building you’re doing). The period in which your body is sore is also a period of time in which your body is trying to reform the muscle fibers that it deteriorated during your training. Because of this, resting is a no-brainer, as it gives your body time to heal itself. This doesn’t mean you have to skip your runs, but it does suggest that you don’t cause unnecessary fatigue to muscles whose fibers are already broken down from use. There are actually a surprising number of things you can do while in a rest/recovery state, but it’s up to you to find that balance. After 8 years of running, I’ve found that there are many ways to rest and recover depending on how fast you want to improve. For this article I am focusing on sharing with you the basic guidelines of how I have found to maximize recovery time.
- Ice – This is an important step in recovery; Putting ice on a sore muscle will reduce the lactic acid in the muscle that causes that “sore” feeling. Additionally, it will reduce inflammation if given directly after your workout and help limit pain. Every time you run or work out, your muscle fibers tear as they are used. As they rebuild, you experience more muscle mass along with muscle fatigue and/or soreness. Imagine that expansion as the muscle fibers are torn apart and the ice helps to compress and minimize damage as well as stop lactic acid from leaking.
- Protein: Also known as polypeptide, protein contains essential amino acids in building muscle. It goes without saying how invaluable a high protein diet could be in aiding recovery time. As your body recovers, it is imperative to provide it with the proper building blocks to rebuild itself. In general, when I want to get better as fast as possible, I will increase my protein intake above the average I take per day. This doesn’t mean I splurge, in fact I keep my calorie intake exactly the same by finding foods that are high in protein and low in calories. For a specific list of foods (and antioxidants) along with their amazing stats, here’s a helpful list to get you started.
- Antioxidants – New research suggests that high amounts of antioxidants like vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E can significantly increase muscle recovery time. In fact, from personal experience, this, mixed with icing and a protein booster, has been very effective in recovering from muscle fatigue before a big race.
In a recent study in which male subjects were given vitamin E capsules and put through a face-lift program, blood-borne free radicals were reduced and muscle damage was minimized. Vitamin E started the healing process, allowing muscles to rebuild sooner. The faster the muscles begin to repair themselves, the more they will grow. This is how you get bigger and stronger. “Our research supports the claim that vitamin E can significantly reduce the damaging effects of high-intensity endurance exercise,” explains Bruce Craig, Ph.D., Ball State University professor of physiology and study leader. “However, our study showed that short-term use does not improve muscle strength or power.” Should you implement E in your diet if your goal is to gain muscle? Absolutely, says Craig.
