According to a LifeHack article, more than 90% of people quit the gym within three months of registration.
At this point when they get calls from their gym instructors or gym buddies about their lack of motivation to come to the gym, you hear a lot of excuses like: ‘I have a lot to do.’ ‘I just cannot manage the gym and work together.’ ‘I am not getting the results I expected.’ ‘Na fat I fat, no be me kill Jesus’ – very hilarious.
Yes, a lot of people, mostly women, quit because they do not set realistic goals, while some others find it hard to be accountable for themselves. However, one of the major reasons why women quit the gym is “muscle soreness.”
When you workout, the muscles are your muscle fibers are stretched and contracted and this causes you to feel sore. Depending on the intensity of the workout, you might experience a lot more soreness than usual.
At this point, a lot of women quit, and this means all their efforts would have been for nothing. This is why we will be talking about some of the tips you can use to manage your muscle soreness after gym sessions.
Remember, no pain no gain, and feeling the way you feel after a gym session is not a reason to quit. It simply means that you are making progress. Here are five tips to managing muscle soreness after your gym sessions:
Get enough rest
As we mentioned earlier, when you workout, your muscles expand and contract. As a result of this, they get bigger and stronger. This means that after they have been flexed, you need to give your body some rest.
If you are like most women who want to workout and then handle some extra activities, you are most likely going to experience muscle soreness. If you are very busy during the day, you can register for night sessions.
This way you can get home, and have as much rest as needed – a minimum of 7 – 9 hours. You also do not need to workout every day as a beginner. Have rest days so your body can adequately recover.
Make use of a foam roller
Specific workouts target specific parts of the body. This means that you are likely to experience soreness on some parts of the body than others when you have target workouts.
So, when you have muscle soreness on specific parts of the body, you can use a foam roller to release the tension. A foam roller goes over the muscles and releases muscle tension.
Stay hydrated
If you do not drink enough water, then experiencing muscle soreness after workouts is always going to happen. Staying hydrated involves taking water and not carbonated drinks.
When you take enough water, you help your muscles recover faster. It also helps to flush out toxins from your muscles.
Take a warm bath
Another approach to managing muscle soreness is taking a warm bath. When you take a warm bath, you relax your muscles. This is because the warm water increases your blood flow making your muscles a lot less sore.
Stretch your muscles
Stretching your muscles is one way to reduce muscle soreness. It helps to improve blood flow through your muscles and this makes it difficult for your muscles to get sore even after your workout sessions.
Bottom line
When it comes to working out, having sore muscles is a sign that you are getting the results you have been expecting.
You just need to know how to manage the soreness. Using these tips, you can keep your muscles comfortable and a lot less sore.
This will allow you to continuously workout without the thought of giving up. Good luck.
