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While it feels good to know that your workout was effective, the actual feeling of muscle soreness isn’t so much. If you’ve ever used a handrail to stiffly descend stairs because “leg day” was yesterday, you’ll know what I mean.
When we put our bodies through somewhat rigorous exercise, the strain creates microscopic damage to our muscle fibers. When that combines with inflammation in our muscles, it creates the pain we’ve come to know and love/hate.
Aside from being annoying by creating stiff and sore muscles, the pain keeps us out of the gym and requires downtime to properly heal — rushing back in only opens you up to further injury and longer periods out of the gym. When you have such a good excuse not to step back into your regimen, it can become increasingly hard to stay in a good habit.
While things like stretching, drinking water, and taking Tylenol are things we all could do (and maybe don’t do enough of), there are a lot of other ways to address muscle soreness. Depending on your budget and needs, you could be employing hot pads just as easily as you could be using electrotherapy or sleepwear with an advanced biomimicry technology.
Below are 8 things that’ll help you get faster recoveries or simply less painful ones:
A muscle roller
This Idson muscle roller stick is built to ease sore muscles, aid in recovery, and reduce stiffness and pain both before and after workouts. With regular use, it’s even supposed to improve your strength, circulation, and reduce risk of injury. They’re regularly recommended by physical therapists and trainers, so you might have seen them before.
At a little over $ 10, it’s one of the most durable and inexpensive ways to address muscle soreness. There’s also a 100% money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.
If you’re looking for the next level, you might be interested in the vibrating foam roller recommended by personal trainer Chris DiVecchio who pro athletes have been known to love. It mimics a deep tissue massage with three speeds of vibration and a ridged body to work muscles. Using both vibration and pressure, the Vyper muscle roller provides a new degree of recovery.
For more: HyperIce Vyper 3-Speed Vibrating Foam Roller, $ 179
For less: Idson Muscle Roller Stick, 18 Inches, $ 10.50
A muscle stimulator kit
Complex is a name commonly associated with CrossFit, and they make a muscle stimulator kit that uses electrotherapy to achieve a higher level of fitness and recovery. The device has three programs, and the Active Recovery program helps clear lactic acid and enables a faster recovery from muscle soreness and fatigue.
Complex says it can increase blood flow up to 600% faster and reduce lactic acid in only 4-6 minutes, which means you can get over the pain and discomfort faster.
Complex Edge Muscle Stimulator Kit, $ 179.99
Yoga therapy balls
These massage therapy balls are made of a special rubber that grips at your skin, grabs multiple layers of muscles, and rubs out adhesions and tension. In essence, it’s meant to be a deep tissue massage.
They’re conveniently compact, too, at approximately 2 ¾ inches in diameter.
Yoga Tune Up Jill Miller’s Therapy Balls Pair with Mesh Tote, from $ 16.19
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