Tips To Avoid (Or At Least Minimize) Muscle Soreness

Jim White, RD, ACSM-HFS, owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia, gives you the 411 on keeping your quads pain free and functional.

1. White recommends being preemptive about pain by warming up before your quad workout. Five to 15 minutes of jumping jacks, walking or biking will better prepare your muscles for the work ahead of them.

2. After your workout, try this stretch: kneel on the floor, sit your butt on your heels, place your hands behind your head and lean forward from your hips. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat up to three times.

3. Another way to reduce postworkout muscle discomfort is through self massage (kneading the sore muscle lightly and gradually increasing the depth of the massage), icing the area, then elevating the offending body part. Afterwards, have a hot bath with epsom salts; this will help aid circulation.

4. If you are suffering from delayed onset muscle soreness (also known as DOMS), you don’t have to sit out on the sidelines the next day. White suggests doing “gentle” exercises like walking, which will help direct blood to your muscles as well as reduce soreness.