Support for Your Sore Muscles
Sore muscles are a pain. DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) is that sneaky after-effect of muscle soreness, pain and stiffness that peaks 24–72 hours post-workout; it’s a necessary side effect of the repair process from exercise. Sore muscles take time to heal, which is why it’s important to take steps toward treatment and recovery.
Soreness Solutions
Pomegranate
In a recent study,* participants who consumed pomegranate extract for a period of 9 days experienced greater recovery of strength 48 and 72 hours after eccentric exercise compared to a placebo.
Compression Clothing
In a small study of 17 women performing plyometric (think jumping exercises) drop jumps,^ authors reported that 8 women wearing full leg compression stockings for 12 hours immediately following exercise experienced reduced muscle soreness compared to those not wearing compression clothing.
Tart Cherry Juice
54 distance runners were asked to run about 26.3 km over a 24-hour period of time.† The 28 runners that ingested 355ml (this is about the size of a 12oz bottle of water) of tart cherry juice twice a day for 7 days prior to the event and on race day experienced less pain post race than those who did not.
Ginger
The authors of a small study‡ reported that daily supplementation with 2g of ginger (both raw and heated) reduced muscle pain caused by exercise.
Protein
Results from another small study** showed that the consumption of 42g of protein before and after resistance training significantly improved exercise recovery 24 and 48 hours after exercise.
BCAAs
The authors of a study of 12 young, healthy, untrained female participants^^ reported that the women who consumed BCAAs before the squat exercise experienced significantly less soreness than the ladies who didn’t consume it.
Regular exercise increases our nutritional needs for certain nutrients and sometimes it is difficult to meet these elevated needs with food alone as part of a strenuous exercise regimen. Taking nutritional supplements can help safeguard one’s diet with key nutrients important for exercise performance and overall health.
*Ellagitannin consumption improves strength recovery 2–3 days after eccentric exercise. Source
^Lower limb compression garment improves recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage in young, active females. Source
†Research article efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial. Source
‡Ginger (Zingiber officinale) reduces muscle pain caused by eccentric exercise. Source
**Effect of a proprietary protein supplement on recovery indices following resistance exercise in strength/power athletes. Source
^^Branched-chain amino acid supplementation before squat exercise and delayed-onset muscle soreness. Source
