Let’s decrease that rehab injury time!

If you’ve worked out in your life, then you know about the soreness that soon follows a day or two after.  This is the rehab injury time.  It can be a problem with the muscles or with the joints.   Many people have asked me how to make this soreness go away. The answer to this question is something everyone should know. Why not know how to make those pains go away and be able to recover faster.  No one likes being down to rehab an injury.

There are quite a few remedies out there to help your body. By just stretching each morning after you wake up, you will increase the recovery time, while also decreasing your chance of injury. A great way to decrease muscle soreness is to do 1 to 2 sets of an exercise directed towards the sore muscle. For example, if your biceps are sore, do a light set of bicep curls. This will get the blood flowing. Applying heat to the muscle is always useful for muscle soreness. This can be done easily with a heating pad or hot shower. An over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen helps.

Now, as we get older we may start to feel a bit more joint soreness. Don’t worry, there are some ways to help those as well. My number one rule with feeling soreness in joints is DON’T OVER DO IT. Your joints are too important in your well being to be risky with. If you are feeling a pain in a joint, then rest and recover. If you are just feeling a slight discomfort, then be cautious. 

A hot cold cycle with a sore joint is best to decrease the rehab injury time. First, I wet a washcloth in water and place it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. You want it to be hot but not scalding hot. As the wash cloth is heating up, I fill a small ziploc with ice cubes. Place the bag of ice on the sore joint. Keep this there for 5-15 minutes, make sure its really chilling the joint, a numbness is common. Then place the hot washcloth on to the joint and let it stand for 5-15 minutes. Repeat this cycle a few times and you are on your way to a quicker recovery. Doing small exercises directed towards your joints is a great way to strengthen the small muscles and loosen the tendons and ligaments. This is especially important in the wrists and ankles.

 Nutrition will play a large roll in injuries and soreness throughout an exercisers life.  You can cut down on your rehab injury time dramatically with the right nutrition plan.  To learn more about healthy eating check out Go Healthy Fitness’ review of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. 

Travis

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