Medically reviewed by Michael J. Zarro, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS
It’s common for your muscles to feel a little beat up after a challenging workout, but that post-exercise pain doesn’t have to sideline you. By building simple, effective strategies into your nightly routine, you can significantly ease discomfort, speed up your body’s repair process and ensure you’re ready for your next session.
What Happens to Muscles During a Workout
When you exercise, you challenge your muscles to work harder. That challenge makes them stronger, but it also creates some stress on the body.
To stimulate growth, the muscle actually breaks down, causing tiny tears in muscle fibers. Proteins in muscle tissue repair these small tears, strengthening the muscle.
In addition, your immune system recognizes cells damaged by a workout and sends fluids to repair them, which can lead to inflammation. This exercise-induced muscle damage and inflammation is also part of the process of strengthening your muscles.
These factors combine to create delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) — that familiar discomfort you may develop within a day or two after intense exercise. Although painful, DOMS is a sign that your muscles are repairing and rebuilding.
The 3 Stages of Muscle Recovery
As you exercise, your muscles adapt and recover in three stages:
- Immediate recovery, which occurs in seconds as you move from one rep of an exercise to the next
- Short-term recovery, which happens within minutes as you move from one set of an exercise to another of the same exercise or to another exercise
- Training recovery, which occurs over days as your muscles rebuild between workouts
Breathing correctly can help your muscles recover between reps and sets. Breathe in as you begin an exercise, and breathe out at the hardest part, such as the overhead elevation during a shoulder press.
Exercising regularly can also help you improve your immediate and short-term recovery as your body adapts. How can you improve your training recovery? Your habits play a big role in it.
Habits That Aid Muscle Recovery (and Reduce Soreness)
To help your body recover between workouts, it’s important to create routines that reduce muscle soreness and promote muscle repair. You can set yourself up for success by making a few small additions to your evening routine:
1. Drink Up
Drink plenty of water before, during and after your workouts. Dehydration impairs the process of muscle repair.
After a particularly intense workout or one in hot or humid conditions, you may also want to replenish electrolytes lost through sweat. Have a drink that contains electrolytes with your evening meal, or mix electrolyte powder with your water for an extra boost.
2. Consider Amino Acids
Amino acids, such as BCAAs or glutamine, may help reduce soreness by providing the muscle proteins your body needs to repair and recover. They can also help boost your energy and reduce muscle fatigue, leading to a quicker recovery.
Amino acids occur naturally in animal proteins, such as beef, eggs and poultry, and plant-based proteins. You can typically get them by eating a variety of proteins throughout the day. You can also talk to your healthcare provider or a fitness professional about whether amino acid supplements might help.
3. Fuel Your Body
What you eat for dinner can go a long way toward helping with muscle recovery. Fill your plate with fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fat, such as what’s found in olives or nuts. You may also want to eat some anti-inflammatory foods, such as fatty fish, cherries, berries, leafy greens and nuts.
Be sure you get plenty of protein, aiming for approximately 20–30 grams at each meal. Beyond supplying amino acids, protein helps repair and reduce muscle damage. Opt for lean sources, such as poultry or fish, and think outside the meat department with the growing variety of vegan protein sources.
4. Stretch It Out
Take a few minutes near the end of your day to stretch. Basic stretches, such as yoga poses, help improve flexibility and range of motion, which can reduce muscle soreness over time.
Give your stretching routine an extra boost by adding a foam roller. Foam rollers can help you massage sore muscles, reducing tightness and improving range of motion.
5. Take a Soak in the Tub
Adding Epsom salt to a warm bath releases magnesium and sulfate into the water. These compounds can help relax your muscles, ease pain, and reduce swelling and inflammation.
6. Get Plenty of Zzzs
The final step in your evening muscle recovery routine? Get some sleep, aiming for seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
While you sleep, your entire body hits the reset button. During deep sleep in particular, it performs many functions that assist with muscle recovery, including producing growth hormone, replenishing energy and reducing inflammation in the body.
The Bottom Line
Some amount of muscle soreness is normal and expected after exercise. To build stronger muscles, your body first breaks down the existing muscle, creating tiny tears in muscle tissue that are then repaired with protein.
You can help speed up your body’s recovery process — and ease muscle soreness — by including certain habits in your evening routine. Fueling your body with healthy foods, providing it with rest, drinking plenty of water, stretching and getting enough sleep are all simple ways to promote muscle recovery.
One other way you can help your muscles recover? By moving your body more. It may sound counterintuitive, but gentle movement, such as stretching or walking, can help ease muscle discomfort as your body recovers from an intense workout.
The exception to that rule is if you’re experiencing actual pain. Soreness and pain are different, so pay attention to the signals your body is sending and truly rest your muscles if you are in pain. Pain may be an indicator of an injury and that medical attention is needed.