Aches are often associated with intense or unusual sports practice (modification in training, for example). We all have in mind this sensation of pain, particularly annoying when it is focused on the legs and when we are unable to walk… But muscle soreness can be considerably reduced if certain actions are taken.
Warm up before starting your training
In addition to improving the quality of the session, warming up will dilate the blood vessels and oxygenate the muscles, and these actions will be beneficial in preventing muscle soreness. A simple warm-up can be organized as follows: self-massages (see later in the article), generalized / localized joint mobility (eg: staying in a low position in a squat with progressive search for amplitude), active stretching and possibly some minutes of cardio.
Get enough hydration
The second advice will be to hydrate very regularly before, during and after the effort. Water has a key role in the prevention of muscle stiffness because it will quite simply be linked to the metabolism energy (the use of nutrients provided by food). Muscles that are poorly supplied with water are more likely to be prone to micro-lesions and therefore muscle aches because their ability to use nutrients is lower. If the training lasts longer than 2 hours or if it is done in hot weather, adding mineral salts to the bottle may become relevant.
P ratify the auto-massages
Still too few people think about self-massages. However, they are very effective because they will promote the elimination of muscle waste created during training. This means that the nutrients necessary for recovery will be used more quickly by the muscles and in a more qualitative.
A self-massage roller like this is a good investment. Self-massages can be performed after but also before the session, during the warm-up in order to untie the knots of the muscular fascia. Be careful if you are not used to it, the peaks of self-massage rollers can be painful, possibly starting for a few weeks with a flat roller and then increasing its hardness over time.
Practice active recovery
Ditto, we don’t think enough about active recovery but it can make a difference. What does it consist of? This involves doing a cardio-type activity at moderate intensity at the end of the session or the next day. For example, after a weight training session focused on the legs (squats, lunges, etc.), twenty minutes spent running or pedaling at medium intensity can promote the elimination of toxins, speed up recovery work for the body and limit aches.
Eat well with optimal vegan nutrition
It always comes back to the basics, food. And it turns out that if you are vegetarian and more particularly if you are vegan (vegan), you limit the appearance of muscle aches. Indeed, the most effective foods in the fight against muscle stiffness are the foods present in the plant kingdom.
Foods rich in sugar with high glycemic index and refined such as candies, cakes, white bread, should be avoided because they are pro-inflammatory. On the other hand, foods rich in omega 3 (balanced vegetable oils such as rapeseed, hemp, flax as well as algae, crushed flax seeds, etc.) are important because they are anti-inflammatory.
We will also have a great interest in consuming foods with a high content of antioxidants and minerals, such as green leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, etc.), spices, herbs and mineral water (I took care to incorporate as many foods rich in antioxidants as possible into my Vegan Sports Nutrition ) program. In general, we can simplify by saying that the foods to favor are natural foods, unprocessed foods.
In summary:
It is also possible to take a shower after the workout with alternating hot and cold on the muscles that have worked during the session because it seems that this can help some people to reduce the pain due to aches.
Different approaches need to be tested to see what works best, there is no one-size-fits-all answer! If you want to go further, you can now download my free guide ”5 tips to start vegan sports nutrition“ by clicking here .
Train with the heart, eat with the heart.
