Post-Exercise Muscle Recovery- Say Goodbye to DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)
You just had a fantastic workout session, and you’re feeling loose and limber and pumped up for the day, then a couple of hours later, while sitting at work, you get up and realize you’re as stiff as a board! Does this sound familiar? What happened during those couple of hours?
Let’s talk about muscle recovery, specifically post-exercise muscle recovery.
Lack of movement (i.e., sitting) after exercise slows down muscle recovery and healing. Our lymphatic system plays a significant role in muscle recovery because it removes waste and inflammation from our tissues to be filtered out by our organs and recirculated. The lymphatic system pumps fluid against gravity and a pressure gradient. Hence, it relies heavily on muscle contractions and valves to prevent backflow and help pump the fluid against the pressure gradient. Think of your lower leg; As your muscles contract, the pressure of the lymphatic fluid pushes a valve open. As the fluid rushes in, the pressure decreases, and the valve closes so the fluid can’t flow back down; this process repeats until it reaches your organs to be filtered out and recirculated.
Active recovery helps decrease post-exercise muscle soreness, and you may have already guessed that walking is an excellent example of active recovery. Walking reduces muscles soreness and stiffness and prepares them for their next pump-fest! As we walk, we increase blood and lymph flow to our muscles, giving them nutrition to heal and filtering out waste and inflammation, thus reducing pain and soreness.
What if the soreness lingers after walking? Or you’re incredibly sore after a super intense workout?
Meet Normatec air compression therapy: A super-charged walk! The Normatec works by filling each compartment with air, feeling similar to a blood pressure cuff, and then using pulsated air to pump blood and lymph back to your organs for filtration and recirculation. Think of the Normatec as a super strong and sustained contraction that is fantastic at removing any lingering soreness and muscle fatigue after those intense workouts!
Utilizing the Normatec after intense workout weeks, sports games and tournaments, heavy lifting sessions, will reduce inflammation and muscle soreness and help your body recover faster!
To experience what one of our patients describes as a “massage by tiny pillow fairies,” schedule online at aimcf.com!