soften the blow

In New York Liesbeth and I got our asses kicked by Ricky Aston and we sure felt it the next day. Well, to be fair, Liesbeth did. She was practically sick from soreness the following day. And the later it got, the more pain she was in. Before going to bed she took two Advil’s which worked a bit of magic. But fair is fair, she hadn’t set foot in a gym for months, whereas I can be found in one daily. But hey, it still happens every now and then that even I have a hard time typing because of shaky hands the day after a boxing session. “Then you know you had a good workout” is what my boxing trainer usually says. But still, there are ways to avoid being sore. Not entirely, but there are ways to make it less severe. Liesbeth, are you taking notes?

• Warm up your muscles before your workout. It’s what we call ‘warming-up.’ Go for a quick and short jog, some jumping jacks… When you feel ‘cold’ the likelihood of getting an injury is higher and you want to avoid that.
• The same goes for the ‘cooling down.’ This takes place after a work out. If you suddenly stop being active, your blood circulation is slower and your body’s waste takes a longer time to deteriorate causing sore muscles.
• Don’t push yourself too high. Start slow. Don’t suddenly go off and run a 10K if you haven’t run in a while. Your muscles need to get used to the burden. Or else? Sore muscles…
• Drink lots of water after your workout. This helps your body get rid of its natural wastes. Essential to battle soreness.
• Take a hot shower, it’ll heat up your muscles.
• A light massage after a workout is great, cause this too keeps your muscles warm. So go on, find yourself a cute masseur.