Bending down to put on your shoes does not count as a warm-up exercise. Even calm, relaxing, low-risk activities still need a proper warm up to avoid muscle pain. In all aspects of everyday life, you can take steps to avoid aching muscles.
Physical steps to avoid aching muscles can include:
Standing up Straight - Poor posture can lead to back pain and a host of other physical problems. That's because slouching, slumping, and sitting around too much puts extra strain on your muscles. Yoga and Tai chi are great ways to improve your posture.
Working out Wisely - You're less likely to injure your muscles if you get in the habit of using them regularly with an exercise routine.
Loosening up - Before and after any activities, take some time to stretch. Stretching improves your flexibility and prevents your muscles from tightening up and causing injury. It's a great way to keep your muscles limber.
Resting when it's best - Know the difference between a healthy tiredness and fatigue. Don't overdo it. Too much activity causes a buildup of waste products in your body and wears out your muscles.
Sadly, over 80% of people experience back pain at one time or another, suffering when they don't have to. Instead of pain pills, turn to natural ways to eliminate pain with these proven tips:
Get your blood flowing - Soaking your feet in lavender could work wonders on your tense muscles. The lavender gets blood flowing all over your body - like an internal hot compress - and that's exactly what your muscles need for fast healing. Just sit in your favorite chair, pull up a basin, and fill it with hot, but not scalding, water. For every quart of water in the basin, pour in 5 to 10 drops of lavender essential oil. Stir the water before putting your feet in, and soak for at least 10 minutes.
Massage pain away -
12 drops of lavender oil
6 drops of rosemary oil
4 drops of juniper oil
3 drops of peppermint oil
Mix the essential oils in a glass bottle and then add one tablespoon of vegetable oil and one tablespoon of a carrier oil, like sweet almond or apricot kernel. Stir and rub into your sore muscles.
Try an herbal painkiller - Put an end to your pain without dangerous side effects.
Cramp Bark: This great herb relaxes strained muscles.
Valerian: This herb can help soothe your mind before your muscles tense up.
Willow Bark: The ingredient in willow bark that makes it such a powerful painkiller is salicylate, the same active ingredient in aspirin.
Tumeric: This is a wonderful anti-inflammatory, which helps relieve the pain after your muscles have been used or strained.
Do you want something that could ease muscle inflammation and soreness just a well as aspirin and other over-the-counter medications - without harsh side effects? The solution might be as close as your kitchen. Rely on these remedies to fend off every day muscle soreness, like after a workout. Or use them for more serious injuries, like strains, tears, and chronic back pain:
Turn to Vitamin C - This superstar of the vitamin world helps produce and maintain collagen, a protein that builds and repairs cartilage, ligaments, muscles, bones, and anything else that holds you together. As a champion antioxident, vitamin C also has the power to help when your muscles are injured or inflamed. That's when infection and your body's natural healing process cause free radicals to build up in the damaged tissue. These renegade chemicals can cause even more harm to your body unless, of course, you send in vitamin C to take care of them.
Cut out caffeine - Consider cutting coffee and soft drinks from your diet. Caffeine could be preventing your body's natural pain fighters from doing their job. On top of this, caffeine flushes calcium out of your body, lowering the mineral content of your bones and making them more prone to micro fractures.
Keep some mustard handy - Due to the vinegar in it, a squirt of mustard and a cup of water are all you need to stop a muscle cramp in its tracks.
Drink more water - Dehydration is probably the most common cause of muscle cramps - and the easiest to prevent.
Mind your Minerals - You could be low in important minerals, like potassium, magnesium, and calcium - and plain old water won't replenish these. For more potassium, eat bananas, dried apricots, figs, or a ripe avocado. Try eating almonds, cashews, apricots, whole grains, or greens to raise your magnesium level. And dairy products, turnip greens, sardines, and oysters are great sources of calcium.
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