Everybody who exercises has felt the sensation of muscle soreness, especially after a hard training session. It can also happen after you try a new routine that’s unfamiliar to your muscles or if you’ve been inactive for a while and have just resumed training. Muscle soreness is caused by micro tears or damage to your muscles and connective tissues caused by exercise. It is normal to experience muscle soreness for a day or two, after which the soreness slowly dissipates.
Muscle soreness is also the reason why your exercise sessions are spaced days apart to make room for rest days, periods that allow your muscles to recover. Some experts advocate having an active rest instead of foregoing all activities in between days when you exercise. The objective is to optimise your results without undermining your body’s ability for recovery.
One excellent way to have an active rest is through aquatic or water-based therapy. Training in water provides many advantages that can be beneficial for recovery from muscle soreness. Buoyancy reduces the impact of physical activity on the muscles and joints, reducing the load while enhancing movement.
Exercising in warm water can also soothe sore muscles and joints. The use of warm water can help improve blood circulation to the muscles, promoting faster recovery by delivering oxygen and nutrients while facilitating the removal of lactic acid and other waste products that contribute to muscle soreness. The use of techniques such as aquatic massage and stretching in the water can also help relieve muscle tension, improve flexibility, and enhance your overall recovery.
Overall, water-based therapy offers a low-impact and effective means of promoting muscle soreness recovery from workouts through its combination of buoyancy, resistance, temperature effects, and relaxation properties. However, it’s essential to consult a healthcare professional to determine the most appropriate exercises and techniques based on your needs and specific muscle soreness issues. Our Exercise Physiologists (EP) at Healthstin Sans Souci will be happy to help you. Give us a call at 1300 090 931 or click this link to book a session or get more info.
