What is a good way to prevent muscle soreness while training and exercising if you lack professional help and facilities? I guess you could just fill the tub with cold water and some ice-cubes, and bathe when you get home from the gym? Should you bring some kind of cold pack to the gym, and apply it right after the work out?
Muscle soreness is my biggest challenge with martial arts and training. I often overdo it, and end up very sore, too sore to train. How do I prevent this and get stronger?
The best advice I can offer is to keep a workout journal to log your exercise routine. Being mindful of what your plan is for a given workout. Sticking to a plan can mean the difference between meaningful progress or frustration and injury.
Be certain to conduct warm-ups and cool-downs before and after strenuous activities (including stretches).
Other than that, make sure to maintain good nutrition, hydration, and rest.
Icing afterwards is always a good thing- 20 minutes on, 20 off, especially if you have past injuries. I tried an ice bath once and it was not for me. Rehabbing foot injuries in an ice bucket was bad enough! A foam roller can also be helpful (I prefer to use the harder core stick instead of the ridged foam, however).
But the thing that helped me most was to make myself take 1 or 2 rest days each week. Schedule them as part of your workout plan. Lightly stretch on those days, and if you are like me and miss your workouts- read or study or watch videos on your martial art instead of working out. Warm Epsom salt soaks are also good for relieving sore muscles on your days off as well. It was amazing to me to see that I actually could perform better if i let my legs have a day or two off each week.
