When we talk about muscle stiffness, we are
referring to DOMS (Delayed-Onset Muscular Soreness). It is that muscle pain
that appears 14-16 hours after doing intense physical activity, notably in
those people who are not used to doing exercise.
They can cause significant trouble and be
detrimental to the performance and quality of training (the can lest from 48
hours to one week), so using effective, natural remedies to prevent or reduce
them are key to many athletes, trainers, dieticians, physical therapists and
other sport professionals.
Why do DOMS happen?
Popular science says that DOMS are caused
by the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscle, but today’s science points
out at little muscle injuries cause by doing sport as the origin of
muscle stiffness.
Physical therapy for muscle stiffness
Scientific evidence states that DOMS are
not needed to improve at muscular level (another extended myth), but reality
says otherwise. The reason is that they prevent us from keeping training. So,
you’d better avoid them.
Firstly, we must take into account that movement
is the best remedy against DOMS. Unless the pain is severe, repeating
the exercises that caused the stiffness - but less intense - will make DOMS
less frequent, little by little.
Obviously, planification and organisation
of training, rest, sleep and stress are vital.
Studies evidence that a good warm-up
session before training and using the foam roller at the end are good
strategies to prevent muscle stiffness.
Massages and heat after training (hot
showers or saunas) are also effective natural remedies for stiffness. On the
other hand, applying cold is not beneficial.
Food, phytotherapy and supplementation for
stiffness
According to evidence, the best natural
remedies against muscle stiffness are omega 3 (EPA/DHA) and vitamin D.
Omega 3 fatty acids
The anti-inflammatory effects of omgea-3
fatty acids can reduce muscle damage caused by DOMS. In 2011, Tratibian and
colleagues demonstrated that taking 1.8 g of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA)
reduced proinflammatory factors causing stiffness.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D was proven to positively
influence in inflammation and muscle function after suffering muscle damage.
Barker and colleagues demonstrated that supplementation with vitamin D (4000
IU/day during 35 days) resulted in a faster recovery from DOMS.
Natural anti-inflammatories
These microinjuries on muscle fibres caused
by physical exercise produced inflammation and accumulation of waste
substances, which are the origin of the characteristic pain of stiffness. Then,
following that logic taking anti-inflammatories would reduce stiffness, but
reality hits differently: taking anti-inflammatory rugs like ibuprofen doesn’t
seem to have any beneficial effect on stiffness.
It is worth mentioning that other studies
suggest that natura anti-inflammatories of certain plants like green tea,
ginger and turmeric show an effective and safe reduction of
stiffness.
These substances are present in extracts of
green tea (EGCG), ginger (gingerol) and turmeric (curcumin) and behave like
very effective natural remedies.
Ginger is especially interesting, since its
active substances (mainly gingerol) have shown being very effective against
muscle pain.
Other natural compounds we can find in both
food and food supplements are as interesting, in order to prevent or reduce
stiffness. Among the most researched compounds there are: anthocyanidins of
cherries, ellagic acid of pomegranate, bromelain form pineapple, sulforaphane
from broccoli, citrulline of watermelon or betaine from red beetroot.
Combining some of these compounds brings a synergic effect that makes theme more effective than using them separately. As a conclusion, the general recommendation is a diet rich in said foods, enhanced by food supplements containing green tea and/or ginger.
