How to Relieve Muscle Aches from Football
If you play football on the pro or professional level, you are bound to run into issues like sore muscles or muscle aches. As an athlete, it’s completely normal to wake up in the morning and feel sore from a game or even from an intense workout. This happens to everyone and can manifest anywhere from 12 to 48 hours after your football game or practice. While you may feel achy, it can take a few days before your muscles stop feeling so sore and uncomfortable. However, there are steps you can take to relieve muscle aches from football.
Get the Right Nutrients
Your body craves certain nutrients after such intense activity. Always stay properly hydrated and drink plenty of water both before and after workouts. You also lose electrolytes and potassium after football, which means you may also need to drink sports drinks and consume foods like bananas, celery, raisins, and bell pepper to replenish your body.
As an athlete who performs heavy work, you will also want to get the right level of carbohydrates in your diet as well. Generally speaking, you should aim to consume at least 50 grams of carbs at least one or two hours prior to your workouts.
Protein is another essential nutrient your body needs in order to repair your muscles. You should be consuming it in smaller amounts at around 20 grams each portion. Additionally, consuming more frequent, smaller meals throughout the day is greatly beneficial.
Perform Dynamic Warm Ups
As a football player, you should always perform dynamic warmups, which means you should work out the muscles you’ll be using during your games. This includes things like lunges, lateral and front kicks, hip openers and high knees, all of which cause your heart to pump faster and your blood flow to increase. These workouts are intense and ensure that your muscles get the proper exercise they need to be able to handle a game of football.
Perform the Proper Cooldown
After your dynamic warm up exercises, practice, and actual football games, you need to effectively cool yourself down. To do this, you should slow down your speed to half and eventually perform a simple jog.
You should also perform stretching exercises as part of your cooldown routine. Stretch and concentrate on being flexible, but don’t over-exert yourself to avoid further muscle injury.
Ice Down and Bathe
Taking an ice bath is a great way to ease muscles that are sore from football. If you can’t stand ice water, at the very least, use water that is very cold. Science backs the theory that this is one of the best ways to soothe your sore muscles. Alternately a hot bath can soothe and relax minor aches and muscle soreness from daily exercise. You can get even more out of a hot soak by adding epsom salts or CBD. There are many different CBD bath bombs for sale that you can find online.
Get Enough Rest
When your muscles are working so hard and end up being sore, you need an adequate amount of time to let them rest. Overall, your muscles require anywhere from 24 to 48 hours’ worth of rest so your body can repair itself. Don’t worry about allowing yourself as much time as possible for rest and recovery. It will help you to feel better and perform at your best during your next game.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Of course, you will also want to not only rest your muscles but get plenty of sleep as well. While you sleep, your body and its cells repair naturally and create spikes of testosterone, melatonin and human growth hormone. You can also experience faster tissue repair during your sleeping time.
Cut Out Alcohol
Alcohol consumption can have an adverse effect on your body as a whole. As an athlete, you should cut it completely out for your best overall health, but it’s OK to have one or two drinks every now and then. Reducing your alcohol intake or cutting it completely can benefit your body’s ability to repair itself.
Follow these essential steps to ease your sore muscles after a strenuous football game or workout. Your body will thank you.
