Damn this hurts… Now I can’t move, which is ironic because moving is what got me here in the first place!

Muscle

If you’ve ever practiced any sport whatsoever, or even if you just laughed for too long, you have experienced muscle fever!

You don’t believe me?

Did you ever work on a muscle only to find the next day that it hurts like ****? Did you feel pain, soreness, especially when you flexed that particular muscle?

Yes, this is muscle fever. Or otherwise known as DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness)

This occurs when you overwork a muscle past its capacity. Some say that triggers an elevation of lactic acids levels, other argue that breakdown of muscle fibers is to blame.

Nevertheless, one this is for sure! 24-72 hours after your workout you’ll start feeling sore in that area; and the pain will subside in 3-5 days.

In my experience muscle fever can be excruciating! The bigger the muscle is, the grater the pain that comes from overworking it! But there are thing that help!

Preventing DOMS in the first place

• That’s simple! Don’t overwork you’re muscle. Gradually build up strength and avoid the pain!
• OK… you got carried away and you over trained. What now? Go for the sauna or take a hot bath. Heat really helps keep the situation under control.

Too late for prevention! How do I make the pain go away?

• Now this is very important to understand! Everywhere you ask, will tell you to exercise that muscle to make muscle fever go away! That works! That works incredibly well actually! BUT (with a great emphasis on BUT) you should do that only after the worst has passed! Your muscle was strained, it’s in pain and trying to repair itself…So until it shows sign that it’s on the right track don’t force it anymore! You can permanently damage that muscle if it doesn’t get a chance to relax properly.
• Ok then… Until the pains gives signs of subsiding you need to relax. Relax and gently massage your muscle. There are a lot of sport gels out there that help with this (you’ll find them in any drug store).
• As your muscle heals, you have to do your part too! Make sure you eat enough protein to sustain its repairs and growth, and give it enough sugar to do it. Although I don’t support consuming sugar, it does have its uses. Sugar, honey, glucose or other stuff of that nature will kick start the healing process. Sustain it by eating bananas, melons and other sugary fruit!
• After the pain starts to subside get that muscle working a little bit! Worm it up, use it and don’t give up. I know it hurts, but this is going to get you through the whole process of healing a lot faster!

Funny fact:
I did get muscle fever from laughing too much! The abdomen muscles are the ones that are flexed when you laugh. Maybe you should consider integrating laughter into your fitness routine…