Relieve muscle soreness with Magnesium and Omega 3
Are you experiencing muscle soreness after a workout? If yes, you’re not alone! Post-workout muscle soreness is a common condition that affects many people. Fortunately, there are natural remedies that can help alleviate muscle soreness and help you get back to your routine quickly. In this blog post, we will discuss how magnesium and omega 3 can help you relieve muscle soreness. Also, you learn about some other strategies that can help alleviate this discomfort.
Why You Get Sore Muscles After Training
When you workout, your muscles undergo physical stress that leads to microscopic damage in the muscle fibers. This damage is known as muscle trauma, which causes muscle soreness, stiffness, and inflammation. The good news is that this type of muscle damage is up to a certain level necessary for muscle growth and strength gains. But if you ignore your body's warnings for a long time, a localized, small inflammation can turn into a chronic inflammation that keeps you from exercising for a long time. Insufficient recovery after exercise, inadequate hydration or a lack of nutrients such as magnesium can also contribute to more muscle soreness. Learn how and why magnesium and omega 3 can help alleviate muscle soreness.
Magnesium and Omega 3: The Perfect Duo for Muscle Soreness Relief
One effective strategy to prevent and relieve muscle soreness is to supplement your diet with magnesium and omega 3 fatty acids. Here's why:
Magnesium to Reduce Muscle Pain and Cramps
Magnesium is an essential mineral in the body with multiple functions. One of its key functions is to help the muscles relax. Magnesium regulates stress hormones and is essential for the production of serotonin, a hormone that relaxes the nervous system and helps the body to sleep deeply. This, in turn, further supports the body in regeneration, and you are fit and refreshed again the next day. In addition, magnesium contributes to a good transmission of nerve cell stimuli and can thus prevent cramps. So if you suffer from frequent muscle cramps, this may be a sign of magnesium deficiency. Getting enough magnesium in your diet will quickly help prevent them.
How much magnesium do you need?
The recommended daily magnesium intake is 400-420 mg for men and 310-320 mg for women. You can get magnesium from foods such as spinach, almonds, and avocado - but it is difficult to get enough of this micronutrient from food alone, as soils are often nutrient-poor due to monocultures. In everyday life, it is, therefore often easier and cheaper to rely on high-quality supplements to cover the micronutrient requirements. It is important to choose a natural and easily absorbed form of magnesium. For example, magnesium bisglycinate or taurinate are high-quality forms that are easily absorbed by the body. Magnesium oxide, on the other hand, is a very cheap form. which should be avoided. In fact, oxide has very low bioavailability (indicates the degree and rate at which a substance can be absorbed and used by your body), and over 80% is excreted from the body - it can even be laxative.
Omega 3 to Control Inflammation
Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of healthy fat that have numerous health benefits. One of their most important functions is to control inflammation in the body. When you exercise, your body produces inflammation in response to the micro-lesions of your muscles that occur with every workout. Although some inflammation is necessary for the muscle healing process, too much inflammation can lead to pain and stiffness. Also, consuming highly processed foods can cause inflammation as it is rich in omega-6 fatty acids. A good level of omega-3 in the body inhibits the inflammatory process and also supports cardiovascular function. It lowers bad cholesterol and protects the body from cardiovascular disease. With the positive effect of omega-3 on blood circulation, the body transports important nutrients for muscle regeneration faster and eliminates harmful substances more efficiently.
What are good sources of Omega 3?
Adding more omega-3 fatty acids to your diet leads to a reduction in inflammation, which leads to relief from muscle soreness. You can get omega-3 from fatty fish like salmon. However, as it is difficult for most of us to eat good quality fish on a daily basis, the easiest way to do this, as with magnesium, is to take a good quality omega-3 supplement. Make sure the fish oil comes from wild water, that it contains a good amount of EPA and DHA - not just one of the two - and that the heavy metal content is almost zero.
Other Strategies to Alleviate Muscle Soreness
Besides supplementing magnesium and omega 3, there are of course some additional methods to ease muscle soreness with. Make sure to not only rely on supplements but to also consider the following points:
- Rest and Recovery: Your body gets stronger when it is recovering, check out this post about how to avoid overtraining: 9 signs you are overtraining and how to avoid it.
- Warm-up and Cool Down: Proper warm-up and cool-down exercises can help prepare your muscles for physical stress and prevent muscle damage.
- Hydration: Staying hydrated can help flush out toxins and reduce muscle soreness.
- Massage: A good massage can help increase blood flow to your muscles, reduce tension and relieve soreness.
In conclusion, muscle soreness can be treated naturally. By combining magnesium, omega 3, and other strategies like good rest, warm-up and cool-down exercises, hydration, and massage, you can hasten recovery and reduce discomfort. Remember to pay attention to your body and provide it with the proper care it requires to maintain its health and strength.
Don't forget to take a look at our recent blog post that covers the topic of "The Top 4 Supplements to Speed Up Recovery After a Workout".