Stiff Sore Strained Article
Stiff, Sore, and Strained
(This information is based on one athletes opinion, please remember I’m not an expert)
If your coach is a good coach (and if you are a good student) then you should face times when your body is hurting. Now hold on a second, I do not mean pain as in injured or broken body parts, I mean pain as in you wake up the next day feeling stiff, sore, tired, or fatigued. Even as a junior player I would hope you are working hard enough to understand that improvement does not come easy, it requires a bit of pain. The other week I was helping a friend learn how to tone her legs, and introduced her to the fun exercise we badminton players know all to well as lunges! Two days later when she woke up, she called me to ask if something was wrong, her legs hurt! I had to explain to her that it was natural, and I started to wonder how many badminton players know how to recover properly from a hard workout.
The first piece to knowing how to recover as an athlete is to understand why our bodies act the way they do. Three of the reasons your muscles end up hurting are due to lactic acid, muscle tearing, and inflammation. Lactic acid is created by your body and can build up in your muscles when you do intense anaerobic exercises. Anaerobic exercises are short in duration and intense in quality, as opposed to aerobic exercises which have a longer duration and are not as intense. For example, sprints, short footwork drills, or agility drills are all anaerobic exercises. The second reason your muscles will hurt after an intense workout is because when you are working out your muscles, you are actually creating small tears in them. This then leads to inflammation in the fibers, the third reason your muscles will be sore. It is an odd concept, but you actually have to tear your muscle to make it stronger.
Next, if we know that we are going to have an intense workout we can use preventative tools to lessen the damage to our bodies. Some easy ways to prevent injury and soreness include stretching, staying hydrated, and eating well. Stretching before and after workouts is always important, but it is especially important the day after an intense workout. When you create tears in a muscle, your muscle will begin to heal itself and mend the tears. By stretching, you are elongating your muscles to help them heal in a healthy shape. Keeping hydrated means not only drinking water, but drinking fluids with electrolytes (potassium, sodium, and chloride) as well. Staying hydrated provides water and electrolytes to your whole body- muscle cells, blood vessels, etc. Electrolytes help muscle cells to change shape, which allows for movement (expansion and contraction). Without enough electrolytes muscle cells will freeze up, or cramp. Eating well includes knowing which foods provide which substances. For example, bananas and orange juice are an excellent source of potassium which is another way to prevent muscle cramping.
Lastly, as an athlete we have to face the fact that even though we may be eating well, staying hydrated, and warming up and cooling down properly our bodies will still end up feeling sore. This is where recovery techniques come in to play. The most immediate recovery can come through a cool down shower. A 5 minute cold shower can work wonders on torn and inflamed muscles. Think of it as a whole body icepack. Another technique is massaging an area, to help heal muscle tears. This can help in the short run to eliminate discomfort, but a better way to combat stiffness is going for a recovery run. Recovery runs should take place the morning after an intense workout and last about 20-40 minutes depending on the person. A recovery run is not a sprint or even a fast paced run. Instead it should be a comfortable slow jog to help loosen up your muscles and flush out remaining lactic acid. Recovery runs will also help the tears in your muscle heal.
Now that I have given you some more tools and information it is up to you as an athlete to use them. Feelings stiff, sore and strained may not be high on your list, so look at it another way, it is a reminder of how hard you worked. Every step up the stairs, even if it is in slight discomfort, is a step toward your goals. Be proud of that.
The first piece to knowing how to recover as an athlete is to understand why our bodies act the way they do. Three of the reasons your muscles end up hurting are due to lactic acid, muscle tearing, and inflammation. Lactic acid is created by your body and can build up in your muscles when you do intense anaerobic exercises. Anaerobic exercises are short in duration and intense in quality, as opposed to aerobic exercises which have a longer duration and are not as intense. For example, sprints, short footwork drills, or agility drills are all anaerobic exercises. The second reason your muscles will hurt after an intense workout is because when you are working out your muscles, you are actually creating small tears in them. This then leads to inflammation in the fibers, the third reason your muscles will be sore. It is an odd concept, but you actually have to tear your muscle to make it stronger.
Next, if we know that we are going to have an intense workout we can use preventative tools to lessen the damage to our bodies. Some easy ways to prevent injury and soreness include stretching, staying hydrated, and eating well. Stretching before and after workouts is always important, but it is especially important the day after an intense workout. When you create tears in a muscle, your muscle will begin to heal itself and mend the tears. By stretching, you are elongating your muscles to help them heal in a healthy shape. Keeping hydrated means not only drinking water, but drinking fluids with electrolytes (potassium, sodium, and chloride) as well. Staying hydrated provides water and electrolytes to your whole body- muscle cells, blood vessels, etc. Electrolytes help muscle cells to change shape, which allows for movement (expansion and contraction). Without enough electrolytes muscle cells will freeze up, or cramp. Eating well includes knowing which foods provide which substances. For example, bananas and orange juice are an excellent source of potassium which is another way to prevent muscle cramping.
Lastly, as an athlete we have to face the fact that even though we may be eating well, staying hydrated, and warming up and cooling down properly our bodies will still end up feeling sore. This is where recovery techniques come in to play. The most immediate recovery can come through a cool down shower. A 5 minute cold shower can work wonders on torn and inflamed muscles. Think of it as a whole body icepack. Another technique is massaging an area, to help heal muscle tears. This can help in the short run to eliminate discomfort, but a better way to combat stiffness is going for a recovery run. Recovery runs should take place the morning after an intense workout and last about 20-40 minutes depending on the person. A recovery run is not a sprint or even a fast paced run. Instead it should be a comfortable slow jog to help loosen up your muscles and flush out remaining lactic acid. Recovery runs will also help the tears in your muscle heal.
Now that I have given you some more tools and information it is up to you as an athlete to use them. Feelings stiff, sore and strained may not be high on your list, so look at it another way, it is a reminder of how hard you worked. Every step up the stairs, even if it is in slight discomfort, is a step toward your goals. Be proud of that.
