Are boot camps and studio classes leaving your muscles sore? Good!! They should be! The process of building muscle starts with the breakdown of muscle fibers, making you feel sore. After you break down muscle during a workout, your body adapts and rebuilds. Your body then becomes leaner and stronger. That’s why it’s good to have some muscle soreness. There is such a thing as too sore though. If you are sore 3 or 4 days after your workout, then you know your workout was a little too much. If the expectation is being sore a for a day or two after a workout, how do you combat soreness? 1. Foam rolling 2. Infrared Sauna 3. Supplementing with Glutamine 4. More Water! 5. Healthy Nutrition Foam rolling is basically a very affordable way to get a massage. By rolling out you will increase blood flow and hydration to your muscles, this helps speed up the rebuilding process. Oh, and it feels great! There are many different brands of rollers, however I have found the groves in the Rollga roller is great at getting to hard to reach muscles without being painful to neighboring muscles. It may take a few times for you to get use to the feeling and knowing how much weight to put on your different muscles and tendons, but your body will thank you. Spending time in an infrared sauna increases your blood flow, bringing more oxygen to your damaged muscles. This again helps your body recover faster. There are also many other great health benefits with the infrared heat (Detoxing, increasing metabolism, and more). Its best to start at 10 to 15 minutes at a time, then increasing as your body gets accustomed to the heat. Glutamine is linked to protein synthesis Which helps muscles repair, and blocks muscle fibers from being “eaten up.” Glutamine is crucial when wanting to lose weight because your body will burn fat instead of muscle. Water is better! Your body works so much better as a whole when it is properly hydrated. You will feel less sore, have more energy, and allow you to work harder in the gym. Half of your body weight in ounces is a good rule of thumb for water intake. The last and most important, healthy nutrition. Your body craves real food, especially when you are working hard in the gym. Eating non-processed and organic foods (if possible) will fuel your body, not just make you feel full. I challenge you to try Phase 1 of the Rejuv4Life meal plan. You will notice how much better you feel compared to your current diet. Follow these five tips to help your body heal faster after workouts, leading you to your goals faster! If you are not on a plan that is proven to drastically improve your health, join Rejuv’s 6-week challenge. We include the necessary tools to succeed, and pay you for achieving your goals! The Challenge starts Monday, February 20th. Click the link https://www.rejuvmedical.com/20-42-challenge/ to learn more. Make sure to register and write “Challenge Accepted” in the comment box before Friday, February 10th for the Early bird special of $169 Chris Hanson Fitness Director