5 Easy Hacks to Fix Post-Workout Pain

Working out feels best immediately after you’ve finished — when you’ve got that ‘just accomplished something’ fatigue and you no longer feel like you’re gonna hurl.

Those effects start to feel worse as soon as mere hours after you’ve finished, when you experience that can’t-walk soreness and begin to question if you’ll ever make it to a gym again. That pain can last for days, causes muscle tension, and if you exercise through it, can cause real muscle damage.

So what are you supposed to do when you’re always sore, but want to keep up with your gym routine? Try incorporating some combination of the five tips below to sooth damaged muscles, repair tissue, and boost relaxation and blood flow. They’ll speed up your recovery and ease your muscle soreness, and get you back into the gym sooner.

5 Dangerous Mistakes You Make With Over-the-Counter Painkillers

More than 9 out of every 10 Americans use over-the-counter meds to manage pain, a new survey from the U.S. Pain Foundation found.

If you take them correctly, OTC painkillers are generally safe and effective, says Charles Vega, M.D., a clinical professor of health sciences at the University of California at Irvine.

But too many people don’t take the pills seriously—and skip the fine print on the bottle as a result, says Charles Vega, M.D., a clinical professor of health sciences at the University of California at Irvine.