How to Relieve Muscle Pain After a Workout

If you exercise regularly, muscle soreness is just part of the deal. I run most mornings, walk daily, take long hikes regularly, do kettlebell workouts at home, play tennis, and practise dead hangs for grip and shoulder strength.

Muscle soreness is a regular companion, particularly in my calves after running or longer hikes, and in my shoulders and arms after tennis or kettlebell work.

I used to use weight machines at the gym but have since left and now work out at home with kettlebells instead – much more convenient and they’re surprisingly versatile.

I didn’t used to get particularly sore after exercise, but that changed in my late 30s and now in my 40s I notice it even more. Recovery takes longer than it did, and soreness that might have cleared in a day now sometimes lingers into the next.

If you’re in the same boat, you’re not imagining it. Muscle recovery does genuinely slow as we age, which makes looking after yourself post-exercise even more important.

The good news is that there’s plenty you can do to help your muscles recover faster and feel less awful the day after a hard session. Here’s what I actually do, and what works.

Why muscles get sore after exercise

Muscle soreness after exercise, particularly that deep ache you feel 24 to 48 hours later, known as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), is caused by tiny tears in the muscle fibres from the effort of exercise. This is completely normal and is actually part of how muscles get stronger. The soreness is the body’s repair process in action.

Knowing this doesn’t make it less uncomfortable, but it does help to know you haven’t done anything wrong. Soreness after a challenging workout is a sign that you worked hard enough to create adaptation.

Keep moving – gently

This might feel counterintuitive when everything aches, but staying gently active the day after a hard session is one of the most effective things you can do. Complete rest can actually make soreness feel worse as muscles stiffen up.

I find this really makes a difference with calf soreness in particular. After a long run or hike, if I just walk the next day rather than sitting still, the calves feel significantly less seized up by the evening. It doesn’t have to be intense – a gentle walk, some light stretching, anything that keeps blood flowing to the sore muscles without adding more stress.

The key word here is gently. On days when my arms and shoulders are sore from tennis or weights, I’ll walk but skip upper body work entirely. You want movement, not more strain on muscles that are already repairing.

Stretch and do yoga

Stretching after exercise and on recovery days is something I do consistently and genuinely notice the difference from. Even five to ten minutes of gentle stretching after a run or workout helps muscles cool down properly and reduces the stiffness that sets in afterwards.

Yoga is particularly good for this. The combination of stretching, controlled breathing and awareness of how your body feels makes it a brilliant recovery tool. Even a short yin yoga session focused on the areas that worked hardest can make a noticeable difference to how you feel the next day.

But you can easily find free yoga videos online using YouTube and even search for things like “post run yoga stretch”.

Self-massage the sore areas

When a muscle feels particularly tight or sore (my calves especially after running) I’ll rub the area myself to try and loosen it up. It’s not a professional sports massage, but working the muscle with your hands, applying pressure and moving along the length of it, genuinely helps release tension and improve circulation to the area.

If you exercise heavily or regularly, a professional sports massage occasionally is worth considering. Beyond treating soreness, regular sports massage can help prevent injury by keeping muscles supple and identifying tension before it becomes a problem.

Stay hydrated

Dehydration makes muscle soreness significantly worse. Muscles need water to function, repair, and flush out the waste products that build up during exercise. If you’re not drinking enough, recovery takes longer and soreness feels more intense.

I drink distilled water as my main source of hydration – pure, clean water with nothing added. If you want to understand more about why staying well hydrated matters or the benefits of the distilled water I drink, both are worth reading.

Staying consistently hydrated throughout the day (not just around exercise) makes a real difference to how your body recovers.

Eat to support recovery

What you eat after exercise directly affects how quickly your muscles repair. Protein is the key nutrient. Muscles are made of protein, and the repair process after a workout requires adequate protein to rebuild the tiny tears that cause soreness.

As a vegan, I get my protein from legumes, beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, nuts, seeds and hemp protein. Plant-based protein is completely adequate for muscle recovery.

The idea that you need animal protein to build or repair muscle is a myth. My post on whether you can get protein and build muscle on a plant-based diet addresses this properly if it’s something you’ve wondered about.

Anti-inflammatory foods also help with recovery. Turmeric is one I use regularly in cooking, in rice, and as a supplement, and it has good evidence behind it for reducing inflammation. Ginger is another, easy to add to cooking, taken as a tea or added to a homemade juice or smoothie.

Pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that has been shown to help reduce muscle soreness specifically. And I don’t know if that’s why, but I regularly get pineapple cravings!

Try a warm bath with Epsom salts

A warm bath after a hard session is genuinely soothing and adding Epsom salts takes it further. Epsom salts are magnesium sulphate, and soaking in them allows magnesium to be absorbed through the skin. Magnesium plays a direct role in muscle function and recovery, and many people who exercise regularly are deficient in it without realising.

The warm water relaxes the muscles, the magnesium supports recovery, and honestly the whole thing just feels restorative. Worth doing after particularly tough sessions or on days when everything aches.

Consider CBD for recovery

CBD has genuine evidence behind it for reducing inflammation and supporting muscle recovery, and it’s something I’ve used personally. It works as a natural muscle relaxant, easing tension and that deep aching feeling that follows intense exercise.

You can take it orally (CBD oil or gummies) or apply it topically as a cream or balm directly to sore muscles. The topical application is particularly good for localised soreness like tight calves or sore shoulders, as it works directly on the area.

Rest properly

Rest is not the same as doing nothing; it’s an active part of recovery. Your muscles don’t get stronger during exercise; they get stronger during the rest period afterwards when the repair process happens. Skimping on sleep or pushing through with another intense session before you’ve recovered properly extends soreness and increases injury risk.

Good sleep is particularly important. Most muscle repair happens during deep sleep, when growth hormone is released, and the body does its most intensive repair work. My post on sleep hygiene tips covers how to make sure your sleep is actually doing its job.

The honest truth about muscle soreness

Some soreness is unavoidable if you’re exercising properly, particularly when you increase intensity, try something new, or come back after a break. It’s a signal that adaptation is happening, not that something is wrong.

What you can do is manage it: stay gently active, stretch, eat well, hydrate, sleep properly, and use some of the tools above to take the edge off. Over time, as your fitness improves and your body adapts, the soreness tends to reduce for the same activities.

For more on building a sustainable exercise routine that works for your life, my post on how to stay active as a busy mum is worth a read.