Do you ever work out really hard, feel great, sweat out toxins, and push your body to its limits – only to wake up the next day unable to walk or sit or get up comfortably? The after-exercise soreness is, for some people, part of the benefit of working out, and for others, too limiting to encourage the next exercise.

Some of the ways I get through this muscle soreness follow:

1. Make sure you drink enough water before, during and after working out. Exercising causes you to sweat, which means you’re losing hydration. Dehydration can cause its own muscle soreness and add to what you’re feeling from exercising.
2. A bath with epsom salts when you start feeling soreness can be relaxing, comforting, and release some of the muscle tightness from your body.
3. If you have hyper-localized soreness, use a tennis ball to rub out the knot or tightness. It may hurt while you’re doing it, but keep at it until you feel that muscle release.
4. Don’t take a day off, but take a rest day. So instead of doing a high intensity training two days in a row, do one day of high intensity strength training followed by a day of cardio, followed by a day of restorative stretching or yoga. Switch up what you’re doing to allow certain parts to recover while you focus elsewhere.