Keeping Your Muscles Healthy

We spend a lot of time here at the Sore No More! Blog talking about chronic pain and ailments and what you can do to manage them. Be it sore muscles after a long day of hiking or the arthritis that's been bothering your knees for the past ten years, everyone hurts sometimes. This week we'd like to deviate from the norm and talk about what makes muscles healthy. While keeping your muscles healthy won't solve all of your problems, it can keep you from developing new ones, and perhaps even help the symptoms of your current ailments. There are two key compacts to muscle health that we're going to look at today; exercise and nutrition.

Exercise
Most of us know that exercise lends itself to healthy muscles. Cardio gets your blood pumping, resistance training helps your muscles become firm and strong. While you might be inclined to get right to pumping iron to bulk up or tone up, you should keep in mind the benefits of a good brisk walk. Blood nourishes all of our systems, and our muscles need a lot of nourishing. Cardiovascular exercise increases blood flow which results in more nutrients being brought into the muscles and more waste being taken out. Both of these are very important to muscle health. So next time you hit the gym, make sure to spent 15-20 minutes taking a walk or on the treadmill beforehand.

STRETCH! Always stretch your muscles before you begin a workout session. Stretching muscles keeps them limber, and reduces your risk of tearing or otherwise damaging them while you exercise. Yoga is an excellent way to keep those muscles toned and moving.

Resistance training will encourage muscle growth and strength. You want to make sure that you're using the right weights for your goals and body type. It might be worth meeting with a personal trainer just once (or many times if you're so inclined) to learn what a good starting point for you is.

What's the real key here? Keep your muscles moving and you'll have a happier body. (Don't forget your Sore No More! when you start hitting the gym, you'll most likely be sore for a few days.)

For an interesting slide show visit this link.


Nutrition
It's no easy feat to learn about good nutrition for your muscles. If you google it you're going to come up with many links about how to eat and what supplements to take to bulk up and build muscle mass. But what if you just want to have healthy muscles? What nutrients are going to support that goal? Let's see if we can't lay some basic ground rules out here.

B Vitamins. They're a pretty amazing thing. Recommended by nutritionists for discontents from depression to, you got it...muscle health. B vitamins play an important role in energy conversion in the body and your muscles need that energy to keep you moving. They also keep your cells healthy and everything in your body is composed of cells. B vitamins can be taken in supplement form or via diet. Some good sources of B-vitamins include; Spinach, Broccoli, Sunflower Seeds, and Eggs.

Fish Oils. As we just mentioned, everything in your body is made up of cells, including your muscles. Fish oils contain Omega-3 fatty acids that can keep your cell membranes in good working order (which in turn regulates cellular nutrition and waste removal.) There are a variety of fish oil supplements available at most grocery stores if you're not a big sea-food fan.

Potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus play an important role in muscle contraction and generally work together. While you can get these in supplemental form at most supermarket, it's best to consult your physician first, as most of these in excess can be detrimental to your health. You should be able to get most of these nutrients by consuming a well balanced diet.

Also, keep in mind that water is important to the function of all of your body systems, so to keep those muscles healthy, consider upping your H2O consumption by a couple of glasses per day.

To really find out what type of diet and exercise regime is right for you, you're going to want to meet with a dietician, nutritionist, personal trainer, or even your regular doctor. However, getting a little bit of exercise every day and having a well balanced diet should get you well on your way to keeping your muscles happy and healthy for life.


*Sore No More! is not a licensed physician. All information on this blog is researched by our staff and is subject to inaccuracies. No information found here should be used in the place of advice from your doctor. *  

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