Remedies For Sore Muscles After Hiking

Hiking is an absolutely fantastic activity to take part in. It is a great form of exercise, gets you out in some incredible scenery and is even an incredibly positive thing to do for mental health.

But one common issue that many hikers face, is it can often lead to some pretty sore muscles the day(s) after. And while this is bad enough if you are simply day-hiking, it is even worse if you are doing a multi-day hike or trek!

Not only can this muscle soreness suck a lot of your enjoyment out of the trail but it can also significantly reduce your physical performance while hiking and even potentially increase your risk of injury...
  
So today's article has been created to share some simple, practical and effective solutions to help relieve sore muscles after hiking!

Seven Tips To help Relieve
Sore Muscles After hiking

#1: Foam Rolling

Most of us are familiar with foam rollers these days. These can be very effective for both preventing soreness as well as relieving sore muscles after hiking.

If you know certain muscles regularly get sore, spending 5-10 minutes rolling them after a hike can be very useful. Alternatively, if you wake up and your muscles are aching, you can do this in the morning as well.

If you are out on the trail, obviously you are not going to be lugging a foam roller around... but using your water bottle can be just as effective!

Some tips to get the most out of this strategy:

• Go slow and steady
• Remember to breathe! (if you can't breathe comfortably, you are going too hard)
• If you find a particularly sore point, just sit on that spot. Take a few big breaths until you feel it release a bit. Then move on.
  

Spending some time rolling key muscles can be effective at reducing muscle soreness after hiking. 

#2: Hydration

Hydrating properly after a hike is an important factor in reducing muscle soreness. If you are day hiking, an easy way to judge this is by weighing yourself before and after a hike. Whatever the difference is, you want to drink 150% of this number over the next few hours.

Again, if you are still on the trail, this is not so practical. But by practicing this method during your day hikes, or in your training, you can get you a rough judge of what you need to aim for. On top of this, a good way to determine if you are sufficiently hydrated, is by keeping your urine clear or straw colored.

A few tips to make this more successful:

• Try to drink regularly and in small amounts throughout your days hiking (and afterwards)
  
• Electrolyte supplements can be effective at both increasing fluid retention and improving the taste of water (allowing you to drink more)
  
  

Hydrating sufficiently after hiking will go a long way to reducing muscle soreness. 


#3: Compression Clothing

Compression garments can be a handy tool to reduce muscle soreness after hiking. Wearing compression clothing immediately after a hike (for 1–2 hours) or while sleeping the night after hiking, can be an effective way of reducing soreness.

The great thing here is that it is incredibly easy to apply to the trail as well! And even the ultralight die-hards would find it hard to argue the benefits of including these in your pack.
  
While there are many reasons theorised, there is no conclusive answer to why this works (yet). But no matter what the cause, compression clothing can be an effective way of relieving sore muscles after hiking. 

#4 Post- Hiking Nutrition

Making the correct nutrition choices after hiking can play a significant role in preventing muscle soreness.

Without getting too technical, the main aim of the game is to consume a decent serving of both carbohydrates and protein within an hour after completing your hike.
  
One thing to note, is if you are on an over-nighter, protein sources are often harder to find. Mainly for the fact that there are not a huge range of non-perishable, high protein foods (which don't taste absolutely terrible!)

In this situation, a few good options include:

• Foil wrapped fish and meat
  
• Cured sausages and jerky
• Lentils and legumes
• Powered milk
• Protein supplements (if you really struggle finding other options)

Having a decent serving of both carbohydrates and protein after hiking can be beneficial for aiding recovery and reducing muscle soreness.

#6 Magnesium

Magnesium is great for relieving sore muscles. It also has the added benefits of preventing cramps, reducing stress and can even potentially aid exercise performance.

There are many options for using magnesium to reduce muscle soreness. You can take a powder, capsule or even have a bath in it! One trail favorite is to use spray on magnesium oil. With this you can specifically target particularly sore muscles and give some pretty instant relief.
 
One additional benefit of magnesium is that is can help you sleep better. And anything which helps your sleep, will help your recovery after exercise. This can also contribute to reduced muscle soreness. 

#7: Active Recovery

Last but not least is active recovery. This is probably the most effective strategy listed at relieving sore muscles after hiking.

If you wake up after a day hike with super sore legs, don't just sit around and feel sorry for yourself! Some light exercise can be very effective at reducing soreness. Great examples here include gentle walking, cycling, swimming or yoga.

This also applies to any 'rest' or 'acclimatisation' days you might have on your hike. Instead of just lazing around, go for a gentle walk or do some yoga. It will go a long way.

Keeping moving with light exercise is a very effective remedy for sore muscles.

Sore muscles can seriously detract from the pleasure of a days hiking or trekking. And even worse, they can reduce your performance on the trail and even potentially increase your risk of injury. But by applying these methods you can do much to reduce this soreness, no matter how far you hike!

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