The day or two after a workout, you will almost certainly feel some muscle soreness. This dull ache and pain is natural, and isn’t something you should be worried about. However, just because you shouldn’t worry about it, doesn’t mean you ought to just put up with it. Nobody needs to feel uncomfortable after a workout. There are two surefire ways to avoid muscle soreness: stretching and providing your body with protein. Best of all, both of these are natural, not chemical.

In order to understand how to avoid the aches and pains of muscle soreness, it’s important to understand where it comes from. Many people think that muscle soreness is the result of lactic acid buildup around the muscles. However, recent research has shown that this isn’t actually true. Your muscles do produce lactic acid during strenuous activity; but that lactic acid typically drains and dissolves within thirty minutes to one hour after ceasing the workout and activity. So what causes the soreness if it isn’t lactic acid? Most experts agree that during strenuous activity your muscles become damaged. One way is that your muscles can get inflamed and swollen because of the increased blood flow during strenuous activity, thereby exciting the pain receptors nearby. Another way is that muscle fibers are torn and damaged when the muscle is doing the work. This tear and inflammation is what causes most of the muscle ache that people feel after their workouts. And it is something that you can prevent.

While many people deal with the ache and pain of muscle soreness using chemical anti-inflammatory drugs like acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen. These drugs can help reduce pain caused by inflammation and swelling, but they don’t do anything to strengthen muscles or repair the damage muscle tissue. Instead of resorting to a chemical "band-aid" fix; stretching and proper nutrition can deal with the problem head on.

The importance of stretching to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is immense. Most importantly, stretching does three things that help deal with muscle ache. First, stretching increases joint flexibility and range of motion; this helps avoid wear and tear on ligaments and tendons in joints. Second, stretching is a great way to reduce muscle tension. Flexible and elastic muscles aren’t as easily torn or damaged as stiff and static muscle. The most important benefit of stretching is that it increases circulation (blood flow) which helps increase energy output on the muscles. Stretching before exercising will help maximize the exercise by warming up muscle groups and moving the blood to make sure muscles are well oxygenated. Post-exercise stretching helps to remove the lactic acid buildup, and also to maintain healthy blood flow to the muscle groups. This blood flow is how the body delivers amino acids to the damaged muscle tissue; amino acids are what repair the damage.

The best way to get amino acids into the body is through protein in your diet and the easiest way to get protein after a workout is through a whey protein shake. Whey protein shakes have two benefits: they are whey-based, and they are shakes. Whey protein is easily digestible and soft on the body compared to other supplemental protein sources. And getting protein in the form of a shake provides the added benefit of hydrating a sore body, which helps flush out impurities and promotes healing. Good stretching and whey protein can make muscle ache disappear: reducing the need for chemical pain relievers and helping you get back in the gym.