Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) occurs 12 - 48 hours after your workout. It’s often called the “good” kind of soreness (as opposed to the bad, injury-related soreness), and it’s generally associated with a change in your workout program, increased intensity, new exercises, etc. You won’t feel it immediately after your workout; but in the subsequent hours, it slowly sneaks up.
While gentle massaging can help relieve muscle soreness, the best prescription is time. Give your muscles time to repair and rebuild - and the muscle soreness will decrease over time. And don’t exercise a muscle that’s already sore.
However, a new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has found scientific evidence for a new treatment: Watermelon juice.
According to researchers:
l-Citrulline is an excellent candidate to reduce muscle soreness, and watermelon is a fruit rich in this amino acid.
So, researchers put watermelon juice to the test with a group of participants. After crunching the data, researchers found a positive relationship between muscle recovery and consumption of watermelon juice. In other words, watermelon juice helped!
If you’re struggling to recover from particularly severe or debilitating muscle soreness - or simply want to reduce your recovery time - try introducing watermelon juice into your diet. It will do the trick.
