We all know that the beginning of the year is traditionally known as a time to take up new healthy habits, such as joining a gym, enrolling in a yoga class or finally taking out those new trainers for a run. However, as with all sudden changes, there is a period of discomfort…and when you take up a new type of exercise, that discomfort is very real as your muscles – some you didn’t even know you had! – may ache in ways that you didn’t know was possible.
The question is, can we use essential oils and aromatherapy to soothe sore and aching muscles, and help our post-workout recovery?
After all, speeding up the recovery process can help you to stay on track and keep those healthy habits going all year long.
Combining heat and essential oils
Muscle ache after exercise is mainly caused by micro tears in the muscle, but let this not alarm you as this is perfectly normal. It’s those little muscle tears that will build muscle strength, so feeling achy is actually a good sign; it’s showing that the body is getting the muscle building effect of the exercise you’ve been doing.
So, we don’t want to skip the achiness but we want to ease the effect and help speed up the muscle repair process.
A good way of doing this is by using heat, because this improves blood flow to the muscle and therefore, it accelerates the healing process.
Emerging your body in a hot bath is a great way of heating up any sore muscles. You can even super-charge your bath – and your recovery – by adding aromatherapy essential oils and salts to the water.
Making a hot bath part of your post-workout routine makes complete sense. It’s not just an indulgence for the senses, but it’s a great way to let your body and mind recover from the effort, and relieve muscle pain.
Best bath salts to recover from post-workout pain
Best bath salts to recover from post-workout painBoth Epsom Salts and Himalayan Salts are great to add to your bath water to aid workout recovery.
Epsom Salts contain Magnesium Sulphate, which helps to draw lactic acid out of the body and muscles. In addition, it also supplements your body with Magnesium, known to help relax the nervous system and improve sleep.
Himalayan Salts are one of the purest salts in the world, containing no less than 84 essential minerals. Soaking in a bath with Himalayan Salts will boost your overall mineral intake, help relax your sore muscles, nourish the skin and detoxify the body.
Please note: Both Epsom and Himalayan salts are only effective if you stay in the bath for a long enough time. The first 20 minutes aid elimination and the second 20 minutes encourages mineral absorption through the skin. Ensure you drink water before and after this bath.
Best essential oils to add to your post-workout bath
Another way of super-charging your bath to help reduce inflammation and soothe sore muscles is to add essential oils known for their anti-inflammatory and healing properties.
To take the guesswork out of it, you can opt for an aromatherapy blend that has been specifically put together for dealing with sore muscles, such as our Mobility blend, which features Mobility Epsom Salts, Mobility Himalayan Salts, Mobility Massage & Bath Oil and Mobility Essential Oil blend.
Our Mobility Blend contains a powerful fusion of pure essential oils including Basil and Rosemary to invigorate the senses, and Peppermint and Marjoram to help soothe and relax over worked muscles. It’s a powerful blend that works well added to a hot bath – just add, lay back and relax…
Best aromatherapy essential oils to create a post-workout massage oil
If you like creating your own massage oil, then we recommend choosing a carrier oil of your liking and follow the following recipe:
• Add 2 drops of Black Pepper essential oil
• 3 drops of Rosemary essential oil
• 3 drops of Lemon essential oil
• 1 drop of Lavender essential oil
Mix this with 30ml of your carrier oil of choice – Sweet Almond Oil works very well as a massage medium.
Perfect to massage your muscles after exercise, to avoid or reduce the dreaded DOMs (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) and keep your body ache-free.
