Alleviating Ache, Soreness and Spasm Through Exercise
Even when you experience uncomfortable sensations, exercise improves fitness. There are a variety of benefits you can derive from different types of exercise.
Flexibility: Exercises such as different kinds of stretching help improve the threshold of movement beyond which the nerves produce “noxious signals.” People who suffer from chronic ache often experience a decrease in their flexibility, which in itself is a cause for ache. In other words, caustic symptoms can even be decreased by simply improving flexibility of the body.
Strengthening: Strong muscles result in the reduction of stress on the joint – even an arthritic joint – which they surround. Such a phenomenon is termed as “unloading” of structures that are injured. While this may not resolve the condition causing perceived negative sensations, it would definitely help in reducing abnormal motion in the joint, improve stability, and reduce this negative sensation around the area. This also explains why strong people may not experience aching from a repetitive activity that would cause the muscles in weaker people to get “strained.”
Endurance: Aerobic metabolism along with increased heart rate can help promote healing by improving circulation across injured tissues. Endurance exercises usually help increase aerobic metabolism and also improve the level of endorphins in the body, which relieves soreness. This also explains the phenomenon of “runner’s high” among marathon runners. People who follow these exercises end up with higher functionality, feel less soreness even without their condition showing any particular improvement, and also do not get anxious or depressed easily.
