Reduce Muscle Soreness With Cherry Juice

Strengthening your muscles requires breaking them down, which leads to a natural yet irritating aftereffect: muscle soreness.  According to Ball State’s director of strength research David Pearson, this microtrauma is a natural occurrence that results from tiny tears in your muscle fibers.

Solid nutrition habits can help rid your body of soreness and inflammation.  One such habit, growing in popularity, is to incorporate cherry juice as part of a post-training recovery routine. Case in point: the University of Florida, whose director of sports nutrition, Cheryl Zonkowski, says that after intense workouts, Gator athletes down CherryPharm, a product that contains “50 tart cherries…with a little apple juice concentrate to give it some shelf life.”

According to menshealth.com, dark-red fruit can protect your muscles during intense training. The website cites a study conducted at the Oregon Health & Science University, which found that consuming tart cherry juice resulted in less pain after intense activity. Reason being, cherries, along with red grapes and pomegranates, contain an antioxidant called anthocyanins, which helps alleviate inflammation.

Keep this in mind next time you finish a hard session at the gym.