Hello everyone!

Muscle soreness after exercise is one of those funny things where a little bit is good- it lets you know you effectively challenged your muscles during your workout- but a lot is bad. When there is excessive soreness, working out again, or even moving around in daily life, can be uncomfortable and annoying.

There are certain things that can be done in the post-workout window to reduce soreness, such as stretching, massage, post-workout nutrition, and light activity.

But is there anything that can be done pre-workout to reduce muscle soreness? A recent study investigated just that question.

A study published on the coolest day of the year, 6/25/14, titled 'A randomized trial of pre-exercise meal composition on performance and muscle damage in well-trained basketball players' (Gentle et al.) addressed the pre-exercise meal of ten well-trained male basketball players.

The men were given either a carbohydrate-only meal (2 grams per kilogram of body mass) or carbohydrate/protein combination meal (each 1 gram per kg of body mass) ninety minutes prior to completing an exercise protocol.

The exercise protocol was 87 minutes in duration and constructed to simulate basketball game play.

In order to assess muscle damage, which often precipitates soreness, post-exercise, the concentration of an enzyme known as creatine kinase (CK) was measured following the exercise bout. The concentration of CK increases with respect to muscle damage, both skeletal and cardiac muscle, and is often used as a measurement of cardiac damage following a heart attack.

Results showed that muscle damage was reduced in the men who consumed the carbohydrate/protein pre-workout meal compared to the carbohydrate-only group.

It was noted, however, that some of the men in the carb/protein group experienced stomach discomfort during the exercise, possibly due to unfamiliarity with the protein utilized.

In order to avoid this, my usual recommendation is to familiarize yourself with what works for you personally as a pre-workout meal, combining some form of protein and carbohydrate, and some fat as well. I mentioned almonds a few weeks ago, combining those or some nut butter with half a banana would do the trick!


Gentle HL, TD Love, A Howe, and KE Black. A randomized trial of pre-exercise meal composition on performance and muscle damage in well-trained basketball players. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2014, 11:33.

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