Ease Achy Muscles

• When you feel especially stiff after a tough workout, fill a bathtub with warm water and add 3-4 cups of Epsom salt, which you can buy at most grocery stores or drugstores. Soak for 15 minutes, and you will notice a difference the next day.
• Muscle rubs such as Biofreeze and the arnica gels sold at health food stores can provide topical, short-term relief of minor aches. But if you have severe, persistent muscle pain, seek professional advice.
• Ice. You can rarely go wrong putting ice on a sore spot.
• Heat. Don’t use a heating pad on an area that is red or swollen, but placing a heating pad behind your back or sitting on a heating pad at work can relieve low back or upper hamstring stiffness. But limit heating pad use to 15 minutes a few times daily to avoid skin irritation.