As we continue to walk on this fitness journey together, I am going to share some of my tips and tricks for staying in shape, working out and taking care of your body.

There is nothing like getting a workout routine established, and feeling great and then finding yourself sidelined after an injury or not being properly prepared for the journey you can expect on your way to getting fit.

When you decide you are going to get in shape there is one thing that you should almost expect sore, tired muscles. They are often the calling card for a good, intense workout. 

Even though you can expect them, it doesn’t mean that they are going to feel good.  

Of course, you could grin and bear it and hope that you feel better soon, but pushing yourself and letting yourself recover is part of this process.  For most people, walking around smelling like Ben-Gay is not the ideal solution, I know it’s not for me. Plus, there is nothing like smelling like menthol and not feeling any relief.

Muscle soreness can make you so uncomfortable that you wish you didn’t work out at all, so it is not the ideal situation. So, there is something else that I am going to recommend instead, Arnica Cream, or Arnica Gel by @BoironUSA.  

I found out about this company last year at Blogalicious. I told Debbie about hurt my hip and she recommended that I try it. I went running earlier that day and I twisted my ankle which only seemed to make my hip hurt even more so I was ready to try anything that might spell even temporary relief. I put the Arnica gel on and the first thing I noticed, or should I say didn’t notice was the smell, there wasn’t any.  Having been used to smelling like menthol whenever I tried to give myself immediate relief, I loved the idea that I put this on and no one around me knew anything about it. 

The second thing I noticed was that after a few minutes, I really did feel better. The muscle soreness subsided and I felt 100% better.  

Over the last 10 months, arnica cream has become a staple in our household. I have used it over and over again and I have never been disappointed by the outcome. Even my husband, who is very skeptical of everything was amazed by how quickly it worked for him when he injured his hand. 

You want to make sure that you have the tools you need to combat muscle soreness because when you are working out you don’t want anything to break up your routine once you really get started so having a tool like this in your arsenal is really important.  

One additional benefit to using Arnica Gel, cream, or pills is that they are homeopathic. So you aren’t damaging your body, you are actually working with it and helping it heal itself.  I had almost forgot that it worked that way until my god mother broke her leg a few weeks ago, and she started using it in her healing regimen.  She started using arnica gel and arnica pills and she is recovering a lot fast, with a lot less discomfort than she had about 7 years ago when she broke her leg the last time.

So, if you plan on working out and getting in shape, or you have physically active members of your family think about adding some arnica gel to your medicine cabinet.