Sore muscles and recovery
Muscles that ache a day or two after a hard or unfamiliar workout are normal, and the soreness fades on its own over several days. Time does most of the work, helped by lighter training while it lasts. Whole-body cold or far-infrared warmth can make recovery feel better, but the evidence that either speeds it up is thin, so we offer them for how they feel.
At a glance
- Who you’ll see
- Our team
- Where
- CREAMÉ, 350 Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah 1, Dubai
- What may help
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- Cryotherapy Whole-body cold
- Iyashi Dôme Infrared ritual
The short answer
For recovery after training or travel, two to three minutes of whole-body cold, or a session of infrared warmth. Wellness tools, offered as such.
What it is, and why it happens
The ache that arrives the day after a new class, a long downhill run or a heavier session than usual is delayed-onset muscle soreness. It starts some hours after the exercise, peaks one to three days later and can last several days. It follows effort your muscles aren't used to, especially movements in which they work while lengthening, such as lowering a weight, landing from jumps or running downhill. It isn't lactic acid, an idea that has been largely rejected; research points to small injuries in the muscle and, increasingly, in the connective tissue wrapped around it.
What helps is mostly time and sensible training. After a session that leaves you very sore, train lighter and shorter for a day or two, or work other parts of the body, so the sorest muscles can recover; moving gently eases the ache, though only for a while. Build up new activities and heavier loads gradually, over a week or two, which keeps the soreness, and the disruption to your training, smaller.
Soreness and injury feel different. Soreness is a dull ache and stiffness through muscles you worked hard, easing day by day. Pain that began suddenly during exercise, a joint that gave way, swelling or bruising, or pain that keeps getting worse points to a strain or a sprain, which needs a different plan, and sometimes a doctor.
What may help
Cryotherapy · Whole-body cold
Whole-body cryotherapy is two to three minutes of intense, dry cold at −80 to −90°C in a fully electric chamber, about fifteen minutes in all. People use it around training for how it feels, but the evidence that it speeds recovery is thin: a Cochrane review of four small trials, mostly in young men, found too little good research to say whether it eases soreness or helps people feel recovered. Some athletes use it daily around heavy training; for general wellbeing, one to three sessions a week, starting with a first block of five to ten. Pink, tingling skin for a few minutes is common; less often a headache, dizziness, shivering that lasts a while or a short rise in blood pressure, and rarely a cold burn, which is why your skin must be completely dry. A heart condition, high blood pressure that isn't well controlled, Raynaud's or a cold allergy, a fever or an infection, and pregnancy are among the reasons to skip it, and we ask about your health and blood pressure first.
Iyashi Dôme · Infrared ritual
The Iyashi Dôme is the warm alternative: thirty minutes of far-infrared heat, your head outside the whole time, building into a proper sweat, then a shower and a rest. It suits people who would rather recover with warmth than cold, after hard training or the heaviness of a long journey, but the research is limited: in a small study of ten active men, a far-infrared sauna session after training made no measurable difference to recovery from strength work and only a small one after a hard endurance session, though the researchers described the sauna as a comfortable, relaxing experience. Recovery programmes usually run two to three sessions a week over a month or two. Heavy sweating, thirst and feeling a little light-headed for a short while are common, so drink well before and after. It waits after a major injury or an operation in the past week, and it is not for pregnancy, a heart condition, blood pressure that runs low or isn't controlled, or after alcohol in the last 24 hours.
What to be careful with
Regular cold may cut into some training gains. Cold-water baths straight after strength sessions have blunted gains in strength and muscle in studies; in a small six-week study of a cryotherapy chamber twice a week after training, strength still improved, but jump power improved only in the group without it, a difference the authors called inconclusive. If a particular goal matters, such as power for your sport, plan the timing of sessions around your training.
A fresh injury is not soreness. In the first couple of days after a sprain or strain, keep away from heat, hot baths included, and from massage; the dome waits after a major injury. Pain that keeps getting worse is a reason to see a doctor, not to book another session.
What matters in Dubai
Training in Dubai's heat is harder work: endurance drops, and you sweat out more fluid. Getting used to it takes one to two weeks of regular exercise in the heat; start each session well hydrated and keep drinking, and in summer, train early, late or indoors.
The heat also shapes how you use cold and warmth. Before cryotherapy, cool down and dry off fully, since damp skin raises the risk of a cold burn; after the dome, drink steadily and give yourself time to cool before you go back out. If you are fasting in Ramadan, book either after iftar, so you can drink before and after.
When to see a doctor first
See a doctor rather than book a recovery session if pain began suddenly during exercise, if swelling or bruising is large or growing, if you can't put weight on a leg or walk more than a few steps, or if pain is severe, getting worse or not improving with care at home; most strains and sprains feel better within about two weeks. A crack heard at the time of the injury, a limb that looks out of shape, numbness or pins and needles, or skin that turns blue, grey or cold needs emergency care.
Muscle pain with dark, red or cola-coloured urine after very hard exercise can be rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle that needs prompt medical care: treated early, it is less likely to harm the kidneys. Unusual weakness after a workout is another sign. Chest pain, fainting or a heartbeat that feels irregular during exercise also need a doctor's check before more training, and before any session of cold or heat.
Questions people ask
How long does muscle soreness last?
Usually a few days. It is often worst one to three days after the exercise, then eases on its own. Soreness that keeps getting worse, or comes with swelling or dark urine, is a reason to see a doctor.
Should I train hard when I'm very sore?
Better not. Soreness can limit how far your joints move and change how your muscles share the work, which may raise the risk of injury if you go back to hard training too soon. Go back to full effort once it has eased.
Does stretching help sore muscles?
Not much, as far as studies show: a 2003 review of treatments for soreness after exercise found no effect from stretching, nor from ultrasound, electrical stimulation or the cold treatments studied at the time.
Muscle recovery: cold or warmth?
Neither has strong evidence, so choose by how it feels. In the one small trial that compared whole-body cold with far-infrared warmth, in nine trained runners, they were less sore an hour after the cold than after the warmth, but not a day or two later, and felt less tired the next day; the review that reported it rated the evidence very low.
Why do some workouts leave me sore and others don't?
Soreness follows what your muscles aren't used to: more weight, distance or speed than usual, a new class, or a lot of lowering, landing and downhill work. That is why it is most common when you go back to training after a break, or start something new.
Where can I go for muscle recovery in Jumeirah, and what does a session involve?
At CREAMÉ, 350 Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah 1, there are two options. Whole-body cryotherapy in the e-Arctic, a fully electric chamber: two to three minutes of dry cold at −80 to −90°C, about fifteen minutes in all. Or the Iyashi Dôme: thirty minutes of far-infrared warmth with your head outside, then a shower and a rest, about an hour in all. Before the first session we ask about your health and blood pressure, and both are offered for how they feel, not as a treatment.
Cryotherapy or an infrared sauna after a workout: when, and how often?
No timing has been shown to work better than another, so plan around your training. If strength or power is the goal, keep cold away from straight after strength sessions: cold after training has blunted some gains in studies, though in a small six-week trial of a cryotherapy chamber strength still improved. In a small study of far-infrared sauna after training, recovery from strength work was unchanged and recovery from a hard endurance session a little better. For general wellbeing, cryotherapy one to three times a week; recovery programmes in the dome usually run two to three sessions a week over a month or two.
When is muscle pain after exercise a reason to see a doctor?
When it is not ordinary soreness: pain that began suddenly during exercise, large or growing swelling or bruising, not being able to put weight on a leg, or pain that is severe or keeps getting worse. Muscle pain with dark, red or cola-coloured urine after very hard exercise needs prompt medical care, and so do chest pain, fainting or an irregular heartbeat during exercise. In those cases see a doctor instead of booking a session of cold or heat.
Related concerns
Sources
- Wilke J, Behringer M. Is “delayed onset muscle soreness” a false friend? The potential implication of the fascial connective tissue in post-exercise discomfort. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;22(17):9482.
- Cheung K, Hume P, Maxwell L. Delayed onset muscle soreness: treatment strategies and performance factors. Sports Med. 2003;33(2):145–164.
- Costello JT, Baker PR, Minett GM, et al. Whole-body cryotherapy (extreme cold air exposure) for preventing and treating muscle soreness after exercise in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;(9):CD010789.
- Haq A, Ribbans WJ, Hohenauer E, Baross AW. The effect of repetitive whole body cryotherapy treatment on adaptations to a strength and endurance training programme in physically active males. Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:834386.
- Mero A, Tornberg J, Mäntykoski M, Puurtinen R. Effects of far-infrared sauna bathing on recovery from strength and endurance training sessions in men. SpringerPlus. 2015;4:321.
- Racinais S, Alonso JM, Coutts AJ, et al. Consensus recommendations on training and competing in the heat. Br J Sports Med. 2015;49(18):1164–1173.
- NHS. Sprains and strains. Health A to Z, nhs.uk. Reviewed April 2024.
- MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine. Rhabdomyolysis. Reviewed September 2025.
Updated 28 October 2026