When you are dealing with a pulled muscle or muscle strain, rest can be your best friend because it gives your torn muscles the adequate time they need to heal. It may be difficult to do this, especially if your occupation requires you to use the muscles that you have already strained. If at all possible, during your rest, you should use compression, elevation, and topical analgesics, to help alleviate the pain from muscle strain. Athletes have a particular problem allowing proper rest to heal their muscle strain. As an athlete, there is a demand to keep training so that you are at your top level of performance. However, taking a few days off from your normal exercise routine will do wonders for healing a strained muscle. If you feel as if you have to continue your training, consider training/exercising for shorter amounts of time or distance than what you did before hurting your muscle. Resting muscles takes patience and discipline, but is one of (if not the primary) treatment option for a muscle strain.