Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness aka DOMS

How many of you are jump-starting your fitness journey with us over the past few weeks? How many of you are curled in a ball, unable to get out of bed, or can’t walk up the stairs normally due to post-workout muscle soreness?

Our muscles contract and expand to create movement and to do that they need glucose and ATP (Adenosine triphosphate, a coenzyme that transports chemical energy within our cells for metabolism). ATP requires a lot of oxygen which is why our breathing becomes heavier and our heart rate increases during exercise. Without enough oxygen, excess lactic acid forms that cannot be converted into ATP. This acid builds up in the bloodstream which is what causes post-workout muscle soreness. The tiny tears in our muscles will help them grow larger and stronger as they heal, but the process can be a bit painful.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is a result of exercising too vigorously and not getting enough oxygen into our bloodstream during a workout. Many believe that post-workout muscle soreness is a valid and positive indicator of muscle growth and strength development and in many cases this is true. You have to break down muscle fibers to build more. Nutrients, amino acids, and the proteins we consume help repair rebuild and grow muscles post-workout and the resulting soreness from a good session usually means progress.

In any case, here’s why we should be more informed about Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness as it can cause:

• An impaired range of motion
• Decreased capacity to absorb shock
• Decreased anterior cruciate ligament elasticity, especially in women (the ligament at the front inside of the knee)
• Decrease in motivation due to discomfort (DOMS causes you to need longer rest periods which can throw off your work-out routine especially for newbies!)

As you can see, if you have DOMS, you should rest a bit before diving into your next workout routine and try a few remedies below for quick recovery!

Heat and Ice

Applying heat or ice on sore muscles can offer temporary relief at best, but it’s still better than nothing especially if a muscle is tight. Heat will help loosen bunched up muscles and help a bit with pain. If your pain is relieved better by cold especially when inflammation, redness, or damaged tissues are present, use it instead of heat.

To use heat or ice for sore muscles, merely apply a wrapped cold/hot pack to the area for 2 minutes at a time. Let the area rest for a few minutes before repeating. The critical thing to note with heat or cold treatment is to know what your injury is; otherwise, it can feel worse. Applying heat on inflammation is going to make the area swell up even more. Applying ice and a tight, cramped muscle will tighten it further so be sure to take care when using cryo or thermotherapy.

Hydrate

Keeping your body adequately hydrated before and after a workout will allow it to flush out excess lactic acid.  We provide complimentary bottled water, just ask whenever you need an extra bottle. This should go without saying, but proper hydration is one of your best defenses against post-workout muscle soreness. Try to drink half an ounce of water per pound of bodyweight if you can if you’re experiencing pain.

Train More Often

This one may sound counterproductive but training more can significantly reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness because your muscles adapt and become conditioned to harder training. If you’re already sore, doing a light concentric workout (exercises where you jump or lift) can significantly reduce DOMS. However, doing this once already sore won’t restore strength or muscle function, you need rest for that!

Increasing your training to 3 times a week and changing up your workouts every 3-6 weeks will improve muscle adaptability.

Pre-conditioning

Pre-conditioning is an excellent practice for preventing post-workout muscle soreness, to begin with. This includes typically warming up and stretching before diving into your exercise routine. It’s important to warm up the muscles that you will be training. For example, if you will be training biceps, it would be good to start with a very lightweight (20% of what you plan to use) to warm up with before going heavy.

Doing this will increase your body’s ability to adapt to its inflammatory response while also increasing sarcomeres, the basic unit of striated muscle tissue that reduces strain.

Whatever you do, don’t give up. This is the first of many steps in your fitness journey with us. Over time not only will you feel the difference you will also see the difference.