DOMS: The Truth About Muscle Soreness & How To Recover Faster From Workouts
By admin
DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness, or as I refer to it, a literal pain in my butt.
It’s slow to creep up and just when I think I escaped the pain from a tough workout, I roll over in bed and feel it. With a few “ughs” I toss my arm over my body, grab the side of the mattress and pull my body up.
You’ve probably been there too, right?
Most of us fitness enthusiasts have a love/hate relationship with muscle soreness. We love it because it’s a reminder that we pushed our muscles in new ways (which leads to progress) but we hate it for the obvious reason: IT HURTS!
The past 4 week have been awesome for me in terms of workouts. I’ve tried new techniques, stuck to planned programs (instead of just wigging a workout) and my body can tell. Each of the weeks have been filled with at least a couple of days where I don’t want to sit on a toilet or pull of my sports bra.
Of course I do both, but it hasn’t been fun.
And as much as I appreciate my sore muscles as a sign that I have pushed new limits, is it necessary for gains?
No. In fact, sometimes I become angry at myself for allowing my body to become so sore. It’s a sign that I’ve often pushed too hard. And believe it or not, DOMS isn’t necessary for increases in strength or muscle definition.
What is DOMS?
That’s a funny question because as much as we know about the body, muscle soreness still isn’t completely clear to scientist. The exact cause and reaction is unknown.
We do know that it’s not a build of of lactic acid (it’s actually flushed out of the muscles very quickly post workout) and we know that it has something to do with damage and stress that exercise puts on the muscles. Some think it’s the result of tiny tears in the fibers (which causes muscle growth) but that isn’t 100% proven either.
A believer that DOMS is related to building muscle?
Well if that were the cases, workouts focused on high endurance like half marathons wouldn’t cause soreness since there is no muscle building reaction from long aerobic training. Myth busted.
Another fun fact, DOMS differs from person to person on the genetic level. Each of us handles the strain of exercise differently. Some get very sore, while other people may rarely experience a high level of muscle soreness no matter how long or hard they’ve been training. I wish I was the latter.
The only thing that we really know is this:
The Consequences Of Muscle Soreness
Think that it’s cool to get sore from every workout? As if you’re proving something to your workout program? It’s not. Sure, when you’re first getting started you’re going to be sore as your body is reminded how to move and handle stress.
This is why I always start new clients with body weight. Why should they do weighted squats when they haven’t worked out in months/years? I want them to be able to walk the following day.
Walking is just one concern, here are a few other pitfalls of DOMS:
- Decreased range of motion due to tightness and pain.
- Muscle inflammation
- Decreased strength: if you’re trying to increase strength but so sore you can’t workout for 3 days, are you progressing?
- Increased risk of injury: this is more so for women as they may have an increased tightness in ligaments making it harder to jump safely.
- Decreased motivation. If you hurt, do you want to workout?
Trust me, I am like everyone else. I love that feeling of rolling out of bed and knowing that my workout hit my body in ways it hasn’t been hit before. But what I don’t want is this: to have my workout program put on hold because I worked out TOO HARD.
There is a fine line.
A little soreness = awesome. Grabbing the wall to sit on the toilet = not awesome (though it happens).
What I really want is a body that can recover after 8 hours of sleep. But I guess that’s too much to ask for since muscle soreness can last up to 72 hours.
How To Recover Faster Between Workouts
Since a simple one night of sleep isn’t going to cause a full recovery, let’s cover a few other tricks that we can do to help alleviate muscle soreness and keep you (and me) on schedule.
- Massage: Studies show that massage performed soon after exercise can help alleviate muscle stress and increase recovery by increasing circulation (delivering oxygen and nutrient rich blood) to muscles.
- Ice Baths/Cryotherapy: It’s cold and not fun at all, but soaking in a cold tub for 10-20 minutes can help relieve muscle soreness and increase muscle recovery. Remember that time I stood in a -200 degree tank?
- Drink Cherry Juice: Cherry juice is very high in anti-inflammatory antioxidants and several studies have shown that drinking the juice on a regular basis can help ward off muscle soreness (or decrease it) and help overall exercise recovery. Other great anti-inflammatory foods include watermelon, ginger, fish, leafy dark greens, beets and turmeric are other great options.
- Sleep! Perhaps this should be #1. We don’t get results from a workout during a workout. We get them while are bodies are resting and recovering… and sleep is the most important. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night. And keep in consistent in terms of bed time and wake up time. Lack of sleep and stress can actually add to soreness, so get those zzz’s.
- Take a break. If you’re so sore that you don’t have proper range of motion, don’t go full out on your workout. Take a day (or two) off to allow recovery to take place. Instead. Go on multiple short walks, take a light yoga class, and avoid sitting for long periods of time. <— How ofter have you sat down and then gotten up and felt worst? Keep everything lose, with regularly, but light, movement. Listen to your body!
- And finally, hydrate. Even being slightly dehydrated can increase DOMS, this is an easy fix yet many of us have a hard time getting all of our water in each day. Carry a water bottle around and aim for around 3 liters. Avoid beverages high in sugar, salt and caffeine which can increase dehydration.
Interesting stuff, right? I love this kind of stuff, in fact I had a great time sitting reading study after study as I outlined this particular post. Hopefully you’ll find it as interesting as I do!
I will say this, I am lucky that I feel genetically I am a fast recoverer that most. With proper nutrition and sleep, my body heals pretty quickly. Knock on wood, it stays this way!
So tell me…
My friend Bonnie and I are distant fitness partners. Each week (starting 2 weeks ago) we take turns designing a challenge workout of the week. I was sore after completing our kettlebell workout last week! 35-lb lunge presses were killer!