Too Sore To Move? A
Breakdown of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
Alicia Covello NSCA-CPT
The
very first time I completed a true “leg day” workout, meaning I did many heavy
leg exercises in a single workout session, I experienced the worst soreness of
my life the next few days! It started
the next day and I could barely walk – standing up hurt, sitting down hurt,
moving around hurt. I was absolutely
miserable! This was in the very beginning of my exercise life, when I had next
to no knowledge about exercise. I was
lifting with some male friends who were acting as my trainers. I trained exactly how they trained, even
though they had been lifting for years and I had never lifted before.
Whether you
are a newcomer to exercising or have worked out for years, it is likely that
you have experienced some muscle soreness following a workout. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) can be
felt as early as 24 hours after exercise and usually dissipates within 2 – 3
days. Unfortunately, if the work out is
more taxing on your body, the soreness can last upwards of ten days (2). The good news is with proper exercise programming
heavy DOMS symptoms can be avoided!
Why
does exercise cause your body to be sore?
If
you are just starting to exercise, it is highly likely you will experience some
amount of soreness. Going from being relatively sedentary to working out a few times a week, whether that is walking, lifting
weights, running or participating in a group fitness class, you are increasing
your intensity and duration of exercise which can lead to DOMS.
There are
people within the lifting community who are under the misconception that a
training session must make you sore
if you want to improve. The phrase “No
pain, no gain” may ring a bell.
Thankfully, this is not the case.
A person can have muscular gains (also known as hypertrophy) without
being sore.
How can
DOMS be prevented?
Slow Progression – Allow
your muscles to adapt to a new exercise routine. I have my clients follow a 2 session
rule. If they can complete a workout set
at a certain weight with proper form and without feeling terribly sore for two
consecutive training sessions, I will increase their weights. While it is still possible develop DOMS with
a slow progression, severe DOMS is much less likely to develop.
Give your muscles some time to recover –
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you “allow the muscles
time to recover from work that produces soreness, and participating in the same
exercises on subsequent days should be done judiciously”(2)
Be Consistent – One of
the biggest challenges I see clients face is the initial start up of a new
exercise routine. If you take a few
weeks off of exercising completely, there is a much higher chance that you will
experience soreness when you return to your exercise program. Try to remain active whenever possible. If you do fall off the exercise wagon, be
sure to follow a slow progression when you return to exercising.
What
helps relieve muscle soreness?
At present, there is very
little evidence that treatments will quicken muscle recovery time. There are, however, a few temporary means of
relief:
Light Exercise - If DOMS is not too
severe, light exercising seems to relieve the soreness while exercising. There is very little evidence to suggest that
this decreases recovery time for the muscle.
Massage – Sore muscles may be tender to
the touch, but if the pain is not too severe, many people find relief through a
massage. While going to a professional
massage therapist is the best choice that is not always an option. Self Myofascial Release techniques, such as
foam rolling, may help in replacement of a professional.
Oral Pain Relief – To be
taken as instructed/prescribed. Consult
a physician before implementing.
Aerobic Exercise –
Cardiovascular exercise done as a warm up for 10 -20 minutes prior to lifting,
or as an active rest exercise in between sets of lifts, appears to be
beneficial in respect of reducing DOMS.
Caffeine – When
taken prior to exercise, 5 mg/kg of body weight (approximately 2 cups of coffee
for most people) of caffeine seems to decrease DOMS and lower the rate of
perceived exertion during exercise.
Branched-Chain Amino Acids – While the
evidence is still building, most studies are showing positive outcomes to
taking Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) before and after a bout of
exercise. BCAAs are essential nutrients
(meaning they cannot be produced in the body) taken from proteins in our food.
Ice/Cold Water – Ice
packs or short term cold water immersion have been shown to help with muscle
soreness. 3 – 10+ minutes of cold water
immersion have shown positive results in studies, however there are risks
associated with this mode of treatment.
At all points, a person’s tolerance to cold should be a deciding factor
in how long they remain in cold water.
Anyone who experiences peripheral vascular issues should discuss cold
water immersion with a physician before trying.
Myths
about DOMS
Lactic Acid – For
many years it was the belief that lactic acid was the main cause of DOMS. This is no longer the leading theory; instead
it is more likely that muscle damage a cause of DOMS. Lactic acid can be described as the burning
feeling within the muscles that you may experience at the end of a heavy set of
exercises or near the end of a cardiovascular exercise. Muscle damage is produced when a muscle is
lengthening. For example, during a bicep
curl, as you lower the weight and straighten your arm, you are lengthening your
bicep muscles (this action is known as the eccentric portion of your
exercise). This eccentric action may
cause DOMS if there is too much of an increase in intensity or duration of a
training session, but if you follow a slower progression DOMS can be avoided.
Stretching – For the
most part, stretching should only be performed after the body is at least
warmed up, preferably at the end of the workout. For some, stretching may provide very
temporary relief during and directly after the stretch, but there is little
evidence to suggest that stretching helps prevent or relieve DOMS.
Soreness
vs Pain
It should be noted that
muscular soreness and pain are two different concepts. The American College of Sport
Medicine
