Full of motivation, you jumped into your training plan with both feet and gave your workout everything you’ve got.
But then on the next morning, when you try to get out of bed…OUCH!
Your muscles ache and are stiff, swollen, and tender. What you have is a bad case of delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS.
But where does the pain come from and what can you do to relieve it?
Aching muscles aren’t absolutely necessary to make progress. But for those new to sports or those starting a new training program, they are often unavoidable.
What is DOMS?
Delayed onset muscle soreness can be the result of hard training sessions and overworked muscles or new and unfamiliar movements. If you are performing new exercises or haven’t done them in a while, you are pretty sure to get sore muscles. Why?
Because your body hasn’t adjusted to the activity yet. The individual muscle fibers are not working together, so it can happen that certain fibers are doing all the work, while others are essentially taking a break. Since just a few fibers are carrying the load, they can quickly become overworked.
Basically, if your muscles are overworked, this can lead to muscle stiffness and tiny tears in the muscle fibers, called microtears. Even well-trained marathon runners will experience aches and pains after their first squash match. This comes as no surprise, given that they are not used to the movements.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE MUSCLES?
The reason you feel so fatigued is small micro-injuries to the muscles. These injuries increase the concentration of inflammatory markers in your blood, causing lymph to leak into the muscles through the tiny tears. This makes your muscles swell and lengthen – that’s when you feel DOMS.
Thus, what we think of as sore muscles are nothing other than the lengthening of the muscles, which we perceive as pain. Eccentric exercise (e.g. walking downhill, negative resistance training), plyometric training (like jumping) or fast sprints, with abrupt changes of direction, can lead to sore muscles.
HOW LONG WILL THE SORENESS LAST?
Generally, your muscles do not feel sore immediately after your workout, but a few hours later. Peak soreness is usually between 24 and 48 hours after your workout. But don’t worry, most of the time muscle pain goes away relatively quickly. The worst soreness should be gone within a week.
So, sore muscles are nothing other than tiny injuries to your muscles. But your body is clever: It rebuilds the damaged tissue and, in the process, increases your body’s level of performance. Provided that you give your body sufficient time to recover, of course.
YOUR MUSCLES WILL GET USED TO IT
Your body’s amazing system of muscles is a master of adaptation, capable of adjusting to the different demands placed upon it. Did your muscles ache after your first strength training session? The good news is that it will get better! If you do the same training within a certain interval, you will see and feel that your muscles ache less or not at all because your body has adapted to the training load.
Good to know:
As a rule, it takes two or three sessions to get used to a particular load. The reason you don’t get sore muscles is that your body is now at a higher level of performance than before the training stimulus.
PREVENTING MUSCLE PAIN: 3 HELPFUL TIPS
Sore muscles are very common among beginners, or after long periods of inactivity. There are a few tricks to help avoid sore muscles or prevent DOMS from developing in the first place:
- When beginning to train, start slowly and increase the intensity gradually. Warming up is absolutely essential to get your muscles ready for the upcoming workout. Plus, it helps you to avoid stiff muscles afterwards. But warming up not only prepares your muscles. Your cardiovascular system also shifts into high gear, and the coordination between your muscles and your nervous system improves. Thus, warming up essentially gets your body up to speed. This not only prevents sore muscles and injuries, but it also increases your performance.
- Also, if you are tired, you should avoid fast and explosive exercises. When you are fatigued, your coordination is impaired and your muscle fibers do not work together as smoothly as usual.
- Did you just finish a hard workout and are already worried about the muscle pain you will feel tomorrow? Cooling down reduces the risk of stiff muscles and helps you recover more quickly. But if you develop sore muscles anyway, don’t panic. As the saying goes: Rest is the best medicine to relieve muscle pain.
REMEDIES FOR MUSCLE SORENESS:
- moderate exercise (running, swimming, cycling)
- warm herbal baths, contrast baths and showers, sauna
- massage with stimulating lotions
- foam rolling
- and even some foods like beets, ginger, and tomato juice are good remedies for DOMS.
Take note:
If you are feeling discomfort that developed gradually, it’s probably just soreness. However, sharp, severe pain that happens suddenly could be a sign of an injury. If you have severe pain, postpone your next workout for one or two days. If the muscle pain lingers, consult a medical professional.
Train smart and don’t let sore muscles discourage you or get you off track!
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Source: Fitness - runtastic.com
