DOMS Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness?
You may be wondering why you are so sore after a workout especially if you are new to exercise? You see the workouts we focus on are results driven but… In order to get results we have to give the body something that it is not used to which means that the training will be intense. When you increase the intensity or start exercising you get DOMS so your muscles are going to burn and you are going to be a little sore afterwards. Don’t be alarmed though, this is completely normal and everybody goes through it.
What is DOMS?
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise. The soreness if felt most strongly 24 to 72 hours after the exercise. It is thought to be caused by eccentric (lengthening) exercise which causes microtrauma to the muscle fibres. After such exercise the muscle adapts rapidly to prevent muscle damage and thereby soreness if the exercise is repeated. Delayed onset muscle soreness is one symptom of exercise induced muscle damage the other is acute muscle soreness which appears during and immediately after exercise – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
How do we deal with it?
5 simple steps to relieve DOMS
1. Take a cold shower head and shower your muscles down in particular the ones that ache.
2. Run a nice hot bath and if you can get some add some EPSOM salts. These contain magnesium which is AMAZING for recovery of SORE muscles. This works by the cold water forcing fresh blood into the muscle tissue, then the hot water will help circulate the fresh blood and flush the toxins out of the muscle.
3. Stretch the muscles out that are aching – ask your trainer to show you how to do this if you are unsure.
4. Then next most important thing you can do is to keep moving, the more you sit still the more they will ache, keep mobile, keep stretching
5. Be at your next session; you are probably thinking right now, there is NO way on earth I can contemplate exercising. The next session will make you feel better! The exercise will force fresh blood into the muscle, as does the method above, and flush toxins away in order to remove the soreness.
I hope this has helped you and made you feel like you are not the ONLY person going through this right now, You are not don’t worry it is completely normal and it wont last forever, in fact in a couple of weeks you may be begging to feel the same way and you’ll actually feel robbed when you don’t feel that way. Its what’s commonly described as a “good ache”
If you need further help with stretching or have any questions, then please do get in touch
Anita