The vigor you experienced during yesterday's workout is replaced this morning by achy, stiff muscles. This delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, is a source of athletic pride for some, but for others, it's a sign to take a vacation from exercise. Before determining a course of action, it is essential to differentiate DOMS from other kinds of muscle pain.
Causes of Muscle Soreness
It is not unusual for exercise to result in some form of muscle discomfort. Muscle soreness experienced as you exercise typically subsides once exercise ceases. With DOMS, however, muscle aches develop one to two days following your workout and begin to diminish by day three, according to the American Council on Exercise. Symptoms include loss of muscle strength, swelling, tenderness, stiffness and pain. Muscle strain, which is typically sustained during sudden movements, causes similar symptoms and is often characterized by bruising as well.
How DOMS Develops
Eccentric exercise, in which the muscles are lengthened through activities such as running downhill or resistance training, is thought to cause tiny tears in muscle tissue, say University of New Mexico professors Johndavid Maes and Len Kravitz in the article "Treating and Preventing DOMS." The resulting inflammatory response signals the body to produce metabolic waste products that chemically stimulate nerve endings. This causes the gradual development of pain and swelling that define DOMS.
Exercise and DOMS
Exercise will not cause further damage to muscles affected by DOMS, Mae and Kravitz say. Still, heading full force back into your workout routine while experiencing muscle aches, stiffness and swelling will not provide relief of symptoms and could serve to exacerbate them, according to Science Daily. Forgoing exercise until muscle pain subsides gives the body time to adapt to the intensity of new movements and may result in fewer episodes of DOMS.
Treatment
Treatment of DOMS focuses on easing the discomfort of symptoms through the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, and icing and massaging of the affected areas. None of these, however, have been shown to speed up recovery, according to the American Council on Exercise.
Prevention
Prevention of muscle soreness is easier to accomplish than symptom relief. Because DOMS is caused by sudden increases in exercise intensity, a gradual approach to exercise is in order. Performing light motions before plunging into a demanding eccentric workout may prevent the development of muscle soreness. This is why a runner takes plenty of time to stretch and warmup before hitting the track. The American Council on Exercise likewise cites a slow increase in the difficulty, length of time and frequency of exercise as effective in preventing DOMS.
Member Comments