NEXT-DAY MUSCLE SORENESS? IT’S PART OF RECOVERY
The weather may have prompted you to start running or you may be considering returning to the gym.
You might expect to feel out of shape, and you probably gird yourself for the sore muscles you’ll have after that first real workout.
Is that soreness an indicator of damage or of growth? And should you rest or keep moving?
The muscle soreness that emerges the day after a workout is called delayedonset muscle soreness — or DOMS — by exercise scientists. “DOMS is a normal process of muscle adaptation to some unfamiliar movement,” says Heather Vincent, a sports medicine specialist and the director of the University of Florida’s Health Sports Performance Center.
Pain and tenderness in the overworked muscles generally peak between 24 and 72 hours after the activity. It’s a drawn-out series of physiological events in and around the muscle.
DOMS occurs with a particular type of movement — one that loads your muscles while they are long or lengthening. These are called eccentric movements, Vincent says, “such as lowering a weight from a biceps curl or lowering into a squat.” In contrast, DOMS generally doesn’t occur with isometric (when the muscle doesn’t change length) or concentric (when the muscle shortens) movement.
When your muscles are not accustomed to the movement — or the weight or endurance of the movement — your muscle fibers undergo mechanical stress and small breaks occur in their membranes.
Keith Baar, professor of physiology and membrane biology at the University of California Davis, explains that muscles are made up of muscle fibers connected to each other by proteins called dystrophyns, which function like rivets. When the muscle is accustomed to work, the rivets help the individual muscle fibers work as a well-choreographed team to move the body.
Without training, however, Baar says, these connections are weak. The rivets pull at the membranes, making tiny tears. This causes a number of chemical events in the muscle, including contractions, an inf lux of immune cells, and swelling and pressure buildup.
It’s normal, Vincent says. The repair process not only fixes the tears but also helps the muscle to strengthen for the future.
“The inflammation is necessary to help you regenerate the injured muscle,” Baar says. “When you’re starting a new exercise program, you may have more painful days.”
In addition, older people’s muscles tend to undergo more damage than younger people. So as you age, Baar says, “You’re more likely to get sore with exercise and the resulting DOMS is more extended.”
To prevent soreness, people should work up slowly to the activity they want to do. In the gym, you might start with body weight before you start adding external weights.
Once you’ve triggered DOMS, however, Baar encourages you to rest while the process plays out. “Take the time to recover,” he says. This is not a time for the “no pain, no gain” mantra.
What about relief, as with ice or over-the-counter pain relievers? Either treatment may lessen your discomfort, but they’re not advised. That’s because of the dual nature of delayedonset muscle soreness — it’s both a process of repair and of building strength. “If you block DOMS, the muscle doesn’t grow as much,” Baar says.
An exception can be made for athletes who are scheduled to compete on a day they’re experiencing muscle soreness. That’s because in addition to causing discomfort and pain, DOMS interferes with athletic performance. The athlete may give preference to the day’s performance rather than to her long-term gain in strength.
Of foam rolling, Vincent says, “It sounds gimmicky, but it does work for some people.” She speculates that massaging the muscles may improve blood flow and help move excess fluid out. “And there don’t appear to be downsides, unlike ibuprofen.”
The main thing to know, Vincent says, is that muscle soreness is not in itself a bad thing. “Everyone, even elite athletes, can experience DOMS,” she says.