Delayed-onset muscle soreness or DOMS is a natural occurrence in the world of weight training. It’s that soreness you feel the day after you work out. You tend to feel it a little more when you are new to lifting weights, but it still occurs whether you’re a newbie or a veteran lifter.

In this article, I want to shed a little light on the subject like why it occurs and some common myths. But let’s start with a story first. It’s related, I promise. 🙂

It was a nice, cool morning. It was October I think, or maybe November. I had just finished training a couple clients and had a little break. I decided to head to the office, in the back of the gym, to do some work before my next client arrived.

There was a new trainer at the gym. Let’s call him Brad. He had just moved to town about a month ago. When I got to the office, I struck up a conversation with Brad to see how he had been doing with his clients.

He told me that he had just started working with this new female client. Her ultimate goal was to lose a little body fat. Before starting with Brad, she had been going to the gym 6 times per week. Needless to say, she was in decent shape.

Anyway, as we were talking he mentions that she wasn’t sore after their first workout. He said it in a state of shock. You see, Brad believed that soreness was an indicator of a good workout.

And he couldn’t believe the workout he put his client through didn’t make her sore. He went on to say that she stretched a lot, which was probably why.

Unfortunately, these are two of the biggest myths related to DOMS.

DOMS usually sets in about 24 hrs after your workout and can last over 72 hrs. Basically, this is an adaptive response by your body.

When you lift weights, it causes small tears in your muscles. This occurs more so from eccentric (muscle lengthening) contractions than concentric (muscle shortening). This, in turn, produces an inflammatory response to repair the damaged tissue.

That is why it can be painful to move or even touch your muscles after a workout. However, this repair process strengthens your muscles so they can withstand more stress and grow. Pretty cool, right?

The reason why soreness is not an indicator of a good workout is because you become better at handling stress as you lift weights more often. Your body adapts and you’re able to endure more muscle damage.

You will still get those small tears in the muscle, you just may not feel as sore. And that’s perfectly fine.

In our story above, Brad’s client had been training for 6 days a week consistently. Her body had adapted to the stress she was subjecting it to. That’s why she didn’t feel sore after the first workout.

I also mentioned stretching is commonly perceived to prevent DOMS. This was proven to be false a few years ago.

In 2011, two researchers looked at the evidence on the topic. Their objective was to determine what effect stretching had on DOMS if it was done pre or post exercise.

They looked at 12 studies, and found that stretching pre or post exercise reduced soreness by 1 point on a 100 point scale by day one, increased soreness by 1 point on the same 100 point scale on day two, and didn’t effect soreness by the third day. They concluded that stretching does not reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness.

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I hope that cleared up some confusion about muscle soreness. Muscle damage will occur if you lift weights. But remember, this happens so our muscles can grow, which gives our bodies shape and definition. The best way to reduce soreness is by lifting consistently. This will allow you to handle more training stress, decreasing the severity of DOMS.

References:

1. Connolly, D. et al. Treatment and prevention of delayed onset muscle soreness. J Strength Cond Res. 2003, 17(1), 197-208.

2. Henschke, N. Lin, C. Stretching before or after exercise does not reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness. Br J Sports Med. 2011, 45:1249-1250.

Photo Credit: http://www.livestrong.com/article/449573-the-treatment-for-delayed-onset-muscle-soreness/