If you feel the aftermath of a workout 2, 3 even 4 days after, this is totally normal, and you are not alone.
DELAYED ONSET MUSCLE SORENESS (DOMS) is the experience of muscle soreness post-workout, usually hitting 2-3 days after your training. For some it can be as early as the day after, lasting 2-5 days depending on your conditioning.
DOMS is a temporary sign of adaptation of your muscles. You know that to build muscle you create slight tears, the tears essentially ‘heal’ stronger, more formed. But it is usually the lesser-used muscles that feel it the most.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF DOMS?
- muscles that feel tender to the touch
- reduced range of motion due to soreness and stiffness when moving
- swelling in the affected muscles
- muscle fatigue
- short-term loss of muscle strength
Any high-intensity exercise can cause DOMS, but ‘eccentric exercise’ is often the main culprit.
What are ECCENTRIC EXERCISES?
Pull-ups, Push-ups, and Air Squats all have eccentric parts to them...
This is why something like MURPH is a workout that can leave you VERY sore for a few days!
Eccentric exercises are when our muscles lengthen under contraction; the downward movement in the pull-up, the upward motion of the push-up, and pretty much the full action of the air squat.
When you are so sore sitting down is a struggle your immediate thought is to avoid the gym and not move, but actually this is the worst thing you can do.
You really need to keep the muscles moving, in any way you can. Attending class and scaling back, stretching with some yoga and rolling will help ease you out of your DOMS misery!
The more conditioned you become and the more you keep moving the less frequent and severe your DOMS will be, but that’s not to say you will never experience them.
It’s all about learning how to move your body and how to listen to it
Comments