MassageĪnother good way to get the blood flowing is with a gentle massage of your sore muscles. Although it won’t get rid of your DOMS, stretching will relieve some of the aches in your muscles and light exercise will help to get your blood flowing to ease some of the pain. If you are going to exercise, make sure you properly warm-up and cool-down with every workout. There’s no problem with getting back on the horse (no one wants to pause their fitness every time they get sore), as long as you ease your way back into it. There’s a difference between pushing through the pain and actually causing harm, so make sure you listen to your body. Rushing your recovery will get you nowhere. Here are some top tips to help get you through the pain: 1. Just because DOMS is a natural part of exercising and progression, it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing you can do to help ease the soreness. DOMS will cause your muscles to feel tight and achy, whereas an injury will feel like a sharp, stabbing pain. Training with sore muscles is fine as long as you’re careful with your workouts, however, you should avoid exercise if you’re dealing with something more serious like a tear or a sprain.Ī good way to tell the difference is by the type of pain you’re feeling in your muscles. If you’re thinking of getting back to the gym, it’s important to know whether you’re dealing with DOMS or injury. If you’re desperate to hit the weights again, there’s nothing stopping you, just remember to focus on areas that aren’t suffering from DOMS - rushing back in is only going to make things worse. Light stretches and yoga are another great way to ease your muscles back in without causing too much of a strain. Low-impact cardio like swimming is a fantastic way to gently ease your body back into exercise and means you don’t need to put a pause on your fitness. The NHS suggests that DOMS will typically last between 3 and 5 days, yet you’re likely to feel your muscles loosen up after the first couple of days.Īlthough training with DOMS pain may feel like the last thing you want to do, it can actually be good for your recovery. Add more rest days to your week to give your muscles the chance to recover, or if the pain continues, see your doctor or a physiotherapist. If you begin to feel pain right after exercise, it’s likely that you’re overtraining. The soreness will be more noticeable after 24 hours and will really peak after 48 hours - we’ve all suffered from the infamous second-day muscle pain.įeeling post-workout soreness immediately could be a sign of injury rather than DOMS. How long does DOMS last?Īfter a big gym session, you’re likely to feel the effects of DOMS as soon as 8 hours after your workout. If you stick to what you’re used to, you won’t suffer from DOMS too much, however, you won’t see as much progression to your fitness as you would by mixing up your routine. DOMS is more prevalent when you push yourself harder than you’re used to or when working your muscles in a different way than they’re used to - like a new workout. You may, however, find that sometimes you can workout without feeling sore and stiff. So essentially, the harder you train, the more tears you’ll cause, leading to more aches and ultimately more development. This is because when you exercise, you’re causing micro muscle tears, which your body will repair to build and strengthen your muscles. You’ve probably heard the old adage ‘no pain, no gain’. Believe it or not, it’s actually a good thing - the soreness is a sign that your fitness is progressing. Why we get DOMS?ĭOMS is a natural element of fitness that everyone experiences. How badly you’re affected by DOMS can vary based on how hard you’ve been exercising and your overall fitness levels. DOMS can range from that familiar satisfying ache in your muscles to a severe loss of strength and mobility. What is DOMS?ĭelayed Onset Muscle Stiffness, or DOMS, is the pain you feel after a tough workout. Yesterday you were a beast in the gym and today you’re struggling to put your shoes on - sounds like you’ve got a serious case of DOMS. Your arms are shakey and your legs are like jelly. Until you wake up and realise that everything hurts. You’re full of pride and motivation and are ready to get up tomorrow and push yourself even harder. You’ve pushed yourself to run an extra kilometre on the treadmill, upped your weights on your strength training and tried your hand at a new cardio workout.
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