https://youtu.be/WTQK-U9HleU
DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) is part of the training package: sometimes you can feel like you’ve been hit by a car the morning after leg day. Soreness is neither a good or bad thing: if you’re not sore after training it doesn’t mean you didn’t work hard enough. If you’ve been studying, but haven’t got a headache yet, it doesn’t mean you’re not studying well enough.
'Hmm, no headache. Mustn't have studied hard enough yet.'
The mechanism of DOMS is multifactorial: associated with increased serum creatine kinase activity, acute inflammation and cellular calcium efflux, outlined here by Brad Schoenfeld:
"Forces associated with muscular contractions, particularly eccentric actions, cause the formation of small micro-tears in both the contractile elements and surface membrane (sarcolemma) of working muscle fibers.
These micro-tears allow calcium to escape from the muscles, disrupting their intracellular balance and causing further injury to the fibers.
Various proteins then interact with the free nerve endings surrounding the damaged fibers, resulting in localized pain and stiffness. Symptoms can be exacerbated by swelling within muscle fibers, which exerts pressure on sensory receptors (nociceptors) and thereby increases the sensation of pain (6)."It is suggested that there could be a metabolic, neural and even renal component to DOMS. Anyway…it hurts. We all want a remedy for sore thighs after squats..
So here are the 10 best hacks to recover from DOMS, with a healthy serving of myth debunking:
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1) ‘Active recovery’ Session
I first read about this from Chad Waterbury: his recommendation is to pick 20% of your max and do 2 sets of 40-50 reps for partial mid range reps. For example, if you have sore legs do 40-50 bodyweight squats without locking out. The goal is not to create a training effect but to flush blood through the affected muscles. I’ve tried this, and it makes a big difference, especially with some carbs added.
2) Get your post-workout shake in.
Protein is the big one, and timing does appear to make a difference when it comes to DOMS. If you're fancy, you can throw in some glutamine and BCAA too, with a number of other benefits. I use MP Exceed as it has added beta alanine and citrulline malate, extra goodies.
3) Stay Hydrated
We don't need to convince you of the benefits of water, although surprisingly it doesn't appear to have an effect on DOMS.
4) Walking
Similar to (1), walking is a good way to flush blood into the muscle. Do it fasted to get a fat loss kick too.
5) Caffeine:
Caffeine, taken the day after training has been shown to improve force output of sore muscles in addition to attenuating soreness.
6) Contrast baths/showers
A common theme here so far is blood flow to transport nutrients to the muscle and clear metabolites. The rationale behind contrast heat and cold is to induce alternating vasodilation/vasoconstriction of the blood vessels at the affected area. Unfortunately, this is a myth and has been observed to actually increase DOMS in a controlled trial.
7) Train again
Often if you have a few days off, then have a heavy session, you can be more sore than normal. Paradoxically when we are doing any high frequency training (training between 6 and 10 times per week) soreness disappears (repeated bout effect).
Try it: you’ll find you can handle more volume than you think. While the muscle will mostly recover within 48 hours, soreness can linger for longer. After 48 hours your performance should be back up to, or beyond what it was - even if it still hurts a little. Don’t believe the nonsense about ‘not training on a sore muscle’. You can handle it.
The options are:- Train the sore muscle groups the following day in your active recovery session (tip 1).- Increase your overall training volume and frequency with a submax...
