It’s the muscle soreness that your feel the day or few days after your work out that is uncomfortable and keeps you from getting back into the gym. If you are a novice or have been out to the gym for a while, you’re more likely to suffer from DOMS and you’ll suffer it more intensely. And as you might have guessed, DOMS will diminish as you keep working out regularly. But, how do you alleviate DOMS in the mean time?
In the past, it was wrongly attributed to lactate buildup in the muscle from anaerobic activity. Now, it is believed that it’s the irritation of nociceptors (pain nerves) from inflammation caused by release of contents form micro tearing of muscle fibers. There are several ways to relieve DOMS but all of them have to do with providing adequate nutrients for repair to the muscle tissue and to lower the inflammation locally. Here are the best ways to do so:
- Pump some blood in and out of the muscle group you worked out the day before. Pumping that oxygen and nutrient rich blood into that muscle tissue will repair it faster and remove the compounds causing the irritation and inflammation. For example, if you had a killer leg work out today, do not rest your legs doing nothing. Ride your bike, go climb stairs, take a walk on the beach, or whatever you can to gently circulate blood thru that muscle.
- Massage or foam rolling is a pleasurable way of promoting circulation and lymphatic drainage to remove the inflammatory substances as well.
- Doing a cool down exercise will help flush out the deoxygenated and inflamed plasma from the muscle, which will help you recover faster and relieve DOMS. So do some cardio or anything that will raise your heart rate for a few minutes immediately after your intense resistance training session.
- Warm up and stretching during the work out will keep the muscle from tensing up, which can also lower the amount of microtears.
- Adequate sleep, hydration and nutrition go without saying. If you are not consuming the right amount of calories or type of micronutrients (Magnesium, postassium, anti-inflammatory & anti-oxidant rich food, i.e. veggies) or preventing restorative sleep or do not have enough tissue hydration, you’ll suffer DOMS more intensely and for a longer duration.
- Lastly, cheer up. Inflammation thrives when you are in negative mood (and vice-versa btw), so do what cheers you up.
