“DOMS” driving you crazy?
Coach Leslie during recent 5k race.
We've all been there after a race or tough workout when we feel the stiffness and pain of that hard effort. The official name is Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), also known as the marathon hobble or muscle fever.
As runners were most likely to experience it in the quads, hamstrings, and calves, but it could be anywhere in the body, depending on the exercise and effort. Most common from hard efforts, eccentric(braking) movements like running hard downhill, and doing too much too soon.
DOMS can start as soon as 6 hours after the effort and usually peaks around 48 hours. You'll feel stiffness and even inflammation during that time. The stiffness you're experiencing is from muscle damage and part of the healing process.
Paying attention to your body and the stiffness is important. The stiffness in your muscles acts as a protective measure against injury by limiting your ability to exercise. While you may be able to tolerate the pain for exercise, you won't be able to produce the same amount of force during DOMS.
What should I avoid during DOMS?
1. Training through the pain and inflammation.
2. Taking anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) as they can reduce muscle recovery time.
3. In the future, plan for gradual increase of intensity and volume because the best thing to do is avoid DOMS in the first place.
What to do:
1. Give your body time to recover and rebuild. You'll come back stronger!
2. Focus on easy active recovery, gentle massage, and using different muscle groups as tolerated.
3. Fuel your body. Hydrate and get an extra dose of protein in the evening before bed to help muscles recover. As we sleep natural human growth hormone is released by your body to remodel and heal tissues. If protein is readily available, it will aid HGH in doing its job and hasten your recover rate.
4. If it was post-goal race, enjoy the earned discomfort and your time to rest!
Watch more here! And here too. :)
Happy recovery,