Tip of the Month --
February 2008
Muscles Feeling Sore?
What
It Is:
Exercise
induced muscle damage.
Ever had a
tough lifting day and the next day or maybe even a couple days later
felt extremely sore in your muscles?? There could be numerous
reasons for this.
Strenuous
exercise can induce what is termed “Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness” (DOMS),
which normally occurs 24-72 hours AFTER exercise and disappears
several days later. The pain can range from “mild discomfort” to
“debilitating pain.”
Why
It Happens:
As mentioned,
there could be numerous reasons you are having such pains. The
first and most common being that your body is not conditioned enough
and has not adapted to such training.
One method of
training that is known to produce the highest levels of DOMS is
eccentric muscle action.
Eccentric
Muscle Action: “muscle
lengthening” Action in which the proximal and distal muscle
attachments MOVE AWAY from each other. This is also the lowering
portion of a squat, bench press, and even bicep curl.
What
It Does:
It has been
shown that even a single session of intense eccentric exercise can
cause pronounced DOMS. This soreness is accompanied by:
- Reduced
dynamic strength
- Damage
to myofibrils
- Loss of
contractile protein
- Loss of
range of motion
- Damage
to connective tissues (Z – band)
- Damage
to other components of the SEC (series elastic component, the
workhorse of plyometric exercise)
Prevention
and Care:
Currently
there are no methods that have been shown to significantly speed the
recovery from DOMS.
Massage has
shown varied results depending on the type of massage. Some have
even tried ice baths/ice packs, extra stretching, ultrasound, and
electrical current modalities, most with minimal success.
Adaptation
to exercise is the best
possible way to prevent DOMS in the future. With longer periods of
eccentric exercises (3x a week for 8 weeks) it has been discovered
that post exercise soreness stopped occurring after just 2 weeks and
the ability to perform eccentrically increased 375%.
So
to generalize, don’t get frustrated with muscle soreness, especially
if you haven’t exercised much prior to starting training. Your body
will need to adapt.
·
It is helpful to
continue exercising even when soreness has occurred. Exercise will
increase the blood flow to those muscles which may reduce the length
of DOMS.
·
Keep stretching.
Stretching can break the cycle which goes from soreness to muscle
spasm to contraction/tightness.
·
If starting training
for the first time, take it easy for a couple days while your body
adapts.
·
Include proper warm
ups prior and cool downs post workout.
