I was going to talk about Adaptation, Accommodation, The SAID Principle, The Overload Principle and the Rest Principle. However I am going to talk about the DOMS Fairy. This Fairy is aggrieve!!! FYI you can set PR’s after being ...
I was going to talk about Adaptation, Accommodation, The SAID Principle, The Overload Principle and the Rest Principle. However I am going to talk about the DOMS Fairy. This Fairy is aggrieve!!! FYI you can set PR’s after being visited by the DOM’s Fairy… Don’t be scared!
DOMS is delayed onset muscle soreness. DOMS is the biological phenomenon (AKA: DOMS Fairy) that causes extreme pain, soreness, and stiffness that occurs in athletes muscles 12 to 72 hours after exercise. The pain and soreness will slowly go away and can take as long as a week to completely go away if the exercise was extremely intense. DOMS mostly occurs when an athlete begins a new exercise program, changes their exercise routine, and/or drastically increases the duration or intensity of their training. The pain can be unbearable and sadly it’s a completely natural response for the body’s adaptation process. As the body adapts through recovery and sometimes a painful recovery, the muscles gain strength and stamina caused by muscle hypertrophy, which is the enlargement of muscle tissue due to the increase size of the cells. You should always take precautions before, during, and after training that will help you recover from a hard training day. By implementing these recovery elements, it’s very likely that your recovery will be quicker and a lot less painful.
Top 10 Ways to Reduce the Pain and to Speed Up the Recovery from DOMS:
Before Training
1.) Nutrition – A great diet is absolutely essential. The guilty and quantity of food you put in your body before training is your fuel during the workout. Eat healthy, well-rounded meals for at least a few days before increasing the intensity of your training or starting a new program. Make sure it’s high in protein, high in fat and some complex carbs. Cut out all alcohol, sweets and processed foods.
2.) Hydration – It goes without saying that staying hydrated is the“KEY” to training! It is essential for an athletes health, but in the since of DOMS it is essential for muscle function and reducing soreness. Make sure you are fully hydrated a week or 2 before increasing intensity or duration and/or starting a new training program.
During Training
3.) Warm Up – Don’t go straight into working out. Heading straight into your workouts will make you more susceptible to injury and will increase soreness post-workout. You should start with a will rounded warm up program which will get your body warm to increse performance and recovery. Monostructural exercises like running or jump rope are great ways to start your warm up and get your blood flowing. You also want to ease into intense training.
4.) Regulation – Don’t go overboard!!! This is the biggest cause of DOMS. It’s important that you challenge your limits, but you have to know your limits. This is where having a log is key. Gradual progression (AKA baby steps) will get you further in the long run and help to prevent DOMS but you need to know what you did last time. Also if you got super sore from 50 deadlifts at 315lbs you might not want to do 275lbs for 100 reps. Unless this data is in your log book you would not know.
5.) Cool Down – Is a most!!! Ways to cool down include light cardiovascular exercise, rolling out, distraction and static stretching. These cool down techniques will progressively lower body temperature, helping to flush the body and help increase range of motion in muscles and joints. All these techniques will help to reduce DOMS.
After Training
6.) Nutrition – Within 0 to 30 minutes you need a post workout shake. With in one hour of your workout, it is crucial to eat to get out of a catabolic environment and to get back into an anabolic environment. This will increase recovery rate and performance. In your post workout shake immediately after a workout you want to have an abundance of complex carbs and protein. “Also, studies have suggested that the anti-inflamma