Working out with DOMS

S

sarahg

Member
When you discover, on a given day, that you are suffering from quite intense delayed-onset muscle soreness, what do you do in terms of your planned workout rotation? Do you press on regardless, working out despite the pain? Do you modify the workout? (And then what happens to your planned rotation?!) Do you do something non-weights-based like cardio or yoga? Or what?

And what if your DOMS last a good 3 days?!

How do you determine whether or not to do a full workout (or as full as possible given the DOMS)?

What is the solution? I am rethinking my "complete rest until the DOMS have gone" policy, because it can mean so many missed workouts. I'd would appreciate your input.
 
If it's "intense" DOMS, I'd give the body parts that are suffering a bit of a break by either working different body parts, or doing a mild-to-moderate workout for the area. Usually moving is better than not for recovery, so anything from a yoga/stretch workout, to a walk (if it's lower-body DOMS), to a moderate cardio workout.

"Intense" DOMS can be a sign that your body has not recovered from the workout, and that you did too much, too soon. It might be better to back off a bit, so that you can workout again sooner.
 
The best remedy for DOMS is working out. It's best to try and avoid lifting heavy with the muscle group that is affected most, but getting the body moving and getting heat into the sore muscles will help a ton. But boy oh boy do those first 5 mins or so burn!! Especially when the DOMS is in your legs and even the warm up is like...ouch. I do love it tho :)
 
I agree with the others. It took me years to figure out that I was better off moving than totally resting my muscles. I go for low impact cardio when I have DOMS and then a long stretch. This has reduced the pain more than anything else for me. Good luck!
 
bpurcell said:
I agree with the others. It took me years to figure out that I was better off moving than totally resting my muscles. I go for low impact cardio when I have DOMS and then a long stretch. This has reduced the pain more than anything else for me. Good luck!
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Ditto to that, bpurcell! Low impact cardio is my best medicine against doms:they won't disappear but will surely become much more bearable :)
 
I assume we're talking about "low impact cardio" as in the "old days"; before "low impact" came with "high intensty" for us Cathletes, right???!!!??

I agree with the previous posters; I wouldn't recommend doing heavy weights OR high intensity for muscle groups with DOMS.
 
Sore Muscles After Exercise: Should You Keep Working Out?

Hi sarahg! We are actually going to feature the topic of DOMS in a couple of weeks in our newsletter so be sure to check it out. But to give you an answer right now, YES, you should still workout when you have DOMS. But it’s important to know what types of workouts/exercises you should focus on when you have DOMS.

DOMS only affects the muscle groups you used, so you can still work other muscle groups until the sore ones recover. Another option is to swim or take a brisk walk for a low-impact workout. Workouts that emphasize stretching such as Pilates and yoga are good options when your muscles are sore from overuse. While its been shown that stretching doesn’t reduce your recovery time from DOMS it does help keep you active which in turn helps to reduce stiffness.

I believe doing a modified workout is usually better than doing nothing at all, again, because moving around reduces the stiffness. As long as you don't overdo your workout or do heavy weighted workouts with the DOMS related muscle groups, you're not going to aggravate the soreness. Once you finished your workout, massage the muscles you just worked to help reduce the pain and discomfort. Cold packs (brrrr) and stretching may also help increase blood flow to the muscles and reduce inflammation.

While you’re waiting for our Nov 21st newsletter we currently have a lot of articles in our Blog on DOMS that should answer a lot of your questions and could even help you recover more quickly.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness - Causes, Effects and Prevention

Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS: What Causes It and Can It Be Prevented?

3 Foods That May Help to Prevent Muscle Soreness After Exercise

Take care!
 
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