One of the most unpleasant aspects of working out is the soreness you get after a challenging workout. The official name for this type of soreness is delayed-onset muscle soreness or DOMs. These sore muscles typically occur when you first work out or after doing a workout that’s harder than your body usually does. Although muscle soreness is a downside to strength training, sore muscles are a sign you’re working your muscles hard or in novel ways, and that can lead to muscle hypertrophy and strength gains.
For example, you might get DOMs after you increase the amount of weight you lift or perform exercises you haven’t done before. The next day, or sometimes a day or two later, you experience muscle stiffness and soreness. The discomfort of DOMs can last for up to 5 days and can make certain movements a challenge. Fortunately, the discomfort gets better the more you move around, so delayed onset muscle soreness doesn’t mean you should limit your activities.
The Conventional Approach to Treating Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness
Is there anything you can do about DOMs? Some people pop non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAID) to reduce the inflammation and pain that goes along with it. These over-the-counter medications help temporarily by blocking prostaglandins that elicit pain, but there are drawbacks to that approach.
What are these drawbacks? NSAIDs are hard on your kidneys, especially if you don’t drink enough fluid, and they’re tough on your gut too. Studies also link the long-term use of NSAIDs with a greater risk of heart attack and stroke. Besides, there’s some evidence that NSAIDs interfere with positive training adaptations to exercise. So, you may reduce the benefits you get if you take NSAIDs after a workout.
You can also apply heat to your sore muscles to ease the stiffness and discomfort of after-workout soreness. However, research shows there’s a better way to treat those stiff, achy muscles, and the answer may surprise you. It’s exercise! Yes, movement is your best “medicine” if your muscles feel stiff a few days after a grueling workout based on a study published in Sports Medicine. Not only does movement provide a distraction from the discomfort, but by increasing blood flow, may also help clear muscle breakdown products that can worsen the pain and stiffness.
How to Exercise Properly with Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness
What type of movement is best? If you’re stiff and sore after a workout, it’s not a good time to push yourself hard. A better idea is to modify how you train, but not sit on the couch. When you have mild-to-moderate DOMs and you still want to train, lighten up on the weights and let pain be your guide for how hard to push. If a movement causes discomfort or worsens the pain, don’t do it. If you’re careful with how you train, you’ll discover movement makes your muscles feel better.
Train Smart and Be Sure to Warm Up
If you have DOMs, be smart with how you train, and don’t forget the warm-up! Sore muscles need more warm-up time. Start with 5 to 10 minutes of dynamic exercise, like light jogging in place, leg kicks, and arm punches to get the blood flowing. Light exercise like this should improve the soreness. If it doesn’t, exercising without weights might be the best option. Rather than lift, do gentle stretches or a relaxing yoga workout to help lengthen your sore muscles and reduce muscle stiffness. If you only have lower body soreness or upper body soreness, you can work only your upper or lower body until the soreness improves. With lower body soreness, you can work your upper body without limitations.
If you have severe DOMs, skip the lifting entirely and stick to gentler movements, like stretching and yoga. Light cardio, leisurely cycling, swimming, or a leisurely walk may be a better option until you’ve improved. When your muscles are sore and fatigued, intense strength training or high-intensity cardio isn’t the best choice.
Other Ways to Deal with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Although there’s no cure for after-workout soreness, other than time, light foam rolling with a foam roller, and massage, all of which may offer short-term relief by increasing blood flow relaxing tight, achy muscles. There are also claims, and small studies, suggesting that certain anti-inflammatory foods may be beneficial for reducing muscle soreness. Some of these include beetroot juice, fatty fish (because of the omega-3s), caffeine, green tea, ginger, chocolate milk, and ginger. However, the benefits will be modest.
The best approach is to lighten up on your workouts, stretch, apply heat, and foam roll or massage as needed. Listen to your body and adapt your movements to how they make your muscles feel. If they make the soreness worse, stop and rest until the achiness improves. The discomfort usually diminishes after a few days and you’ll be ready to gear up the intensity of your workouts again.
The Bottom Line
Delayed onset muscle soreness is an inconvenience, but it’s self-limited and will usually resolve in 5 days or less. If it persists longer than a week, see your doctor and make sure you don’t have an overuse injury or other health issue that’s causing the discomfort to persist.
References:
- Harvard Health Publishing. “FDA strengthens warning that NSAIDs increase heart attack and stroke risk”
- Cheung, Karoline, Patria A. Hume, and Linda Maxwell. “Delayed onset muscle soreness.” Sports Medicine 33.2 (2003): 145-164.
- J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2010; 7: 17. Published online 2010 May 7. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-7-17.
- Greatist.com. “The Best and Worst Foods for Sore Muscles”
- Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Volume 81, Issue 7, P966-972, July 01, 2000.
- HopkinsMedicine.org. “’Good Pain’ Versus ‘Bad Pain’ for Athletes”
- WebMD.com. “Sore Muscles? Don’t Stop Exercising”
- Zimmerman, K.; Leidl, K.; Kashka, C. et al. “Central Projection of Pain Arising from Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) in Human Subjects.” PLoS One. 2012; 7(10):e47230. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047230.
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What Works and Doesn’t Work for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
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