Muscle soreness. We have probably all experienced it. There are some day’s that it’s just a ping here, pull there. And other days that you have to pull your legs out one, by one from bed. Then there are the days in which I have titled, “hit by a bus” days. Yes, those days. The ones that entitle you to sleep a lot, drink a lot of water, never fully extend a limb and crawl rather than walk. This week’s blog is going to look at muscle soreness!
So how do our muscles get sore? Generally speaking, muscle soreness occurs from exhaustion of the muscle itself, or from very high intensity exercise. Even more so when the exercise is new to you or the intensity has been up’d! Muscle soreness is typically felt during or immediately post exercise, and can be classified has ‘mild’. A more intense soreness then occurs a day or two later. We can classify muscle soreness into two different categories, acute and delayed-onset muscle soreness.
Acute Muscle Soreness
This is the pain felt during and immediately after exercise, occurring from an accumulation of end products of exercise. Accumulation can be anything from extra H+ to tissue edema. Edema is the cause of pump-up that you feel after exercise, which usually appears within a few minutes to several hours post.
Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness
Although there are several different theories about the soreness felt a day or two after heavy exercise, the true understanding is not yet known. Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS results from eccentric action and is associated with actual muscle disruption or damage. One proposed explanation of DOMS is from structural damage. It is believed that the increase in concentration of several specific enzymes in the blood after exercise causes the structural damage in muscle’s membranes. The enzymes can increase from 2-10x the normal level. As I said before, this is only a theory for DOMS. Many experts will agree that this kind of damage is responsible for localized muscle pain, tenderness, and swelling. Keep in mind that muscle damage is also associated in the increase in muscle size (hypertrophy).
Inflammatory reactions have also been linked to causing DOMS. White blood cells are the defenders against foreign material in the human body. These increase after exercise, which has lead researchers to believe that inflammatory reactions cause muscle soreness. I could get into a bunch of science lingo here but I’ll keep it simple. Armstrong in 1984 proposed that there was a sequence of events in the occurrence of DOMS. He believed that DOMS was associated with elevated enzymes, abnormal muscle anatomy (at the cellular level) and myoglobinemia (presence of myoglobin in the blood). Armstrong also believed that there was a sequence of events in DOMS (no, it’s not just lift heavy, get sore). First, high tension in muscle results in structural damage to the muscle and its cell membrane. Secondly, the cell membrane damage disturbs the calcium balance in the damaged area, which causes cell death within 48hrs post. Third, an accumulation in inflammatory reaction causes the free nerve endings in the muscle sell to stimulate.
Alright, now you might be thinking why am I explaining this so much… DOMS presents quiet an effect on performance. Regardless of the cause, muscle soreness affects the muscle, making it extremely difficult to apply maximal force. Muscle contractions are difficult to perform, and failure in excitation of the muscle is loss. Muscle glycogen resynthesis (the re-making of glucose on the muscle- energy for the muscle!) can be affected for up to 5 days post exercise. This delay in resynthesis will slow or stop in the cause of DOMS to allow for repair, causing a limit in the fuel-storage of the injured muscle.
You can a few things to prevent muscle soreness. It is critical to reduce DOM to maximize training gains. You can minimize the eccentric component earlier on in your training session. The eccentric contraction is when muscles are lengthening (ex. the down phase in a bicep curl). Also you can try training at a lower intensity and progress slowly for the first few weeks. Remember to always STRETCH!!!! I cannot stress this enough. Even if you are sore, stretching will help with recovery. Especially after a hard leg workout, or training you always want to at least do some type of cardiovascular activity- walk, elliptical, etc. nice and easy to get the blood flowing to help flush out the area undergoing recovery. I like to call this one ‘active’ recovery… my clients hate me for it but it works!
Still sore? Try an ice bath or contrast water bath. Research has shown that gentle massages also help to reduce the swelling and in alleviating DOMS by up to 30%. Although anti-inflammatory medication will not speed up the healing process they will help to relieve some of the pain present. RICE it! Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation! If you still need to exercise when being presented with DOMS, insure that you complete a thorough warm-up and cool-down. This might need to be doubles in time, and at a lesser intensity then you would regularly do. If you’re looking to build muscle, get set for DOMS… I get mad now when I am not sore for the a few days post training!
