Good Muscle Soreness
If you are a regular exerciser and on the day after a
harder workout, you never feel soreness in your muscles, you will
not improve your fitness level as much as you could. Take a tip
from competitive athletes who train by taking a hard workout,
feeling sore on the next day and then take easy workouts until the
soreness goes away in a day or two.
The good soreness that makes you stronger is called
DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) and is caused by
microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. It is not caused by lactic
acid buildup. When muscles are damaged, they produce healing
prostaglandins that cause muscles to become bigger and stronger
than before they were exercised vigorously. Researchers have
shown that DOMS heals faster when you do nothing, but if you
take off every time your muscles feel sore, you will never become
an athlete and you will not reach a high level of fitness. When you
exert very slight pressure on your muscles when you have DOMS,
you cause muscle fibers to become more fibrous and they will
become stronger so they can withstand greater stress during your
harder workouts. Never try to put a lot of pressure on your
muscles when they feel sore. That will markedly increase your
chances of injuring yourself.
It is relatively easy to tell the difference between DOMS
and an impending injury. DOMS is usually symmetrical, involving
muscles equally on both sides of your body. An injury is more
likely to cause pain that is only on one side. DOMS does not feel
worse as you exercise at light intensity. An injury worsens with
continued use of the injured part. Stop exercising when you have
an injury.
When your muscles feel sore from exercising, take the
day off or exercise with very light resistance, such as running or
cycling very slowly, or lifting extremely light weights. Try
stretching gently to help restore flexibility. Deep massage may
help you to heal faster and toughen your muscles.
Checked 9/29/08