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WorkOut
by John-Aaroon
Sore Loser
How to prevent the pain that follows
exercise
Weightlifting.
It can bring the thrill of victory, and sometimes the
agony of sore feet (and legs, and arms, and chest...).
It’s usually called the Delayed Onset of Muscular
Soreness (DOMS). This soreness is what some of us feel
as you roll over to turn off the morning alarm after
a day in which you trained unusually hard, or tried
a new exercise, or just plain overdid it pretending
to be Hercules for an audience of cute local gym-bunnies
who wanted to see you flex! For some, there could be
no greater reward than to experience this sensation,
while for others (many others) this seems like a perfectly
logical reason to consider ceasing exercise all together.
However, what everyone should know is that there is
a way to prevent this type of muscle soreness.
What
Causes
Muscular Soreness?
First, let’s recognize that there are basically
two types of exercise-related muscle soreness. Immediate
muscle soreness quickly dissipates and is the pain you
feel during, or immediately after, exercise. Delayed
muscle soreness signals a natural adaptive process that
the body initiates following intense exercise. It manifests
itself 24 to 48 hours after your exercise session and
mysteriously and spontaneously decreases after about
72 hours.
Numerous
studies have been conducted to determine the cause of
delayed muscle soreness, and theories have been many
and controversial. The most current research attributes
DOMS to microscopic tears in the muscle and surrounding
connective tissue following eccentric exercise. Now
eccentric here doesn’t mean “like your weird
aunt Agnes”; it has a special meaning in exercise:
An eccentric movement is when the muscles lengthen to
control a specific resistance movement. For example,
while performing a biceps curl, the biceps muscle shortens
during the concentric (or lifting) phase of the movement,
and lengthens during the eccentric (or lowering) phase
of the movement.
Those
who experience DOMS include conditioned athletes who
increase the intensity, frequency, or duration of their
workouts, or participate in an activity that they are
unfamiliar with. Beginning exercisers, or those who
have undergone a significant lapse in their training,
also frequently experience soreness when starting a
new exercise program.
Studies
on the best methods to alleviate DOMS are almost as
abundant as the number of research studies conducted
to determine its cause. Cryotherapy (the topical application
of ice), massage, stretching, and the use of anti-inflammatory
drugs, among other less conventional approaches, have
been tested to determine if they can prevent DOMS or
are effective in treating it. To date, no therapy that
hastens the decrease of DOMS has been found; however,
some of the therapies previously mentioned may have
a minor impact if initiated immediately after intense
or unusual exercise.
What’s
the Good News?
The good news is that once you’ve induced Delayed
Onset of Muscular Soreness at a specific exercise intensity,
you shouldn’t experience that sensation again until
intensity is increased. This is because delayed muscular
soreness has been shown to produce a rapid adaptation
response, which basically means that the muscles adapt
to an exercise intensity. Until it is changed, soreness
won’t occur. This is the basis for the most widely
recommended approach to preventing DOMS: gradual progression
and conservative increases in intensity, frequency,
or duration. Preliminary light exercise may prevent
the onset of soreness following a heavy eccentric-exercise
workout. If you are a beginner, be sure to exercise
with light weights (don’t let your ego get in the
way) for at least two to four weeks. Then gradually
build from there. Already conditioned exercisers who
want to try a new workout or sport should also begin
gradually, taking care not to be overzealous. After
all, in the end you’ll find that you can still
get great results without the no pain, no gain credo
most of us have heard while growing up.
John-Aaron
is a nationally certified personal trainer, member of
the International Assoiation of Fitness Professionals,
and owner of Muscle Mechanics, a personal fitness training
and nutritional guidance facility. He can be reached
at
Musclemech@aol.com
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