I recently took almost two full weeks off of the gym, which was difficult to do, but necessary for a few reasons. I had no idea how much my body would love me for just chilling out and letting it recuperate. Mmmm, laziness.
However, my rest period ended last Friday, and this weekend I got back into the swing almost completely. Um, ouch. I haven't been this sore in a long time. Which got me to thinking about DOMS, something that I think a lot of people know about very informally as "wow, my muscles feel like they are going to die two days after a tough workout.
DOMS stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, and basically says that your muscles will recuperate/repair themselves most effectively in the 24-72 hours after a strenuous workout, and that this is the time when most muscle growth occurs.
So why does this make a good blog topic? Because walking around your office like the tin man for three days after a big workout is not bueno. So I dug up some tips on how to alleviate the effects of DOMS. Check them out here or here.
Keep in mind that there's no magic bullet - you're still going to be sore. On a personal level, I find the best possible thing to do to alleviate the pain is to get the blood pumping through the area in any way possible. Stretch, light cardio, even just moving the limbs around all seems to help.
Also keep in mind that many people identify DOMS as the impetus for the "no pain, no gain" metaphor, and in this case, it makes tons of sense.
What do you do to relieve muscle soreness?? Share your tips!
