You're starting an exercise routine. You head to the gym, jump onto the Hack Squat Machine, then hit a few sets with the Safety Squat Bar. The next morning you feel like you can barely walk... but don't feel discouraged.

The soreness you feel the day after working out is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS. When you work a muscle hard you cause damage to the muscle fibres, and the soreness you feel is from inflammation as the body repairs these small tears and builds new muscle.

A lot of people worry that this means that not getting DOMS is a sign that you didn’t work hard enough in the gym, but that’s not the case.

DOMS is usually only caused by a new stimulus that the muscle isn’t used to, such as when you start working out for the first time or when you try a new exercise that hits the muscle in a different way, but the body quickly adapts, and most people find that they stop getting DOMS as often after a few weeks of lifting.

Can I Work Out a Muscle With DOMS?

You shouldn’t perform heavy weightlifting if you have severe soreness in the working muscle as your form will suffer, potentially wasting your exercise session or worse, causing injuries.

That doesn’t mean that you must rest completely though. In fact, the best way to ease DOMS is to keep moving and perform some light exercise. Here are few ways to help soothe the soreness -

Yoga

The slow and deliberate stretching performed through Yoga makes it great for relieving DOMS. By working the muscle in this fashion you will increase blood flow and speed up recovery without causing further muscle damage. All you need is a mat and a Yoga Block and you can get started right away.

Foam Rolling

Foam Rollers are one of the most popular ways to deal with muscle soreness. By applying the roller to the target muscle, it massages it, increasing blood flow to help you recover faster.

Light Aerobic Exercise

Light aerobic exercises like jogging, speed rope, or rowing machines help get the heart pumping and send blood around the body - including to the sore muscles.

Warm Baths or Showers

Taking a warm bath or shower when you’re experiencing DOMS is one of the oldest ways to deal with exercise soreness. It will help to relax the muscles, easing the pain and speeding up recovery even more.

Stretching

By using Exercise Bands you can gently work the muscle without pushing it too hard, and the resistance curve means that more force is needed the further away you move the band, helping to stretch the muscle even more.

Ice Packs

The cold feeling of an ice pack helps to reduce the sensation of soreness from the muscle, and some research shows that applying an ice pack to a muscle soon after working out may help prevent DOMS from occurring at all.

If you’ve just started working out and are experiencing some bad DOMS right now then don’t worry. Just use the methods shown above and remember that consistency will make the DOMS much less noticeable after just a few sessions. Soon you’ll be well on your way to your fitness goals.

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Tags: Misc > Lifestyle