DOMS Explained

This week see’s our first recommended time trial in the suggested training week as we look to work a little more on speed for the summer months. A few of you might experience DOMS after this or if you have just started on the Blizard Run Club strength and conditioning platform.

All the exercises that we do in the classes are based around our running action and are specifically designed to improve you as a runner.

We all do plenty of running so why are your legs sore?

What is DOMS?

DOMS is characterized by local soreness, reduced muscle function and reduced range of movement. The symptoms usually start around 24 hours after exercises, and can last anywhere up to five days, peaking around 72 hours after exercise. Your symptoms will be worse if you’re a novice, or trying something new but the good news is that they will reduce the more trained you become.

What causes DOMS?

DOMS is more likely to occur after unfamiliar exercise, (like the class on Friday night) or big increases to your training program. This is due to an increase in exercise-induced muscle damage. However, contrary to popular belief, the sorer your muscles are does not mean the more muscle damage you have done.

Dealing with DOMS

There are many strategies that have been developed to help alleviate DOMS, including eating more protein, massage, cyrotherapy and compression garments to name just a few. However, these are only helpful in reducing the symptoms and there is no way of significantly reducing the pain without going back and changing the exercise done in the first place! The most effective way of dealing with DOMS is adaption – simply the more of these exercises you do, the more your body will adapt. This is called repeated bout effect (RBE) and means that, following tissue damage, an adaptive process takes place, leaving the muscles stronger and more resistant to damage during future exercise sessions.

Should I run through it?

DOMS is sometimes unavoidable, however avoiding sudden increases in speedwork or long duration exercise will help prevent excessive soreness until the body begins to adapt. Rest and adaption over time are the most effective methods for reducing DOMS in subsequent training sessions. If your muscles are excessively sore, it may be best to ease back into it full training with an easy run or two once some of your symptoms have been alleviated.

The short answer to all the above is that DOMS is not a dirty word and maybe is our body`s way of showing us that we may need to work on other areas of our training if we want to improve.