A robust workout has you a little sore—or a lot! It doesn't have to stop you in your tracks, though. Use these 3 tips to recover faster and stay on track.
DOMS: The dreaded four-letter word (well, technically it's an acronym, for "delayed-onset muscle soreness) that many a gym goers have a love/hate relationship with. We love it because it's a not-so-gentle reminder that we killed it in the gym. We hate it because it hurts to sit, stand, lay down, or sometimes even breathe.
First and foremost, it's important to understand that not all soreness is bad. Think of it as your body letting you know it's currently going through a repair process—and yes, the end result is bigger, stronger muscles. In order to see change within your muscles, you need to disrupt their structure. Unfamiliar or high-intensity exercise causes small microscopic tears within the muscle fibers, which creates a stimulus for muscle growth and repair. In other words, it is definitely part of the transformation process.
For this reason, many people find DOMS to be gratifying—to a point. For others, it can be enough to keep them out of the gym and off their routine. This is exactly what we don't want to happen to you! Expect to experience some soreness when you start any new program, especially during the first couple of weeks while your body is becoming adapted to the training intensity and volume. After that, it will get better. Until then, make the best of a painful situation with these research-backed tips to speed up recovery!
Don't Skip the Warm-Up: Before you even think about picking up the weights, give your body a chance to loosen up. Even something as simple as walking or cycling for 10 minutes before you start your workout can significantly reduce perceived soreness in the days following your workout.
Dynamic stretching is another great option to incorporate into your pre-workout routine. This form of stretching, which requires you to move as you stretch, helps to activate the muscles you will use during your workouts, while improving range of motion, balance, and coordination
There are dozens of great dynamic warm-up moves you can mix and match. I also strongly encourage you to incorporate warm-up sets before each of your major lifts. Rather than jumping straight into your first working set, start with a few sets using lighter weights, and gradually work up to your first working set. This allows your joints to work through a full range of motion while also increasing blood flood and nutrient delivery to the working muscle groups.
Warm-ups sets also help to prime your nervous system so that the appropriate muscle fibers are firing. Just make sure you aren't taking your warm-up sets to failure.
Example warm-up set for squats:
1 set 10 reps at 50% of your working weight
1 set of 8 reps at 65% of your working weight
1 set of 4-6 reps at 80% of your working weight
Note!! I don't suggest you do static stretching during your warm-up. Research has shown that including static stretching, in which you hold a specific stretch for a period of 10-30 seconds, during the first part of your workout can actually decrease power output and have a negative impact on how much weight you can load on the bar. Save the stretching for your cool-down.
Post-workout stretching can be used as a light cool-down. It won't help to reduce any next-day soreness or discomfort, but it can help to increase flexibility. Make sure you're holding each stretch for at least 30-60 seconds and hold each stretch at a point of mild discomfort.
Train Through Soreness: While it may sound counterintuitive, one of the best ways to resolve muscle soreness it to lightly train the muscles that are sore. Training while still sore from your previous workout can actually help to decrease future soreness and allow the body to adapt at a faster rate, a phenomenon known as the "repeated-bout effect."
Your body is designed to recover from micro-trauma—in this case, small tears within the muscle fiber—and adapt so that the next time you perform the same workout, you'll experience significantly less DOMS. This may be a bit uncomfortable, so don't be afraid to decrease the intensity or volume of your lifts. Just make sure you're going through full range of motion and keeping good form.
Take Recovery-Boosting Supplements: Supplements won't magically make your soreness disappear, but they can help minimize some of the pain and discomfort. For example, you could also opt for extra protein pre- and post-workout. Whey and casein are both great options to have before and after training to help speed up the recovery and repair process. Branched-chain amino acids have also been shown to reduce muscle soreness following high volume workouts.
First and foremost, it's important to understand that not all soreness is bad. Think of it as your body letting you know it's currently going through a repair process—and yes, the end result is bigger, stronger muscles. In order to see change within your muscles, you need to disrupt their structure. Unfamiliar or high-intensity exercise causes small microscopic tears within the muscle fibers, which creates a stimulus for muscle growth and repair. In other words, it is definitely part of the transformation process.
For this reason, many people find DOMS to be gratifying—to a point. For others, it can be enough to keep them out of the gym and off their routine. This is exactly what we don't want to happen to you! Expect to experience some soreness when you start any new program, especially during the first couple of weeks while your body is becoming adapted to the training intensity and volume. After that, it will get better. Until then, make the best of a painful situation with these research-backed tips to speed up recovery!
Don't Skip the Warm-Up: Before you even think about picking up the weights, give your body a chance to loosen up. Even something as simple as walking or cycling for 10 minutes before you start your workout can significantly reduce perceived soreness in the days following your workout.
Dynamic stretching is another great option to incorporate into your pre-workout routine. This form of stretching, which requires you to move as you stretch, helps to activate the muscles you will use during your workouts, while improving range of motion, balance, and coordination
There are dozens of great dynamic warm-up moves you can mix and match. I also strongly encourage you to incorporate warm-up sets before each of your major lifts. Rather than jumping straight into your first working set, start with a few sets using lighter weights, and gradually work up to your first working set. This allows your joints to work through a full range of motion while also increasing blood flood and nutrient delivery to the working muscle groups.
Warm-ups sets also help to prime your nervous system so that the appropriate muscle fibers are firing. Just make sure you aren't taking your warm-up sets to failure.
Example warm-up set for squats:
1 set 10 reps at 50% of your working weight
1 set of 8 reps at 65% of your working weight
1 set of 4-6 reps at 80% of your working weight
Note!! I don't suggest you do static stretching during your warm-up. Research has shown that including static stretching, in which you hold a specific stretch for a period of 10-30 seconds, during the first part of your workout can actually decrease power output and have a negative impact on how much weight you can load on the bar. Save the stretching for your cool-down.
Post-workout stretching can be used as a light cool-down. It won't help to reduce any next-day soreness or discomfort, but it can help to increase flexibility. Make sure you're holding each stretch for at least 30-60 seconds and hold each stretch at a point of mild discomfort.
Train Through Soreness: While it may sound counterintuitive, one of the best ways to resolve muscle soreness it to lightly train the muscles that are sore. Training while still sore from your previous workout can actually help to decrease future soreness and allow the body to adapt at a faster rate, a phenomenon known as the "repeated-bout effect."
Your body is designed to recover from micro-trauma—in this case, small tears within the muscle fiber—and adapt so that the next time you perform the same workout, you'll experience significantly less DOMS. This may be a bit uncomfortable, so don't be afraid to decrease the intensity or volume of your lifts. Just make sure you're going through full range of motion and keeping good form.
Take Recovery-Boosting Supplements: Supplements won't magically make your soreness disappear, but they can help minimize some of the pain and discomfort. For example, you could also opt for extra protein pre- and post-workout. Whey and casein are both great options to have before and after training to help speed up the recovery and repair process. Branched-chain amino acids have also been shown to reduce muscle soreness following high volume workouts.Of course, we can't forget about fish oil. Studies have shown that supplementing with omega-3s can help decrease both pain and swelling while increasing range of motion following intense exercise. They are also critical for building and maintaining muscle mass, ultimately leading to a better overall recovery.
Nothing I've talked about here is complicated or expensive. Give these suggestions a shot, but with the right expectations. Some DOMS is inevitable, after all. Don't expect any of what I've discussed here to work miracles, but also don't feel like the "fit life" has to involve limping around all the time!
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