Why do I feel pain after exercise?

Have you ever felt sore after starting a new activity or pushing yourself harder than usual during a workout?

Muscle pain that shows up a day or two after exercising can affect anyone, regardless of your fitness level.But don’t be put off. This type of muscle stiffness or achiness is normal, doesn’t last long, and is actually a sign of your improving fitness.

Dr Jonathan Folland, an expert in neuromuscular physiology from Loughborough University, explains how to avoid sore muscles after exercise.

Why do my muscles feel sore after exercising?

Sore muscles after physical activity, known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), is common when beginning a new exercise programme, changing your exercise routine, or increasing the duration or intensity of your regular workout.

When muscles are required to work harder than they're used to, or in a different way, it is believed to cause microscopic damage to the muscle fibres, resulting in muscle soreness or stiffness. DOMS is often mistakenly believed to be caused by lactic acid build up, however, lactic acid is not involved in this process.

Who can DOMS affect?

Anyone can develop DOMS, even those who have been exercising for years, including elite athletes. DOMS can be alarming for people who are new to exercise and it can give their initial enthusiasm to get fit a real hammering. The good news is that the pain will decrease as your muscles get used to the new physical demands being placed upon them.

The soreness is part of an adaptation process that leads to greater stamina and strength as the muscles recover and build. Unless you push yourself hard, you’re unlikely to develop DOMS after your next exercise session.

What type of activities can cause DOMS?

Any movement you're not used to can cause DOMS, in particular, movements that cause the muscle to contract while it lengthens (called eccentric muscle contractions). Examples of eccentric muscle contractions include going down stairs, jogging or running downhill, lowering weights (such as the lowering phase of a bicep curl) and the downward motion of squats and push-ups.

How long does DOMS last for?

DOMS typically lasts between three and five days. The pain, which can range from mild to severe, usually occurs one or two days after the exercise. This sort of muscle pain should not be confused with any kind of pain you might experience during exercise, such as the acute, sudden and sharp pain of an injury, such as muscle strains or sprains.

How can I treat DOMS?

There is no one simple way to treat DOMS. Nothing is proven to be 100% effective. Treatments such as ice packs, massage, tender-point acupressure, anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, and rest may help ease some of the symptoms.

DOMS doesn't generally require medical intervention. However, seek medical advice if the pain becomes debilitating, or you experience heavy swelling or if your urine becomes dark.

How can I prevent DOMS?

One of the best ways to prevent DOMS is to start any new activity programme gently and gradually. Allowing the muscle time to adapt to new movements should help minimise soreness.

There is little evidence that warming-up will be effective in preventing DOMS. However, exercising with warmed-up muscles will reduce your chance of injury and improve your performance.

While stretching has many benefits, there is currently no evidence that stretching before or after exercise helps to reduce or prevent DOMS.

Can I continue exercising with DOMS?

You may exercise with DOMS, although it may feel uncomfortable, especially during the warm-up phase. You may find the pain goes away during the session but it will return after exercising once your muscles have cooled down.

If the pain makes it hard to exercise, then it is advisable to refrain from the activity for a few days until the pain eases. Alternatively, you could focus on exercises targeting less affected muscles to allow the most affected muscle groups time to recover.

Will I keep getting DOMS?

DOMS is a type of muscle conditioning, which means your muscles are adapting to the new activity. The next time you perform the same activity, or exercise at the same intensity, there will be less muscle tissue damage, less soreness, and a faster recovery.

Just one bout of DOMS actually develops a partial protective effect that reduces the chances of developing soreness in that same activity for the following weeks or months.

Promoting Extra-Fast Muscle Growth

By Richard Daniels

To acquire superior muscle growth you will have to have a holistic technique and take into account nutrition, rest and supplements as well as the training. It is quite frankly not truthful that the hardest working people are those who get the most effective end results, in actual fact over-training can stunt muscle development. It is for this reason imperative to be well advised when it relates to bodybuilding strategy .

For this reason it is best to permit 24 hours rest in between training sessions. If you still feel you have strength to left after an hour you have to increase weights at the following session.

If you are only getting started don't push to failure for the first six to eight weeks but allow your muscles time to become accustomed to the new type of stress. Muscles are really reactive during the primary months and in actual fact build quicker than pro-bodybuilder's muscles. Nevertheless, if you push too hard while in the first weeks, you can hurt your muscles and will be compelled to stop training while in the recovery time.

Eating is as crucial for muscle development as training. After each training take a protein shake, a glass of milk, a tub of cottage cheese or a hard-boiled egg. Do not cut down on your fats and carbs too drastically. Somewhere around 45 to 50 percent of your calorie consumption needs to be of carbohydrates and twenty to twenty-five percent fat. The left over twenty-five to thirty-five percent can be protein. If you do not take in carbohydrates your body will begin using the protein for calories and not develop the muscle. If you do not take in enough fat you will hinder certain vital hormonal processes.

Men and women who want to lose fat whilst they build up muscle could check out occasional fasting. Simply put by not consuming from 6.00 pm of day one till 18H00 of day two, once or twice a week, they can reduce their total calorie consumption without affecting their training. Really training in a fasted state is not only safe, but it gives great final results on muscle growth as the quantity of growth hormone rises exponentially.

Men and women normally want to know how to build muscle faster and are quite focused on supplements. Sure, supplements can be beneficial but they will not take the place of good workouts, rest and eating habits. The most popular supplements are Creatine, which encourages the uptake of amino acids and Glutamine which aid in protein synthesis. Essential fatty acids such as Omega 3 and 6 are taken for their anti-catabolic effects and Caffeine as well as Carnitine are taken for weight-loss. Apart from these there are plenty of mineral or plant based testosterone boosters which can be useful.

Muscle building will not be tough but you will have to pay attention to that you manage your fat intake and will potentially have to do regular fasting sessions. If you are a Mesomorph you have an average body type and are able to enhance muscle and keep fat down quite easily. The secret to muscle building in Ectomorphs is to get them to consume 25 percent of high quality fat a day such as olive oil and nuts.

As far as actual training goes, simply make sure you are keeping appropriate posture throughout your workouts. If you can not pay for a private trainer Google search the keywords "form" plus the name of the certain workout.

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Following this guidance your muscle development speed will be maximized and you will rapidly be sporting ripped biceps and abs under a tight T-shirt! For considerably more tips on fat burning programs; visit us.