Taken part in your first MAN v FAT Soccer session and can’t walk the next day? That’s DOMS. Painful as it is, it can be a good thing! Here’s how to deal with DOMS.

What are DOMS?

DOMS stands for delayed-onset muscle soreness. It’s muscle soreness you might experience after exercizing, especially if you haven’t exercised for a while or if you’ve had a vigorous session. You might feel it in one place, like your legs, when you move or tense those muscles. It comes on around 24-48 hours after exercise and can last for a few days.

Is it actually DOMS?

It’s important to note here that DOMS are delayed, so it’s not something you feel during exercise. It’s also soreness, so it’s not a sharp or severe pain that stops you from doing everyday activities. That’s more likely to be an injury and is something you should get checked out by a doctor. DOMS makes everyday movement uncomfortable but doable. If, after a walk or warming up your muscles, the discomfort improves, it’s DOMS and not an injury. You can relax, it’s normal. If it’s sharp pain you’re feeling, or limiting your activity, get seen by your GP.

Why do we get DOMS?

DOMS is due to tiny tears in your muscles from moving them in a way your body isn’t used to. That can be from doing an exercise that is new to you or if you exercise more vigorously than you’re used to. This can include returning to exercise after a break. The pain is thought to be the body’s inflammatory response to these tears. It’s a totally normal response to sudden stress put on your muscles, and it’s very common. Though tearing up your muscles  sounds bad, the actual tears are microscopic and easily repaired by your body.

Are DOMS a good thing?

You’ve heard of no pain, no gain, right? Well, feeling sore after exercise isn’t a goal you should aim for per se, because that might lead to you pushing yourself too far and ending up with an injury. Even if you don’t injure yourself, pushing yourself to do too much, too soon, can lead to you feeling fatigued, overwhelmed and demotivated. But there is a small nugget of truth in the ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy, as when you work your muscles enough to produce these tiny tears, your body will get to work repairing them. And if you give your body the right tools to repair your muscles, it can help you to build muscle mass.

Will I always experience DOMS?

As you get used to being active and your body gets used to the exercises you perform, you’ll experience DOMS less and less. This is where real progress is made, because if you keep it up, you’ll soon be able to do the hard things that once caused you to crawl up the stairs without any soreness the next day. Then you can gradually increase the intensity of your workouts. Of course, if you stop exercizing, then try to exercise at the same intensity after several weeks you’ll likely get DOMS again as your body won’t be used to moving in that way. Also, to hit your fitness goals a varied program alongside MAN v FAT Soccer is beneficial. By trying and performing new exercises you open yourself up to DOMS as muscles are be used in different ways.

How to beat DOMS

You know about delayed onset muscle soreness, but do you know how to recover and prevent them? Let’s dive in.

Recovering from DOMS

Recovering from your soreness in a healthy way is what helps your body repair your muscles and what will lead to that coveted increase in muscle mass. But the important bit here is that you have to do it in a healthy way. Rest is absolutely vital, and if you’re looking to reduce fat and build muscle, rest is just as important as activity.

  • Make sure to have rest days in between your MAN v FAT Soccer sessions and other exercise. This should include ‘active recovery’, where you do light exercise, like stretching and walking. It’ll probably feel awful at first but warming up your muscles gently like this will do them good and is actually one of the most effective ways of easing the soreness through increased blood flow.
  • Try and get enough sleep. Our body does its best repairing and rebuilding when we’re asleep so get your head down.
  • Drink plenty of water and keep up your healthy eating, making sure your diet includes lots of lean protein.
  • Massage your sore muscles. A foam roller can help.

How to prevent DOMS

The only fool-proof way of preventing DOMS completely is not exercizing, but there are things you can do to lessen the soreness. Always make sure you warm up before you start exercizing so that your muscles are warm and ready to go. Make your warm-ups dynamic, meaning that you move around mimicking the movements you’re about to do during the bulk of your workout. Lads, static stretches are old news and don’t serve much of a purpose in a warm up. Similarly, cooling down after your workout is a must to allow your muscles to gradually get used to not moving as vigorously again. Preventing DOMS is mostly about finding a good balance between pushing yourself enough during exercise to have an effect and not overdoing it.

Get the pump?

We all want to be able to instantly do Arnie level workouts at the gym, or be able to outrun Usain Bolt, but listen to your body and go easy. Losing weight takes time and though that can be frustrating, push yourself too hard and you’ll be dealing with a lot more than just a bit of muscle soreness. Injury = woe. If you’re trying to step up your intensity but don’t feel comfortable, try and find a happy medium. How about you gradually increase the intensity instead.