Why do muscles pain after a new type of exercise? Experts find out
| Jan 14, 2019, 19:49 IST
If you’ve gone back to exercise after a hiatus, upped your dose of exercise or simply tried some new form of exercise, you might have noticed a distinct ache of delayed onset muscle soreness. Turns out, there’s a name for it. It’s called doms.
Doms usually kicks in after 24-48 hours of the workout, leaving your muscles feeling tender and sore as a result of microscopic damage to the muscle fibres, which occurs when you force your muscles to work harder than they are used to, or use muscle groups that you don’t often reach in your regular workout.
Dr. Mark Wotherspoon, a consultant in sport, says “When you look under the electron microscope with Doms, the whole architecture is disrupted. Essentially, it is true muscle damage, but it’s at the muscle fibre level as opposed to a muscle tear that you would get when you’re running and your hamstring goes.”
Since doms change the entire structure of the muscle, it advisable to is give it rest. One can switch to a different form of exercise. For example, if you did a leg work out today, concentrate on the biceps and shoulders on the following days. A good night of sleep is also essential for recovery.
But the ideal way to cure doms is to avoid it in the first place. The key to achieving that is a workout that progresses slowly and focuses on long term goals.
Doms usually kicks in after 24-48 hours of the workout, leaving your muscles feeling tender and sore as a result of microscopic damage to the muscle fibres, which occurs when you force your muscles to work harder than they are used to, or use muscle groups that you don’t often reach in your regular workout.
Dr. Mark Wotherspoon, a consultant in sport, says “When you look under the electron microscope with Doms, the whole architecture is disrupted. Essentially, it is true muscle damage, but it’s at the muscle fibre level as opposed to a muscle tear that you would get when you’re running and your hamstring goes.”
Since doms change the entire structure of the muscle, it advisable to is give it rest. One can switch to a different form of exercise. For example, if you did a leg work out today, concentrate on the biceps and shoulders on the following days. A good night of sleep is also essential for recovery.
But the ideal way to cure doms is to avoid it in the first place. The key to achieving that is a workout that progresses slowly and focuses on long term goals.