You may be suffering from DOMS, find out what it is and how to ease it.
Are you the type that signed up for gym membership but after the first week, you could no longer wear the body soreness as a badge of honour? You are not alone.
Many people drop out of gym classes after a few weeks due to body aches. The discomfort, or sometimes unbearable pain emanating from the exercises can dissuade many from sticking to their fitness regimes.
Christine Ayieko, 28, says the aches after three days in the gym derailed her dream of exercising regularly.
“I worked out in the gym for three days and two days later, I could barely walk. There was pain everywhere,’’ she says.
She went to the hospital, got painkillers and has never gone back to the gym.
Franklyn Lujaja, a fitness and wellness coach at Fitlife Kenya, says post-workout muscle aches are just temporary discomforts that the body goes through as it adapts to a new type of physical activity.
The pain results from a condition that is medically referred to as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). It usually occurs a day or two after an intense physical activity.
“During such workouts, the numerous muscle expansion and contraction cause their fibres to break,’’ says Arnold Oyuru, a health and fitness coach at Mofit Kenya.
The body then works on building them back. This healing process causes inflammation in the muscles which leads to the pain, he adds.
Eventually when those muscles have healed, they become stronger and well adapted to the physical activity.
“Thereafter, you will no longer feel pain when performing intense exercises. And this is an indication that your fitness level has improved,” Mr Oyuru says.
Instead of getting discouraged, get motivated by the pain and the benefits of the exercises will kick in.
“Muscles can't become strong in just a single day. You need to subject them to the same exercise repeatedly and in a gradual manner, until such a time when the discomfort is no longer there. This will be a sign that the muscles are now strong,” Mr Oyuru says.
According to Mr Lujaja, DOMS is part of the life of an exerciser or physical fitness enthusiast.
“This isn't just a problem for beginners. It happens to everyone, even the professional athletes as they enhance their fitness levels. So those affected shouldn't feel discouraged. It may last for just a few days, so you can wait it out.”
He notes that the whole essence of a good exercise is to challenge the body to do something it is not used to strengthen it.
“Soreness is therefore a good sign that this is happening. You will feel the discomfort for about two to three days before it begins waning and eventually goes away.”
To keep pressure off the sore muscles, Lujaja states that beginners can take breaks in their exercise schedules.
“So if you worked out on Monday, you can skip a day and go back on Wednesday. This helps your muscles to get accustomed to the intense exercise slowly by slowly,” Mr Lujaja says.
While managing DOMS, it is important to do warm-up exercises and dynamic stretches at the beginning of a workout. “The generated heat makes the muscles less stiff and more agile. This translates to less pain while exercising.”
“After the warm-up, start with low intensity exercises then you increase the pace before eventually slowing down or cooling off. You then finish with static stretches.”
Compared to dynamic stretches that involve a series of challenging motions that are executed repeatedly, static stretches are deep, slow stretches, which entail a singular motion held in place for ten seconds or more.
The fitness coach cautions people against staying on an exercise 'comfort zone' for too long.
“After the muscles have adapted to a certain physical activity and you no longer feel anything after doing it, then it's time to challenge your body. So if you were covering 15 kilometres when jogging, you can increase the distance by a kilometre or two.’’
“The muscle soreness will still be there due to the increased exercise intensity but the body will be in a position to bounce back quickly and heal faster as your fitness levels increase,’’ Mr Lujaja says.
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