Edited by Roberto Eusebio
How many times are we looking for new exercises, new training routines or do we devise ways and techniques to congest our muscles in order to destroy them as much as possible?
All this because for us it is important and fundamental to ensure that the next day, or after two days, we accuse those pains that otherwise would not gratify the effort made during our training.
But what is this pain really?
The soreness or muscle pain of the next day also called " DOMS" (Delayed onset muscle soreness) is nothing more than a muscle pain that occurs between 14 and 72 hours after intense muscle activity.
And why of these pains?
These pains (annoying for the neophyte body builder instead well appreciated by veterans) limit the movements due to the pain they cause and also for a reduction of the articular excursion. This phenomenon is very frequent in people who are not training, but it is also present in those who, although very well trained, try their hand at how I mentioned unusual training and different from the usual muscle congestion.
The cause of DOMS has commonly been attributed to a deposit of lactic acid in the muscles, but this statement is incorrect; lactic acid, due to its own metabolic cycle, with muscular activity terminated, cannot remain in the bloodstream for more than a few minutes and this allows it to be later largely disposed of even at a muscular level, in round two or three hours. Instead, it has been established that these pains are micro-lacerations of the muscle tissue due to 'eccentric' muscle contractions, justified and produced by a metabolic and bio-mechanical origin.These pains usually disappear after 2, 3 or 4 days from our workout, but they can also last up to 6 or 7 days or more, reaching the peak of pain around the second and third day after training.The factors that accentuate this phenomenon are both various training techniques and nutritional factors.
It is found that those who have a diet rich in carbohydrates, therefore a higher muscle pumping than those in muscle glycogen depletion, suffer more pronounced pains.
It is therefore normal, in the muscular definition phase, that the search for DOMS is more difficult. However, with aching muscles I always recommend recovery, so never train a muscle group if it still hurts. This is because at this stage, also known as "SUPERCOMPENSATION", our muscle (and not only), improves its characteristics according to the training performed.
Exercising the muscles while there is the DOMS effect in addition to prolonging the pain felt, further increases the time needed for recovery. Streching was often recommended to alleviate the pain of the next day. Instead I advise against this type of remedy because a lengthening in the recovery phase of muscle contraction tears does nothing but reopen these "positive wounds" during muscle recovery.
What to do then for these pains?
APPRECIATE THEM AND RESPECT MUSCLE RECOVERY, MEAN THAT YOU HAVE DONE A GOOD WORKOUT !!
