It's been two days since your last workout but things aren't the same anymore: you're just not getting sore to the same degree as when you first started exercising.
The perceived muscular soreness that you had experienced on a regular basis is now almost non-existent.
Only by physically palpating the trained areas is it apparent that your muscles are tender.
You're beginning to think that something's wrong with your training routine.
What's going on? Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is often misunderstood.
Contrary to popular belief, it is totally unrelated to a buildup of lactic acid.
Lactate is rapidly cleared from muscles following a workout.
Within an hour or two post-exercise, it is either completely oxidized or taken up (via the Cori cycle) and utilized for glycogen resynthesis.
Since DOMS doesn't manifest until at least 24-hours after a training session, it therefore follows that lactic acid cannot play a part in its etiology.
The truth is, however, some nutrients do have the potential to make you fatter than others.
Dietary fat, for example, is easily converted into stored bodyfat.
This has been demonstrated in numerous research studies: given the same caloric intake, eating fat results in a greater deposition of fat into adipocytes than either protein or carbs .
All other things being equal, fat begets fat Although the exact mechanisms are not fully understood, current theory suggests that DOMS is actually a product of damage to muscle tissue.
It is fundamentally caused by eccentric exercise, where muscles are lengthening under extreme tension.
Here is the proposed model: During eccentric activity, the contractile elements (actin and myosin) of working muscles exert a "braking" action in order to resist the forces of gravity.
This produces small microtears in both the contractile elements and surface membrane (sarcolemma) of the associated muscle fibers.
These microtears allow calcium to escape from the muscles, disrupting their intracellular balance and causing further injury to the fibers.
Various proteins (such as neutrophils and macrophages) then interact with the free nerve endings surrounding the damaged fibers, resulting in localized pain and stiffness.
Despite the associated discomfort, DOMS is often regarded as a necessary part of exercise.
For many, being sore creates the feeling that something's "happening" to their body-that they really accomplished something during their workout.
And, on the surface, DOMS would seem to play at least some role in generating a training effect.
Since DOMS is related to muscle damage and muscle damage is believed to initiate the growth process, it should therefore follow that DOMS promotes muscular development.
Makes sense, right? The truth is, however, DOMS is not a prerequisite for muscular strength or hypertrophy.
Some of the biggest bodybuilders in the world never get sore following a workout, yet proceed to grow bigger every year; world-class powerlifters regularly increase the amount of their lifts without a hint of muscular soreness; and most advanced trainees continue to make fine progress in the absence of any appreciable DOMS.
Studies on concentric training firmly support these observations.
Research shows that concentric-only exercise results in significant increases in lean muscle tissue .
Why is this relevant? Well, given the fact that DOMS is induced mainly from eccentric, not concentric, training, the natural conclusion is that soreness doesn't necessarily equate with progress.
So what is the low down on DOMS? When all is said and done, it's merely an indicator of tissue trauma-nothing more, nothing less.
In the initial stages of training, the stimulus of exercise is a shock to your neuromuscular system.
Your body doesn't know how to react to this stimulus and the chain of events leading to muscular soreness is set into motion.
But the human body is a very adaptive organism.
It readily adjusts to the rigors of intense exercise-even after only a single bout of training .
The muscles, connective tissue and the immune system become increasingly efficient in dealing with fiber-related damage.
Various physiologic and structural adaptations take place that gradually attenuates any post-exercise effects.
Generally speaking, the more that you participate in regular exercise, the greater your resistance to muscle soreness.
The process can be compared to sunbathing.
If you stay in the sun too long, your skin will burn.
Shortly thereafter, the burn is accompanied by localized tissue swelling that is sensitive to pain.
The burn heals over time and the skin becomes more resistant to the rays of the sun.
Thereafter, repeated sun exposure results in a tan rather than a burn.
While the specific adaptations in tanning are quite different than in training, the basic concept is the same: adaptation breeds resistance.
Interestingly, DOMS is somewhat gender-specific: Given the same exercise protocols, women experience less muscular soreness than their male counterparts .
The reason appears to be hormonally related.
Estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, has antioxidant properties.
It rapidly responds to muscle damage, expediting the healing of the injured tissue.
Moreover, by promoting stability of the muscle membrane, it helps to maintain the integrity of the cell and thereby reduce inflammation.
Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to prevent DOMS (outside of altering your training program).
Warming up doesn't help .
Neither does stretching .
You can, however, help to alleviate soreness by engaging in an active recovery.
While the natural tendency is to remain sedentary if you are sore, this is really counterproductive.
Light activity is generally best, especially using concentric-based activities .
There also has been some research showing that post-workout massage can be of some help, but this seems to be dependent on the individual .
In final analysis, it's imprudent to use muscular soreness as a gauge of workout success.
Although much still needs to be learned about the complexities of DOMS, the overwhelming evidence says that it has little to do with muscular development.
Rest assured, you can make terrific progress without getting sore.
The perceived muscular soreness that you had experienced on a regular basis is now almost non-existent.
Only by physically palpating the trained areas is it apparent that your muscles are tender.
You're beginning to think that something's wrong with your training routine.
What's going on? Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is often misunderstood.
Contrary to popular belief, it is totally unrelated to a buildup of lactic acid.
Lactate is rapidly cleared from muscles following a workout.
Within an hour or two post-exercise, it is either completely oxidized or taken up (via the Cori cycle) and utilized for glycogen resynthesis.
Since DOMS doesn't manifest until at least 24-hours after a training session, it therefore follows that lactic acid cannot play a part in its etiology.
The truth is, however, some nutrients do have the potential to make you fatter than others.
Dietary fat, for example, is easily converted into stored bodyfat.
This has been demonstrated in numerous research studies: given the same caloric intake, eating fat results in a greater deposition of fat into adipocytes than either protein or carbs .
All other things being equal, fat begets fat Although the exact mechanisms are not fully understood, current theory suggests that DOMS is actually a product of damage to muscle tissue.
It is fundamentally caused by eccentric exercise, where muscles are lengthening under extreme tension.
Here is the proposed model: During eccentric activity, the contractile elements (actin and myosin) of working muscles exert a "braking" action in order to resist the forces of gravity.
This produces small microtears in both the contractile elements and surface membrane (sarcolemma) of the associated muscle fibers.
These microtears allow calcium to escape from the muscles, disrupting their intracellular balance and causing further injury to the fibers.
Various proteins (such as neutrophils and macrophages) then interact with the free nerve endings surrounding the damaged fibers, resulting in localized pain and stiffness.
Despite the associated discomfort, DOMS is often regarded as a necessary part of exercise.
For many, being sore creates the feeling that something's "happening" to their body-that they really accomplished something during their workout.
And, on the surface, DOMS would seem to play at least some role in generating a training effect.
Since DOMS is related to muscle damage and muscle damage is believed to initiate the growth process, it should therefore follow that DOMS promotes muscular development.
Makes sense, right? The truth is, however, DOMS is not a prerequisite for muscular strength or hypertrophy.
Some of the biggest bodybuilders in the world never get sore following a workout, yet proceed to grow bigger every year; world-class powerlifters regularly increase the amount of their lifts without a hint of muscular soreness; and most advanced trainees continue to make fine progress in the absence of any appreciable DOMS.
Studies on concentric training firmly support these observations.
Research shows that concentric-only exercise results in significant increases in lean muscle tissue .
Why is this relevant? Well, given the fact that DOMS is induced mainly from eccentric, not concentric, training, the natural conclusion is that soreness doesn't necessarily equate with progress.
So what is the low down on DOMS? When all is said and done, it's merely an indicator of tissue trauma-nothing more, nothing less.
In the initial stages of training, the stimulus of exercise is a shock to your neuromuscular system.
Your body doesn't know how to react to this stimulus and the chain of events leading to muscular soreness is set into motion.
But the human body is a very adaptive organism.
It readily adjusts to the rigors of intense exercise-even after only a single bout of training .
The muscles, connective tissue and the immune system become increasingly efficient in dealing with fiber-related damage.
Various physiologic and structural adaptations take place that gradually attenuates any post-exercise effects.
Generally speaking, the more that you participate in regular exercise, the greater your resistance to muscle soreness.
The process can be compared to sunbathing.
If you stay in the sun too long, your skin will burn.
Shortly thereafter, the burn is accompanied by localized tissue swelling that is sensitive to pain.
The burn heals over time and the skin becomes more resistant to the rays of the sun.
Thereafter, repeated sun exposure results in a tan rather than a burn.
While the specific adaptations in tanning are quite different than in training, the basic concept is the same: adaptation breeds resistance.
Interestingly, DOMS is somewhat gender-specific: Given the same exercise protocols, women experience less muscular soreness than their male counterparts .
The reason appears to be hormonally related.
Estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, has antioxidant properties.
It rapidly responds to muscle damage, expediting the healing of the injured tissue.
Moreover, by promoting stability of the muscle membrane, it helps to maintain the integrity of the cell and thereby reduce inflammation.
Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to prevent DOMS (outside of altering your training program).
Warming up doesn't help .
Neither does stretching .
You can, however, help to alleviate soreness by engaging in an active recovery.
While the natural tendency is to remain sedentary if you are sore, this is really counterproductive.
Light activity is generally best, especially using concentric-based activities .
There also has been some research showing that post-workout massage can be of some help, but this seems to be dependent on the individual .
In final analysis, it's imprudent to use muscular soreness as a gauge of workout success.
Although much still needs to be learned about the complexities of DOMS, the overwhelming evidence says that it has little to do with muscular development.
Rest assured, you can make terrific progress without getting sore.
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