I know we’re all familiar with that seemingly inevitable muscle soreness that comes with [...]]]>

It’s the morning after you started your new workout program and you wake up feeling fantastic.  Until you move.  All of a sudden you’re aware of EVERY muscle in your body, plus a few you didn’t know you had.

I know we’re all familiar with that seemingly inevitable muscle soreness that comes with changing your workout routine.  It usually presents itself 24 to 48 hours after you exercise, deviously drawing out the suspense of what you know lies ahead.    This delayed onset is typical of this type of soreness, and the pain dissipates rather quickly after another one or two days.

The worst part about delayed-onset muscle soreness (often called “DOMS”) is that you never know how much pain you’ll be in, so it is difficult to gauge how much to push yourself in your first workout.  Push too hard and you’re certain to regret it that next morning, especially if you’re new to exercise.  Yet muscle soreness isn’t just for new exercisers.  Experienced athletes fall victim to it every time they increase the frequency or intensity of their strength training, or when they add new exercises.

Treatment

Although prevention is really the best treatment (continue reading below), there are a few things you can do at home that will help alleviate muscle soreness.  I would start with the RICE principle (rest, ice, compression, and elevation).  Ice, in particular, has proven to be useful for some in dulling the pain.  Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (Ibuprofen and Aleve are good examples) can also help with pain and inflammation within the muscle fibers.

Most importantly, continue to move and exercise when you’re sore.  You shouldn’t perform the same routine that caused soreness, but you should spend at least 20-30 minutes doing low-impact cardio such as walking or biking.  This loosens up the muscles, gets blood and nutrients flowing more freely to the muscle fibers, and can minimize the level and/or duration of muscle soreness that you will experience.  When you’re ready to try strength training again, make sure you’re thoroughly warmed-up beforehand.  Try running through a couple exercises without weight before you add resistance back in.

Remember that muscle soreness is common and natural, but prolonged pain is NOT.  If you continue to feel pain for more than a week, consult your physician.

Prevention

Because of the unpredictability of DOMS, it’s always a good idea to be cautious when beginning a new workout routine.  Prevention is the best treatment.  I recommend that my clients not complete the entire program the first day (and sometimes the whole first week or two).

Example: You’re starting a new workout program that requires 2-3 sets of exercises.  The first day or two, you would only complete 1-2 sets of these exercises.  You’ll get all the benefits of the workout without all the soreness.  Of course, you’ll likely experience some muscle pain and stiffness regardless (sorry to break it to you!), but with this solution, at least you’re lessening that amount.

And if you haven’t exercised in over a year, play it extra safe and use lighter weights for everything those first two weeks until your body has gotten used to the exercises.  A good rule of thumb is never increase the frequency or intensity of your workouts by more than 10% per week.  This ensures a slow, steady exercise progression that won’t overstrain your muscles, risk injury, and cause unpleasant soreness.

Stretching after your workout can also play a big role in reducing next-day muscle soreness.  Make sure you devote a few minutes at the end of your workout to stretches for each major muscle that you worked.  Read more on stretching here.

Causes

Although there are several theories as to what actually causes DOMS, most agree it’s the result of tiny tears within the muscles.  Research indicates that delayed muscle soreness is most closely associated with the negative phase of muscular effort.

To explain, think of a Bicep Curl: As you curl the weight up towards your shoulder, your bicep muscle is contracting and shortening (this is the positive phase).  As you lower the weight back down to your side, your muscle is relaxing and lengthening (this is the negative phase).  During this negative work, your bicep is still actively trying to contract against the weight so that your arm lowers slowly to your side (rather than just giving in to gravity and dropping your arm, which could cause injury).  Thus your muscle is trying to hold a shortened state while you are forcing it to lengthen.  This action is what can cause miniscule tears in the muscle fibers and surrounding connective tissues.

That’s not to say DOMS is a bad thing.  As uncomfortable (and often painful) as it can be, those tears are a normal consequence of your body’s adaptation to the movements.  After recovery, your muscles come back stronger and with more stamina than before.

It is also important to realize that soreness is NOT a reflection on the quality of your workout.  I know a few people who inevitably scrap their workout program as soon as they stop feeling that soreness the next day.  They are, literally, addicted to the pain.  But the reality is that muscle soreness has a rapid adaptation response – meaning that your muscles will adapt very quickly to a given exercise intensity.  You might experience soreness the first time you work out at a new intensity, but you won’t feel pain every time you exercise at that intensity.  Actually, you shouldn’t feel that same level of soreness again until you progress to a higher intensity.

For strength gains, you should push yourself to complete as many repetitions of an exercise as you can in good form.  Increase the weight and/or reps (only one at a time) by no more than 10% each week to minimize soreness and reduce your risk of injury.  This strategy will ensure you get the most out of your workouts with as little pain as possible.

Remember that muscle soreness is natural for new strength training programs, but it isn’t necessary.  Taking precautions to progress your workout gradually, to thoroughly warm-up before your workout, and to stretch afterwards are just a few of the ways you can minimize delayed-onset muscle soreness.

Do you have any prevention or treatment strategies of your own?

Share

A: Although it may seem effortless, [...]]]>

Q: I have to stand all day at work for 13 hour shifts.  Are there any simple exercises or stretches I can do just to keep myself in shape?  I’m so tired by the time I get home that I don’t have the energy to work out!

A: Although it may seem effortless, standing all day requires strength and stamina – which is why leg fatigue and back aches are very common for people employed in such occupations.  Retail, food service, construction, landscape, education, and medicine are just a few of the major employment sectors that involve standing for long periods of time during the workday.  Fortunately, there are several things you can do to improve your strength and reduce that end-of-day fatigue.

Focus on Strengthening Your Legs First

Exercise has the wonderful ability to increase both your energy levels and the flow of oxygen and nutrients throughout your body.  If you are consistently working out (at least 3 times per week), then you are already helping to strengthen and energize your body for your strenuous job.  If whole exercise sessions are difficult to work into your schedule, then try to incorporate just 10-15 minutes of strengthening exercises each day.  Four 15-minute segments in a week equals two half-hour sessions – which is plenty of time to achieve strength gains, especially if you’re new to exercise.

During your workouts, focus on lower body strengtheners such as lunges, squats, romanian deadlifts, leg curls, leg extensions, calf raises, wall sits, hip bridges, etc.  Lunges and squats, in particular, are two of the best lower body exercises in the book.  They strengthen and tone everything below the waist!

(Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of these exercises to post.  Eventually I’ll be able to post examples, but until then, check out the exercise library at NASMPro for animated illustrations).

Then Strengthen Your Core

Core strength is THE most important aspect of fitness, yet it is often the weakest link in a person’s muscular structure.  Most sedentary adults are chained to a desk 5 days a week, where core strength and postural awareness get overshadowed by looming deadlines and a high-stress environment.  Having a strong core will not only allow you to function better (both at your desk and away from it), it will help prevent back and leg pain as you get older and less active.  This is especially true if your job requires you to be on your feet all day!

The best core strength exercises to include in your routine are: planks (front and side), crunches, back extensions, and hip bridges.  If you are especially prone to back aches, then I recommend including all four in your routine.  Again, click on the link above for some pictures and descriptions.  I’ll update as soon as I can with actual demonstrations.

Stretch It Out

Incorporating the above exercises into your program will increase your muscle strength and improve your energy, guaranteed.  But if you don’t stretch those muscles afterwards, you could do more damage in the long run.  For example, if you were to perform all four core exercises listed above without ever stretching your back… you’d end up with extremely tight lower back muscles and more lower back pain than you started with.  A tight back would cause the pelvis to tilt forward, the hip flexors to shorten, and the back to sway out.  This is an extremely unnatural position – so you can imagine how your body would feel after standing that way for 13 hours!

A great lower back stretch is to kneel on the floor and sit back on your heels.  Then lean your upper body forward towards the floor, stretching your arms out on the floor in front of you.  Oppositely, you can stretch your abdominals by bending backwards over an exercise/stability ball and letting your arms fall above your head.  Just lean back as far as is comfortable for you.  You’ll want to hold every stretch for 20 to 30 seconds without bouncing.

For your legs, try lying on your back with the left foot on the floor, knee bent.  Extend the right foot up towards the ceiling, keeping the leg fairly straight.  Grab just below the right knee and hold your leg vertically, feeling the back of your leg stretch out.  This is called a hamstring stretch.  Again, hold for 20-30 seconds.

Thirteen hours is a long time to be on your feet, but with the stretching and strengthening outlined above you should see an improvement in both your energy levels and leg strength within a couple weeks.  Just fit the exercises in where you can – don’t worry about trying to squeeze in an hour at the gym after you’ve worked so many!  Fifteen minutes here and there is enough to get you started and seeing results.

Of course, comfortable shoes help too!  Look for soles with sufficient cushioning and arch support.  Your job is important, but you should be your number one priority.  Take care of your body and the rest of your activities will become a little easier!

Share

Q: What is lactic acid?  Why does it cause that “burn”?

A: The simplest answer is that lactic acid is a byproduct of anaerobic ATP production.  But let’s backtrack a little and review some exercise physiology to put that definition into context…

A cell can produce energy in one of two ways: [...]]]>

Q: What is lactic acid?  Why does it cause that “burn”?

A: The simplest answer is that lactic acid is a byproduct of anaerobic ATP production.  But let’s backtrack a little and review some exercise physiology to put that definition into context…

A cell can produce energy in one of two ways: with or without the presence of oxygen.  If there is an adequate supply of oxygen to your cells (regardless of your activity – sleeping, typing, walking, running, etc), then your cells are involved in aerobic energy production.  Your cells are actively utilizing fat stores, sugar stores, and oxygen to produce ATP (short for the molecule adenosine triphosphate).  Think of ATP as your cells’ battery power.

Example: You are attempting to lift a dumbbell into a bicep curl.  First, your body needs fat, sugar, and oxygen in order to produce ATP molecules.  The new ATP is used to drive the muscle contraction in the bicep muscle, allowing you to curl the weight.  Realistically, this occurs on a much grander scale, but you get the idea…

In aerobic energy systems, water and carbon dioxide are the byproducts of the chemical reaction that creates ATP.  Both compounds are easy for the body to utilize or eliminate, thus aerobic energy production does not lead to muscle fatigue.

On the other hand, sometimes your body is unable to extract enough oxygen from the blood to continue the high demand for ATP production.  Now you begin to exercise anaerobically, or without oxygen.  This is often the case during vigorous workouts, sprints, heavy weight lifting – basically whenever the intensity at which you are exercising exceeds the available oxygen.  This upper limit of sustainable aerobic exercise usually corresponds with a heart rate elevated above 50-85% of maximum heart rate, and is referred to as the anaerobic threshold (sometimes called the lactate threshold).

At the anaerobic threshold, the body must continue to create ATP using alternate pathways, primarily using sugar as its fuel source (rather than a combination of fat and sugar).  In these reactions, the byproducts are lactic acid, heat, and hydrogen ions.  The lactic acid in particular is very difficult to eliminate from the muscle cells, in contrast to the water and carbon dioxide produced in aerobic energy production.  As more ATP is produced anaerobically, more lactic acid is generated and builds up within the muscle.  Lactic acid is blamed for the “burn” you feel when you exhaust a muscle (when you do enough lunges, cycle uphill, perform lots of push-ups, etc), and it causes rapid muscle fatigue.

There is nothing wrong with lactic acid build-up in the cells; it is just a natural alternative process for creating ATP when your body is short on oxygen.  The “burning” is simply due to the overproduction of acid in the muscle cell, which causes local acidosis.  The muscle then begins to fatigue quickly – usually soon after you start to feel that burn.  Once you stop the movement and allow your breathing to return to normal, your cells will be able to eliminate most of the lactic acid within a minute or two.  Continuing to move and walk around will aid in its removal and allow you to progress to the next exercise a little quicker.

References:

Bryant, Cedric X., and Daniel J. Green, eds.  ACE Personal Trainer Manual, 3rd ed.  San Diego: American Council on Exercise, 2003.

Powers, Scott K., and Edward T. Howley.  Exercise Physiology, 3rd ed. Guilford, CT: Brown & Benchmark Publishers, 1997.

Share