Whether you exercise regularly or occasionally, most active people have unknowingly experienced DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Simply put, you work out, and, a day or so later, you are stiff and sore all over.
For many years, that’s been explained by two theories: 1. You have a lactic acid buildup. 2. Your muscle fibers are undergoing microtears. However, these have mostly been disproved and replaced with a newer concept of why we’re sore one to two days after a workout.
The latest take: There is a buildup of fluid and an accumulation of waste after a workout — but this is not lactic acid nor fiber tears. The latter would result in almost instant pain, as pain receptors in the muscles and surrounding tissues would note the stress and respond fairly immediately.
Instead, the fluid accumulation is supposedly placing pressure on pain receptors within the muscle fibers and joint spaces, which creates a possibly painful response. For recovery, one post-workout strategy is to do a recovery workout to move the fluid through your body, so you decrease the cellular edema and the pending soreness.
While this might be a lot to digest when it comes to planning your time at the gym, we hope to shed some light on newer ideas about how to manage DOMS.
