But although staying hydrated may reduce symptoms, it won’t speed up repair from muscle damage.īesides nutrition, elite athletes and novices alike swear by a number of recovery techniques, such as wearing compression clothing, using a foam roller and taking ice baths (who remembers the image of Andy Murray in an ice bath, clutching his Wimbledon trophy?) – but their effectiveness is debatable.Īnderson is a fan of compression clothing and massage, but advises caution when it comes to foam rollers, which he believes can be “massively overvalued by people. Because muscles are made up of a high percentage of water, “even mild dehydration can make your Doms worse”. Cook advises a simple carbohydrate and protein-based snack, while Munson suggests preparing a shake in advance both recommend following this with a balanced meal within the next hour. For shorter-duration, lower-intensity exercise, the demand may be reduced.”īoth Munson and Cook agree that eating something as soon as you can post-exercise is beneficial, with muscles primed to take on nutrients within 30 minutes of finishing exercise. If you’re undertaking high-intensity, prolonged-duration exercise like a half-marathon, you may need to consume 8-10g of carbs per kg of body mass per day. Ted Munson, a performance nutritionist at Science in Sport, agrees that carbohydrate intake is key, although the amount to consume “depends on what you’re doing. If you skimp on the carbohydrate, you run the risk of excessive protein (muscle) breakdown, which won’t contribute positively to the training process.” “Regular intake of carbohydrate is vital to replace muscle glycogen depleted during exercise. She recommends a portion of protein – the main nutrient needed for muscular repair – at each meal as well as snacks to support the recovery and muscle adaptation process. “Most nutritional interventions to reduce Doms are closely related to inflammatory response and aiding the rebuilding of damaged muscles.” While nutrition can’t prevent Doms as “a natural part of the training adaptation process”, it may help reduce the effects, says sports dietitian and ultrarunner Alexandra Cook. “Your muscle capability is reduced, your muscle power is reduced and your muscles are tender.” “If I ran on Monday and then on Tuesday was sore, I might go for a light bike ride or a little jog on Wednesday,” he says “So, exercising through it isn’t a bad thing, but exercising and ignoring it, and exercising hard, probably is not the best thing.”ĭo avoid any hard workouts and the temptation to “push through it” when muscles are vulnerable, he says. Instead, he advises incorporating light exercises. Good quality sleep also plays a factor, when it comes to recovery.Īlthough you will want to go easy on tender muscles, Wotherspoon doesn’t recommend completely abandoning your fitness routine. He also suggests incorporating a progressive warm-up, in which movements become gradually more intense, and not to skimp on the warm down. Instead, he suggests using other muscle groups for a few days at the gym or, if you’re a runner, simply lessening the intensity. In the days following the onset of Doms, Anderson says, “don’t hammer the same muscle group again”. “If you don’t get rid of that tightness and allow the muscle fibres to repair, you are more susceptible to injury for a period afterwards.” “A lot of people like because it means they’ve worked really hard and it’s a great feeling, but if it’s excessive and you’re getting it all the time then I would be questioning either your recovery strategies or your training plan.”Īny changes should be gradual to allow muscles to adapt. It is a normal part of building muscle strength and stamina, but coach Nick Anderson warns that it could be telling you it’s time to review your workout. Essentially, it is true muscle damage, but it’s at the muscle fibre level as opposed to a muscle tear that you would get when you’re running and your hamstring goes.”ĭoms can last up to five days, with the effects usually worst on day two or three, then gradually improving without treatment. “When you look under the electron microscope with Doms, the whole architecture is disrupted. “If you look under an electron microscope, you see that there’s a normal architecture and normal structure to the muscle fibre,” he says.
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