December 12th, 2007
DOMS = Evil
DOMS, or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is evil. Plain and simple. Over the last week, due to some regular bouts of rx’d crossfit workouts, I’ve spent more time being sore than non-sore. Typically the days when I’ve done the workout I feel fine. The next day I awake with a bit of soreness but at the 48 hour mark, post exercise, I’m either walking funny or wincing as I reach for a cereal bowl on the top shelf.
So I decided to do some more research on DOMS and what can be done to negate at least the symptoms. As I’ve written before, there are some ok solutions. Advil or some other Ibuprofen works wonders for me. Ice, to decrease the inflamation, can also help make the hurt not hurt so much. But what else can be done?
A great article can be found here, by Johndavid Maes, and Len Kravitz, Ph.D. called “Treating and Preventing DOMS”. Although it doesn’t come up with all the answers, some good points that it makes are as follows:
- Research done on NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - aspirin or ibuprofen) has shown mixed results and with the common side effects of the drugs, they aren’t a recommended approach for treatment.
- Some nutritional supplements, known for their antioxidant properties, such as vitamin C or E also show mixed results and may, in fact, worsen the problem.
- Warming up, pre workout, has been shown to be quite effective. This may be due to the increased muscle temperature and therefore increased elasticity, allowing for easier muscle contractions.
- Repeated bouts of lower intensity exercise before a high intensity session that would otherwise cause DOMS has been shown to its incidence and severity.
