Why am I walking like I am 110?!

Why am I walking like I am 110?!

We have all been there right? You absolutely crushed your workout... you are feeling great...and then the morning after you can barely move and feel like you turned 110 over night.

What you are experiencing is DOMS, also known as  delayed onset muscle soreness. It's usually associated with new physical activity, especially vigorous types. You may have even experienced this after shoveling the snow.

It can kick in as soon as 6-8 hours post physical activity but typically peaks around 24-48 hours.

DOMS can occur anywhere in the body that has been recently exposed to intense physical activity.

It used to be thought that delayed onset muscle soreness was caused by the build-up of lactic acid in muscle tissue.

However, new research has disproved this hypothesis, and it is now clear that whereas regular muscle soreness is predominantly due to microtrauma structural damage to muscle fibers, DOMS is primarily caused by the bodies inflammatory response to exercise* and several other variables.

Today, scientists know that DOMS is influenced by:

1. Athletic conditioning, age, and the skeletal muscular system
2. Structural damage to muscle tissue and tendons
3. The inflammatory response system

Soreness is a natural effect of exercise and a sign the muscles are benefiting from all that hard work.

Most people will experience muscle soreness at some point, especially if they’re new to working out

--sorry/not sorry- that's just part of it!. 

In order to improve, overloading your muscles is required, but there’s also a law of diminishing returns in fitness.

That’s the "breaking" point where you won’t get any more out of your workout and might do more harm than good.

(with Integrity you don't have to worry about the science part - the EZCOACH program does that for you; all you have to do is follow the program as directed!)

However, if you are in pain while exercising or if your pain persist longer than a few days and seems to get worse over time you will need to contact your primary care physician.

Otherwise follow your EZCOACH program, rest, eat healthy -- at least 80% of the time, drink plenty of water and reap the benefits of a stronger and healthier body! 

There is no "cure" for DOMS but there are several ways you can help minimize its severity.

Gentle stretching

Light massage

Warm bath

Hot/Cold treatments

*Nosaka K, Newton M, Sacco P. Delayed-onset muscle soreness does not reflect the magnitude of eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2002 Dec;12(6):337-46.

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