Talk to me about DOMS (1001 questions...!)
MaggotPig
Posts: 89 Member
So maybe 1001 questions is a little exaggeration!
I am currently experiencing what I assume is my first real DOMS. I've been a bit achy after a trip to the gym before, but this is like nothing I've ever experienced!
On Monday evening, I attended my first kettlebells class. As a little background, other than the occasional (admittedly half hearted) trip to the gym over the last few months, I've not taken part in any formal exercise since I left school, which alarmingly I've just worked out, was 10 years ago!
After the class on Monday, I felt like I'd worked hard. I've never squatted, lunged or burpeed in my life, but I did the entire class and used a 6kg kettlebell relatively comfortably. Yesterday (Tuesday) I woke up fine, but as the day went on, I was really starting to feel it in my quads. By the evening, sitting down and walking down stairs was pretty uncomfortable. Yesterday evening as I went to bed, I was just starting to feel it in my abs. This morning (36 hours after the class), both my quads and my abs are pretty sore. Put it this way, I'm glad I'm working at the site that has a disabled toilet (which is higher and has hand rails next to it) for the next 2 days!!
So my questions (which I've not been able to answer 100% via the search function)
1) am I right in assuming this is DOMS and not an injury? It's come on gradually in the places I would expect to have been feeling it.
2) what can I do to ease it? This morning I've been desperate and taken some ibuprofen because I know my dog will be wanting a walk pretty soon. Yesterday I tried to keep moving (difficult when you work 12 hours a day at a desk job) and keep hydrated. Today I plan to go to the gym after work and do some gentle low impact cardio (probably gentle cycling) as I feel like that might help?
3) what can I do to prevent it next time? I really enjoyed the kettlebells class and would like to continue. I've had some kind of revelation where I have decided that I like this exercise malarkey and would like to do it again. Do I do the class again next week with the same weight and just wait for the resulting DOMS to decrease over time? Do I do the class next week with less weight?
4) anything else you can suggest? Practically? Nutritionally? Anecdotally?
Any advice gratefully received. I'll check back if I ever survive my dog walk this morning!
I am currently experiencing what I assume is my first real DOMS. I've been a bit achy after a trip to the gym before, but this is like nothing I've ever experienced!
On Monday evening, I attended my first kettlebells class. As a little background, other than the occasional (admittedly half hearted) trip to the gym over the last few months, I've not taken part in any formal exercise since I left school, which alarmingly I've just worked out, was 10 years ago!
After the class on Monday, I felt like I'd worked hard. I've never squatted, lunged or burpeed in my life, but I did the entire class and used a 6kg kettlebell relatively comfortably. Yesterday (Tuesday) I woke up fine, but as the day went on, I was really starting to feel it in my quads. By the evening, sitting down and walking down stairs was pretty uncomfortable. Yesterday evening as I went to bed, I was just starting to feel it in my abs. This morning (36 hours after the class), both my quads and my abs are pretty sore. Put it this way, I'm glad I'm working at the site that has a disabled toilet (which is higher and has hand rails next to it) for the next 2 days!!So my questions (which I've not been able to answer 100% via the search function)
1) am I right in assuming this is DOMS and not an injury? It's come on gradually in the places I would expect to have been feeling it.
2) what can I do to ease it? This morning I've been desperate and taken some ibuprofen because I know my dog will be wanting a walk pretty soon. Yesterday I tried to keep moving (difficult when you work 12 hours a day at a desk job) and keep hydrated. Today I plan to go to the gym after work and do some gentle low impact cardio (probably gentle cycling) as I feel like that might help?
3) what can I do to prevent it next time? I really enjoyed the kettlebells class and would like to continue. I've had some kind of revelation where I have decided that I like this exercise malarkey and would like to do it again. Do I do the class again next week with the same weight and just wait for the resulting DOMS to decrease over time? Do I do the class next week with less weight?
4) anything else you can suggest? Practically? Nutritionally? Anecdotally?
Any advice gratefully received. I'll check back if I ever survive my dog walk this morning!
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Replies
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1) Probably - timeline seems right, and your pains are symmetrical, right? Acute injuries will often happen on one side, and are often felt during or immediately after exercise(not always true for overuse injuries but doesn't sound like that's the case here).
2) You can ride it out passively (which i have done when i couldn't even really sit, like at all) or go for a gentle walk, or cycle, as you planned, that will help increase blood flow and move the nasty painful junk out of your muscles.
Swimming does something special for me for doms, not sure why. Got to be a gentle one though, I almost hesitate to call it "swimming". Like you have to put out of your mind the idea that it's going to be any kind of workout. It is just very slowly propelling your body from one end of the pool to the other - really gentle kicks, like you're a tired baby.
Cold is supposed to help (eg cold showers, ice baths [!]) but heat usually makes me feel better faster (hot showers, heating pads). (I guess both approaches increase blood flow one way or another.)
I usually also take advil, even though it's supposed to be bad for muscle and tendon health longer term, just bc i can't take the pain.
3) the wiki entry for doms talks about the "repeated bout effect", which sounds like it would be worth the effort. i think the idea is you do a 50% version of what you can really do one day, and your workout 2 days later (at full capacity) is supposed to not cause doms pain. (usually, the reason i have doms is that i haven't exercised in a while and feel compelled to push it further than i can actually go just at that moment, so this obviously is not an approach i've tried.)
Foam rolling and stretching after workouts have greatly reduced my post-workout pain.
4) As above - heat and "swimming". i imagine there's an argument for more protein (eg shakes) or bcaas but i haven't looked much into it. sleep.0 -
1) DOMS isn't really an injury per say. Strength training causes micro tears in your muscle fibers. When those tears heal, your muscles grow and get stronger, this is why strength training works to increase strength. So technically you did tear your muscle fibers, but in a good way, so it's not an injury that you need to be concerned with.
2) Basically you just have to tough it out. I guess you can take ibuprofen, but usually you just learn to deal with it, as it only lasts a few days really. If you're in this much pain from doing a class with 6lb kettlebells, you'd be in some serious pain if you did some actual heavy lifting, but you learn that it's not the end of the world.
3) You can't really prevent it, but it's generally the worst the first time, and if you consistently keep training, it will get less and less painful.0 -
1) am I right in assuming this is DOMS and not an injury? It's come on gradually in the places I would expect to have been feeling it.
2) what can I do to ease it? This morning I've been desperate and taken some ibuprofen because I know my dog will be wanting a walk pretty soon. Yesterday I tried to keep moving (difficult when you work 12 hours a day at a desk job) and keep hydrated. Today I plan to go to the gym after work and do some gentle low impact cardio (probably gentle cycling) as I feel like that might help?
3) what can I do to prevent it next time? I really enjoyed the kettlebells class and would like to continue. I've had some kind of revelation where I have decided that I like this exercise malarkey and would like to do it again. Do I do the class again next week with the same weight and just wait for the resulting DOMS to decrease over time? Do I do the class next week with less weight?
4) anything else you can suggest? Practically? Nutritionally? Anecdotally?
Any advice gratefully received. I'll check back if I ever survive my dog walk this morning!
1) Yep ... most likely. If the pain doesn't go away after a few days or a week, then it might be that something was pulled or strained.
2) Hydration is good. Gentle cycling might be good ... see how that goes. Walking usually helps me a bit. You might consider a low-dose magnesium supplement (but don't go crazy with those! ... read about them before you try them).
3) Keep exercising ... do the class again next week, and you probably won't feel as bad as you did this time.
But I find I usually have to do an activity that works those muscles about 3 times a week ... maybe heavily one day, and lighter the other couple days. If I just do it once a week, I experience some DOMS after each time. Not usually as bad as the first time, but it's there. I'm not saying to do a kettlebell class 3 days a week, but you might do some light weights or short abs workout a couple other days a week.
4) I've had it so bad, I've felt ill and unable to move, and have had to take a day where I did nothing to allow myself to recover a bit. But the next day I kind of eased back into it again. Its kind of incentive not to let things slide.
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Thanks for the replies. As I said, I was fully anticipating some sort of discomfort after having not done any form of exercise beyond walking my dog for around 10 years! Discomfort is symmetrical and coming on gradually. I'm not sure I'd have fared much better if I did the class without any weight, never mind with the 6kg (13lb) kettlebell! I'm going to try and do the class each Monday evening. I'm limited as to when I can get to the gym, as I work long hours most days, but I usually aim for 2-3 times a week so hopefully can incorporate those visits with recovering from the kettlebells class each week. Walking is much easier today although my legs don't feel totally 100% under control. I'm just hoping that I've not aggravated an old back injury that hasn't been a problem for a long time...
I'm eating at a deficit at the moment with the primary aim being weightloss rather than muscle gain, but I want to preserve the muscles that I do have (well hidden under the flab!). I did wonder if swimming would help, I assume it would due to the hydrostatic pressure and warm water if nothing else. My swimming style is pretty much "tired baby" anyway
But again, it's just having the time to actually get there around work/life etc. 0 -
Oh very neat, I hadn't even thought about hydrostatic pressure coming into it. Yeah, swimming is real annoyance (scheduling, dealing with chlorine in hair), agreed.
The workout you just did should provide some kind of protective effect against pain for the next one, but it might be an idea to go with a slighly lower kettlebell weight next class.
With kettlebells, you have to be careful with form to avoid hurting your back with those explosive swings - if it's actually sore, maybe it's an idea to sit the next class out
(At least I've never had DOMS in my back, anytime I've had that, it's been a strain/sprain) 0 -
walking and stretching helps me quite a bit but I've personally learned to love it. I think the more you workout the more you will crave that feeling. for now though, go for a walk, stretch it out, take a hot shower, and be proud of yourself for treating yourself to an awesome workout :-)0
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Oh very neat, I hadn't even thought about hydrostatic pressure coming into it. Yeah, swimming is real annoyance (scheduling, dealing with chlorine in hair), agreed.
The workout you just did should provide some kind of protective effect against pain for the next one, but it might be an idea to go with a slighly lower kettlebell weight next class.
With kettlebells, you have to be careful with form to avoid hurting your back with those explosive swings - if it's actually sore, maybe it's an idea to sit the next class out (At least I've never had DOMS in my back, anytime I've had that, it's been a strain/sprain)
I've had wicked DOMS in my back, to the point I thought I was injured several times lol. my back is stronger than its ever been in my life. if your back didn't start hurting immediately after youre probably fine. also if you bend your knees and lay your chest on your legs you should feel a bit of a relief, if it hurts worse you might have tweeked something.
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Haven't read "foam roller" yet - maybe I just missed it - but that helps me. Also, +1 to exercise of some type the day after that gets the blood moving, regular repetition (with rest between) of the "problem" activity, cold right after the workout, stretching, drinking lots of water. If you like kettlebell, maybe buy one & do some of the exercises at home in between the weekly class? They're not hugely expensive.
I'm, like, old (59 -heh), so when I started some lifting again, with (sadly) lil' tiny Barbie weights during recovery from a surgery, I got some quite sore muscles, especially those I neglect day-to-day, like triceps. Just kept going on plan (every other day), and it was much more manageable after the next workout.0 -
boogiewookie wrote: »Oh very neat, I hadn't even thought about hydrostatic pressure coming into it. Yeah, swimming is real annoyance (scheduling, dealing with chlorine in hair), agreed.
The workout you just did should provide some kind of protective effect against pain for the next one, but it might be an idea to go with a slighly lower kettlebell weight next class.
With kettlebells, you have to be careful with form to avoid hurting your back with those explosive swings - if it's actually sore, maybe it's an idea to sit the next class out (At least I've never had DOMS in my back, anytime I've had that, it's been a strain/sprain)
I've had wicked DOMS in my back, to the point I thought I was injured several times lol. my back is stronger than its ever been in my life. if your back didn't start hurting immediately after youre probably fine. also if you bend your knees and lay your chest on your legs you should feel a bit of a relief, if it hurts worse you might have tweeked something.
oh i am ok, no back issues at the moment, and i don't kettlebell at all, currently
DOMS in your back?? 0 -
Oh very neat, I hadn't even thought about hydrostatic pressure coming into it. Yeah, swimming is real annoyance (scheduling, dealing with chlorine in hair), agreed.
The workout you just did should provide some kind of protective effect against pain for the next one, but it might be an idea to go with a slighly lower kettlebell weight next class.
With kettlebells, you have to be careful with form to avoid hurting your back with those explosive swings - if it's actually sore, maybe it's an idea to sit the next class out (At least I've never had DOMS in my back, anytime I've had that, it's been a strain/sprain)
My back is fine, actually! It's my legs and my abs (although abs are much better now - it's just the legs!)0 -
So I did an hours cycling in the gym last night (longer than I intended but I worked out how to use the built in TV so spent my hour watching The Great British Bake Off!). Very gentle cycling, resistance varying between 1-5, heart rate consistently between 125-135. I think my legs feel a little better today. Certainly sitting down is mildly less painful. Walking down stairs is still difficult though. Some of the discomfort in my quads seems to be shifting which is good! The guy at the gym last night suggested I go home and take a hot bath, but I was home alone last night and daren't as I genuinely think that my partner would come home from working his night shift and still find me in there now!
Despite my resulting agony(!) I've booked in to another kettlebells class on Monday morning (hoping maybe that doing it early in the day will mean a better recovery as I'll be moving about for the rest of the day after).
What I can't work out, is whether it was just the exercises in general that we're too much (like I said, I've never squatted or lunged or anything before the class!), or was the weight too much? It was a 6kg/13lb kettlebell and I've already lost 56kg that I used to carry around on my body daily so from that perspective, 6kg doesn't look like very much?0 -
So I did an hours cycling in the gym last night . . . . I think my legs feel a little better today.
(snippage)
Despite my resulting agony(!) I've booked in to another kettlebells class on Monday morning (hoping maybe that doing it early in the day will mean a better recovery as I'll be moving about for the rest of the day after).
What I can't work out, is whether it was just the exercises in general that we're too much (like I said, I've never squatted or lunged or anything before the class!), or was the weight too much? It was a 6kg/13lb kettlebell and I've already lost 56kg that I used to carry around on my body daily so from that perspective, 6kg doesn't look like very much?
I think you're being very bold/brave, and doing the right things (cycling, repeat class earlier in day). From my experience, I'd suggest - if you can stand it - repeating the kettlebell experiment for at least 2-3 classes, and seeing if it gets more manageable. Pushing yourself a bit is good - can give that wonderful sense of accomplishment - as long as you're not actually injured.
The weight of the kettlebell & your weight loss aren't really comparable - you were flinging the KB around in ways you never flung your body weight, and using significantly different muscles! So, it's probably a combination of the unfamiliar movements/muscle use and the weight. I tend to be a "go for it" girl, so I'd probably stick with the same weight if tolerable, but you might want to talk with the instructor to get his/her opinion.
You do want to be challenging yourself - so gratifying when you succeed - but not overdoing so that you give up. It's a fine line, but you can find it. Go, you - in a few weeks/months, you'll totally surprise yourself with what you can do!0 -
My instructor used to tell us, after a particularly difficult workout, to take our cell phones to the bathroom with us. Just in case we couldn't get off the pot. Let me tell you, it was a close call some days! I get DOMS exactly the same way you described. Keep going to the class, it gets better!!0
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I feel for people who experience DOMS properly for the first time. It is like being hit by a bus. It gets easier gradually but you will never stop experiencing it, you just learn to deal with it, and hope people don't prod you 2 days after a chest workout. Haha0
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So I did an hours cycling in the gym last night . . . . I think my legs feel a little better today.
(snippage)
Despite my resulting agony(!) I've booked in to another kettlebells class on Monday morning (hoping maybe that doing it early in the day will mean a better recovery as I'll be moving about for the rest of the day after).
What I can't work out, is whether it was just the exercises in general that we're too much (like I said, I've never squatted or lunged or anything before the class!), or was the weight too much? It was a 6kg/13lb kettlebell and I've already lost 56kg that I used to carry around on my body daily so from that perspective, 6kg doesn't look like very much?
I think you're being very bold/brave, and doing the right things (cycling, repeat class earlier in day). From my experience, I'd suggest - if you can stand it - repeating the kettlebell experiment for at least 2-3 classes, and seeing if it gets more manageable. Pushing yourself a bit is good - can give that wonderful sense of accomplishment - as long as you're not actually injured.
The weight of the kettlebell & your weight loss aren't really comparable - you were flinging the KB around in ways you never flung your body weight, and using significantly different muscles! So, it's probably a combination of the unfamiliar movements/muscle use and the weight. I tend to be a "go for it" girl, so I'd probably stick with the same weight if tolerable, but you might want to talk with the instructor to get his/her opinion.
You do want to be challenging yourself - so gratifying when you succeed - but not overdoing so that you give up. It's a fine line, but you can find it. Go, you - in a few weeks/months, you'll totally surprise yourself with what you can do!
Thanks, that's what I needed to hear! It's starting to ease, my abs still hurt if I laugh hard or sneeze but it's at that satisfying discomfort stage. My legs are getting better, slowly though! I'm going away for the weekend so not much opportunity to do much activity wise, but hoping to go for a few walks just to keep moving.
I think in terms of sitting down and things, the anticipation is almost worse than the discomfort now. I'm just hoping that my hotel room this weekend isn't on the 10th floor!
I enjoyed the kettlebells class so definitely going to try and go regularly. I've decided that until things hurt less, swimming probably isn't such a good idea because I don't think I'll be able to get back out of the pool! I daren't even have a bath tonight as my boyfriend is working a night shift!0 -
So maybe 1001 questions is a little exaggeration!
I am currently experiencing what I assume is my first real DOMS. I've been a bit achy after a trip to the gym before, but this is like nothing I've ever experienced!
On Monday evening, I attended my first kettlebells class. As a little background, other than the occasional (admittedly half hearted) trip to the gym over the last few months, I've not taken part in any formal exercise since I left school, which alarmingly I've just worked out, was 10 years ago! After the class on Monday, I felt like I'd worked hard. I've never squatted, lunged or burpeed in my life, but I did the entire class and used a 6kg kettlebell relatively comfortably. Yesterday (Tuesday) I woke up fine, but as the day went on, I was really starting to feel it in my quads. By the evening, sitting down and walking down stairs was pretty uncomfortable. Yesterday evening as I went to bed, I was just starting to feel it in my abs. This morning (36 hours after the class), both my quads and my abs are pretty sore. Put it this way, I'm glad I'm working at the site that has a disabled toilet (which is higher and has hand rails next to it) for the next 2 days!!
So my questions (which I've not been able to answer 100% via the search function)
1) am I right in assuming this is DOMS and not an injury? It's come on gradually in the places I would expect to have been feeling it.
2) what can I do to ease it? This morning I've been desperate and taken some ibuprofen because I know my dog will be wanting a walk pretty soon. Yesterday I tried to keep moving (difficult when you work 12 hours a day at a desk job) and keep hydrated. Today I plan to go to the gym after work and do some gentle low impact cardio (probably gentle cycling) as I feel like that might help?
3) what can I do to prevent it next time? I really enjoyed the kettlebells class and would like to continue. I've had some kind of revelation where I have decided that I like this exercise malarkey and would like to do it again. Do I do the class again next week with the same weight and just wait for the resulting DOMS to decrease over time? Do I do the class next week with less weight?
4) anything else you can suggest? Practically? Nutritionally? Anecdotally?
Any advice gratefully received. I'll check back if I ever survive my dog walk this morning!
1 - most likely...generally speaking injury pain is pretty well identifiable from just being sore...even if you're really sore.
2 - take some ibuprofen, take a warm soak, walk and move around. sitting around doing nothing makes it worse...keep your muscles warm...easy cycling is great
3 - severe DOMs really only last for a very short time...as you keep repeating the exercise and improve fitness in general, DOMs diminish significantly. really, you should be feeling quite a bit better even after the first week of regular exercise...certainly after two weeks you should see marked improvement here. That said, I'm always a little sore because I'm always pushing harder, faster, longer, etc...but it's not anywhere near as intense as initial DOMs after a hiatus.
4 - warm up and cool down from your exercises...do some stretching afterwards and I also enjoy the foam roller, particularly on my IT band which gets pretty tight. nutrition is also important to recovery.0
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