Is it weird DOMS or something else?

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beabria
beabria Posts: 541 Member
edited February 2023 in Fitness and Exercise
I've been having some new and unusual (for me) pains during and post-workouts for the past couple of weeks and am a little puzzled. I've been lifting weights consistently twice a week (with a couple short breaks for travel) for the past nine months (plus walking a couple other days a week). I've had the occasional bout of DOMS, which for me feels like an ache that is a little stretchy/burny, which generally hurts more when I move that muscles(s).

The soreness I've been having for the past couple weeks feels different. During a workout, some muscles will spasm - clenching hard and painfully - when I start to move them. This happened most with biceps and hamstrings - so not just one part of my body. After a workout, I'm having a lot of dull aching, both in the muscles themselves and along muscles attachments. This aching persists when I'm still and doesn't seem to get any worse when I use a muscle. I'm getting some milder spasms while at rest as well, and can feel knots in a lot of muscles. I haven't added anything new or increased my weights recently - and I actually decreased weights for my most recent session.

I'm not really sure what's going on, especially since I haven't changed my routine. It doesn't feel like DOMS normally does for me - but on the other hand it seems rather unlikely that I've simultaneously strained muscles all over my body. Any ideas? I skipped one workout last week to give my muscles a rest, but that didn't seem enough, so I'm planning on taking a full week off. Any other tips/suggestions to try?

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  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,624 Member
    edited February 2023
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    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    My first guess would be dehydration, and not enough electrolytes. Are you getting enough calories, macros and drinking enough?
    seconded….
    Dehydration plays havoc on the body. Also some micronutrients can have the same effect if they’re insufficient
  • beabria
    beabria Posts: 541 Member
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    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    My first guess would be dehydration, and not enough electrolytes. Are you getting enough calories, macros and drinking enough?

    Hmmm... could be dehydration. I'm one of odd folks who really likes water, so I generally drink a lot. But on reflection, it may have been a little less in the past few weeks than normal. Low electrolytes seems less likely b/c I add electrolyte powder to my water a couple times a week. I could add more ... can you realistically get too many electrolytes from supplements??? I am in a calorie deficit b/c I'm focussing more on weight loss than muscle gain (down 65lbs. - yay!). But, as with activity level, that hasn't really changed recently.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,624 Member
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    You may have some trigger point issues in the muscles. You may want to look into getting some body work done by somebody that specializes in deep tissue work. Usually the good ones can get in there and release those points.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,156 Member
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    Would I be accurate in interpreting the spasms you talk about as somewhat cramp-like?

    Have you started or stopped anything in your eating patterns in the last couple of weeks, including supplements?

    Are you supplementing creatine? Reports of muscle cramping initially on starting creatine seem to be getting debunked lately, so this is a reach. OTOH, if lifting and not using creatine, it might be a thing to consider from a recovery/performance standpoint. It's complicated, and I'm not expert.

    Speaking for myself, I do seem to experience cramp-like discomfort if I get too out of balance with opposing muscle groups. I have no theoretical basis for saying this, just weird experience. My routine (to my discredit) tends to create imbalances, but I won't belabor the details. As an example, if I'm doing a lot that stresses quads (🙄), hamstrings can get a little inclined to cramp with certain movements.

    I second the vote for bodywork, either a good sports massage therapist, or physical therapist, or even perhaps osteopathic manipulation. (My university-clinic osteopath solves a lot of body problems for me, either hands-on or by recommending exercises for particular issues.)

    Do you do any kind of stretching or self-massage as part of your routine? By self massage, I'm talking things like foam rolling, rolling on a yoga ball or lacrosse ball, theracane, or that sort of thing. Sometimes those can help work out knotty-feeling areas, IME.

    Just some random thoughts, not authoritative.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,624 Member
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    As an aside, proper warm up is essential so before hitting each muscle group do a light, higher rep set for each.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,514 Member
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    Being in a deficit is fine, but if you aren't getting enough calories, or if you are too low in some macros, I assume fat and carb would be important here, that could be the problem.
  • beabria
    beabria Posts: 541 Member
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    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    You may have some trigger point issues in the muscles. You may want to look into getting some body work done by somebody that specializes in deep tissue work. Usually the good ones can get in there and release those points.
    This would probably be a good idea all around. It's been a couple years since I had any body work!
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Have you started or stopped anything in your eating patterns in the last couple of weeks, including supplements?

    Are you supplementing creatine? Reports of muscle cramping initially on starting creatine seem to be getting debunked lately, so this is a reach. OTOH, if lifting and not using creatine, it might be a thing to consider from a recovery/performance standpoint. It's complicated, and I'm not expert.
    No changes in supplements. I haven't heard anything about creatine. I'll read up on it - though sounds like maybe best to wait until this current weirdness passes?

    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Do you do any kind of stretching or self-massage as part of your routine? By self massage, I'm talking things like foam rolling, rolling on a yoga ball or lacrosse ball, theracane, or that sort of thing. Sometimes those can help work out knotty-feeling areas, IME.
    I do a bit of stretching, but could probably improve there. I do do self-massage when I get sore, but it doesn't seem to be doing much with this new bout of soreness. But I probably need to improve my technique, since the sore spots this time around are kinda different spots from my "usual suspects". I can massage the aches out of my ITband pretty effectively - but I'm not yet sure how to tackle all of these new random spots!!!

  • beabria
    beabria Posts: 541 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Would I be accurate in interpreting the spasms you talk about as somewhat cramp-like?
    The kinds I'm getting while at rest are cramp-like. The kinds I get while working out are also kinda cramp-like, but like a charley horse cramp, contracting and holding without letting go for a bit.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,523 Member
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    Sounds like a combination of dehydration along with probably some tendinitis. Drinking more water helps with the dehydration, but once you get tendinitis, it's forever. It's just the degree of inflammation that's usually the issue after. You MAY be overtraining. What's your actual exercise program? Exercises, sets and reps.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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  • beabria
    beabria Posts: 541 Member
    edited March 2023
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Sounds like a combination of dehydration along with probably some tendinitis. Drinking more water helps with the dehydration, but once you get tendinitis, it's forever. It's just the degree of inflammation that's usually the issue after. You MAY be overtraining. What's your actual exercise program? Exercises, sets and reps.

    I'm a little flexible on the reps and sets, but here's the "normal". Unless otherwise marked, it's all 5 reps, 5 sets. I usually either increase the reps before upping weight or decrease the reps after increasing weight, depending on how I feel about it on a given day. I don't increase the weight on a set schedule anymore - just when the previous weight starts to feel less challenging. I used to increase by 5lbs a week, but that wasn't sustainable after the first few months.
    Day A - warm up of walking and rowing; mixed abs, squats, overhead press, barbell lunge, deadlift (1-2 sets), reverse fly, hip adductor, hip abductor
    Day B - warm up of walking and rowing; mixed abs, squats, bench press, barbell row, bicep curl, lateral raise, hamstring curl
    I throw in the occasional other movement (often halos, tricep extensions, or glute bridge), but not on any consistent schedule.

  • beabria
    beabria Posts: 541 Member
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    Thanks for the advice. Thought I'd give an update. I do think it probably is a bit of dehydration, but definitely also a little tendonitis, especially around my upper legs and hips. I've been sticking to walking and stretching this week and it's improving. I've been doing this short strechy yoga for the past few days, and it seems to be helping a lot - so thought I'd share! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_PhU-jMPRM
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,514 Member
    edited March 2023
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    Thanks for the update.

    Re tendons, it's recommended that lifters take a deload week, approx every 6-12 weeks, to give tendons etc. a greater chance of recovery. During that week you'd do reduced volume, intensity, sets, etc. or maybe rest completely.

    You said you've been doing twice a week for nine months, with just two short forced breaks. Maybe you need to deload.

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