Do You Have Gym Pain - DOMS Pain!

 By Lam Seina

People are now very conscious of their outer appearance and weight. All of us want to go to gym and start a new exercise program so we can start losing our excess weight and have a great muscle tone. But having the discipline to stick to your work-out program is hard enough, what more if you experience soreness after doing it? All of us have probably experience this. This is called delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS.

Delayed onset muscle soreness is different from the pain we experience when we have a muscle strains or muscle sprains. DOMS is the pain we experience 24-48 hours after trying a new exercise regimen. We experience this pain because our muscle are adapting to the new activity. This activity causes our muscles to have little tears in the muscle. Not all movements can cause these tears, movements that make the muscle contracts while it lengthens are usually the cause of this. Examples of this are walking downhill or down the stairs, and the downward movements when doing the squats and push-ups. These tears causes inflammation during its healing process and contributes to the pain we feel afterward. Delayed onset muscle soreness usually worsens on the second or third day and may last for 7-10 days.




So, how do we ease the pain from delayed onset muscle soreness?

Like what I mentioned, the pain will usually go away after 7-10 days. To relieving the pain, you can try these tips. First is taking a cold shower. There is no evidence that this is effective but you can still try it. Many professional athletes use this to relieve the pain. Another tip is to do light exercise. This may be difficult specially because you already feel sore but there are researches that support this theory. Light exercise and activities promote circulation that can fasten the healing time. Gentle stretching can also reduce DOMS and also feels good. Massaging the affected muscle can also alleviate the pain. Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can also alleviate the pain temporarily but it does not speed up the healing process. Yoga might also help to reduce the delayed onset muscle soreness according to some evidence. Vigorous activity increases the pain, so we must refrain from doing that. And never forget to complete doing your warm ups. Studies show that warm ups reduces the delayed onset muscle soreness. Prevention is always better than cure.



So try to prevent DOMS by always warming up before any vigorous activity. We should also prevent sudden increase in intensity when changing to new exercise routine. Gradual change is always better and this can also prevent delayed onset muscle soreness. If you are not sure about your exercise routine, you might want to consult a trainer. Trainers have lots of experience with exercise so they can help you make a routine that is both effective and can prevent DOMS.

Exercising is not easy. You should have discipline and determination if you want to get the result you want. If you are afraid of experiencing the pain, well maybe it would help to know that everybody experiences the pain. The difference is just the drive to finish the regimen and get the result they want.



Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Comments