Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness - PART 1: What is it? & Why does it happen?
If you lift weights or workout at all, you likely have experienced the uncomfortable sensation of a sore body.
Heck, even if you don’t lift weights or workout you’ve probably experienced this after a tough day of cleaning, moving furniture or doing yard work.
This soreness you’ve experienced is known in the fitness world as “delayed onset muscle soreness” or “DOMS”.
DOMS occurs between 24-72 hrs post physical exertion.
It’s that achiness you feel when you shampoo your hair after PRing your chest press or the stiffness you feel walking down the steps after trying a new fitness class.
DOMS tends to be the most severe after an extremely hard bought of exercise, completing a new exercise and/or after engaging in an exercise that you were absent from for a period of time.
A huge misconception about soreness is that being sore = completing a hard & productive workout = accomplishment & progress.
We can all probably agree that we don’t want to be sore all of the time because that’s just…not fun. But if you experience serious soreness frequently, it likely means training volume & recovery are 🗑️.
Being slightly or somewhat sore sometimes is okay & normal. DOMS is a part of everyone’s fitness endeavors from time to time.
We all experience it. It’s not something to be afraid of or worry about. Rather, it’s something we can learn about & better better so we can train smarter & more efficiently. (More on this in Part 2, coming soon)
Previously it was believed that DOMS was caused by a build up of lactic acid in the muscles/body during activity.
Cue high school track coaches everywhere telling their athletes to put their legs up a wall after practice to “drain the lactic acid”.
Today, we know this to be false.
The human body actually doesn’t even produce lactic acid, it produces lactate. Even though these two sound similar, they’re actually different. Lactate is a bi-product that builds up in the body normally throughout your day/exercise and is actually used as an energy source.
There have been a lot of other potential causes proposed, but current research suggests that DOMS is likely caused by repeated micro tears in the muscles that occur during strenuous activity.
It’s believed that eccentric muscle contractions contribute to these micro tears more than any other muscle contraction.
Eccentric contractions occur when a muscle is contracting as it lengthens. Think: quads in the down phase of your squat.
The inflammation that takes place after these micro tears occur may also contribute to the sore & stiff feelings experienced.
Like I said previously, soreness is not something to be afraid of in your fitness endeavors. Yes, it can be inconvenient & isn’t something we want to chase, but it doesn’t mean you are “broken.”
What it may mean is that you should check on your training volume, nutrition & sleep because being super sore most of the time may mean you’re overshooting your training or undershooting your recovery.
There’s still a lot of confusion out there about muscle soreness (understandably so because there are still trainers who say it’s caused by lactic acid 🤪).
Have a question? Drop it in the comments!
& be sure to head back here next week to read about what you can do when soreness hits ya HARD… or join the newsletter to get it sent to your inbox once it’s published!
Hey, I’m Kirsi!
Certified Personal Trainer & online fitness coach
I help women explore their strength & challenge themselves with simple programming & comprehensive coaching.
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