Hitting the gym, pounding the weights and cardio, then getting home and feeling completely sore across all your muscle groups is a problem that any man has faced if he’s spent meaningful time in the gym. Some will tell you it’s a sign of strain and excess, and others will tell you it’s the reward for a serious workout. But what do sore muscles actually mean?
In a scientific sense there are several meanings. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (or ‘DOMS’) is an accepted scientific term for the soreness experienced after exercising. It normally presents itself 6-8 hours after the affected muscles have been put under stress and peaks 24-72 hours after your workout. This is not to be confused with what is known as ‘acute muscle soreness’, the burning sensation one experiences in the muscles during and immediately after exercise. This is a buildup of metabolites in the muscles as your body seeks to fuel the muscles and cope with the current workload. A little bit of acute muscle soreness is fine; in fact, it is to be expected, and this type of soreness will typically mean you’ve hit the right point. You’ve worked the muscle enough, and now need to allow the body to get some recovery time in. Of course, it’s not a case of ‘stop the moment you experience some soreness’. Not only is a little bit of acute muscle soreness acceptable, you also need to wind the workout down so that your joints and muscles don’t get a sudden build up lactic acid. So in this sense, acute muscle soreness can be seen as the warning bell to start winding things down sensibly.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is also due to a buildup of metabolites, but not so that you can continue working the muscles, but so they can rebuild and repair. Metabolites keep the muscles working during strain, but also aid in their recovery. It is possible to experience both in the course of a workout; if this happens, your body is telling you that you have really hit it hard.
Muscle soreness though, as well as telling you that it’s time to reel back the exercise, can also tell you other things about your lifestyle. It’ll come on less frequently in healthier muscles, so its prevalence will tell you how fit you are. Additionally, it may also be telling you something about your diet and general lifestyle. There are foods out there that may exacerbate or, conversely, reduce both forms of muscle soreness. Antioxidant rich foods are ideal, such as ginger pineapple and cherries. There is also scientific proof that the amino acid l-citrullline can reduce muscle soreness; this is found primarily in watermelon. That’s not to say, of course, that if you get sore muscles, your diet is immediately out of sync and your muscles are damaged. But if you do switch a few things in your diet and you find that the muscle soreness comes on less or clears up more quickly, then it may be worth considering it to be a message from your body.
So now that we know what both types of muscle soreness mean, we can take steps to combat it, both pre-emptively and reactively. In any case, it is not something to be ‘worked through’ and in the most basic sense, it means you need to cut back, slow down and take some time out to rest up. Even when you do, you’ll notice the soreness get worse for a time before it gets better. Here is when muscle soreness is telling you that your body is recovering and getting stronger.
