KIMBy Kim Duke

NETA & AFAA Certified Trainer

We all know that daily exercise is invaluable to keeping our bodies strong and functional.  The old saying, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it,” turns out to be completely true.  You may not feel this way in your youth but as you age, the less you do physically will play a detrimental role in how you age.

This being said, starting an exercise program can be challenging. Making the time to exercise, creating a balanced routine, and setting goals are hard enough, but add to that the muscle soreness that comes with adapting to that regimen and it may be difficult to stay on track.



Exercise physiologists refer to the gradually increasing discomfort that occurs between 24 and 48 hours after activity as “delayed onset muscle soreness” (DOMS), and it is perfectly normal.


To be more specific, says Draper, who’s also a member of the heat-responsive pain council; DOMS occurs when the muscle is performing an eccentric or a lengthening contraction. Examples of this would be running downhill or the lengthening portion of a bicep curl.


“The aches and pains should be minor,” says Carol Torgan, an exercise physiologist and fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, “and are simply indications that muscles are adapting to your fitness regimen.”


People starting an exercise program need guidance, Torgan says. “To them they might feel very sore, and because they aren’t familiar with it, they might worry that they’ve hurt themselves. Then they won’t want to do it again.”


So what can you do to alleviate the pain?

“Exercise physiologists and athletic trainers have not yet discovered a panacea for DOMS,” says Draper, “however, several remedies such as ice, rest, anti-inflammatory meds, massages and stretching after your workout have been reported as helpful in the process of recovery.

“People don’t stretch enough,” he says. “Stretching helps break the cycle,” which goes from soreness to muscle spasm to contraction and tightness.


It’s also a process of muscle conditioning. Torgan says DOMS can have a “repeated bouts” effect.

“If someone does an activity, they will be inoculated for a few weeks to a few months — the next time they do the activity, there will be less muscle tissue damage, less soreness and a faster strength recovery.” This is why athletes often cross-train and vary their routines to continue to challenge and develop their muscle strength.





Remember~ Where there is no struggle, there is no strength. You will NEVER REGRET WORKING HARD!

“Soreness can serve as encouragement in a workout program because people like immediate results. Muscle doesn’t visibly [grow] overnight, nor does your time in the mile drop from eight to six minutes,” says Draper. “So something like soreness can give people encouragement that they are in fact working the muscle.”