You just finished your workout and you are feeling sore. But you are asking yourself “Is this soreness normal?” Today we plan to help you determine if your soreness is too much to push through.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is described as soreness, muscle stiffness, reduced range of motion, less ability to engage in proprioception (sense of self in space) and swelling, along with loss of force-generation ability.  Thinking on ‘soreness’ has not changed a great deal since it was first described by Dr. Theodore Hughes in 1902. For DOMS, pain is not initially felt, it peaks about 1 or 2 days after with work out and then subsides. Usually, it is fully gone by 7 days. Ask Yourself These Questions

Some swelling with soreness and stiffness after a workout are to be expected; however, significant swelling, inflammation, and warmth in an area may be signs of injury. Take these signs seriously and plan to extend your recovery period as necessary. RICE recovery is always recommended for these types of injuries. (RICE stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation). RICE is a good basic treatment, but movement is needed for recovery as well. Your coach, personal trainer, athletic trainer or physical therapist should be able to guide you.  

If necessary, seek out anti-inflammatories. NSAIDs are well-known today to inhibit muscle healing and hypertrophy and should be avoided if possible. Dr. Warner’s Well Theory offers a number of natural anti-inflammatory alternatives to over-the-counter NSAIDs. Her favorites are the Tart Cherry Extract and Joint Health Multi. She highly recommends her CoQ10 Plus Gummies for post-workout muscle recovery!

For years, we have been taught that muscle soreness is due to the production of lactic acid or from microtears. Turns out, newer science has made these concepts obsolete. In fact, humans only produce lactate and this is a beneficial substance that causes many pro-health changes in the body when it is around.  So the ‘burn’ you might feel is likely related to lactate, but this is not necessarily a bad thing.  

The general consensus has been that the soreness felt after a workout is due to inflammation, connective tissue damage and muscle tears, muscle spasm and the lactic acid (again, actually lactate).  

Newer data points to entrapped tiny nerve endings within the muscle spindle that has swollen as a more likely source of pain. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is from minor damage to muscle spindle nerve endings more than from acute inflammation due to tearing of the fibers. This has been shown by Sonkodi et all in a 2015 scientific paper. DOMS is probably a combination of nerve entrapment, mechanical damage and immune-mediated inflammation.   Most coaches and trainers do not want their clients to have too much soreness after a workout.  This usually means that the exercises were done improperly and with poor form. During the work out, there is increased sympathetic nervous system activity and this increases blood flow and contraction strength - this leads to more nerve compression.