We exercise intensively and the next thing we know, we have
delayed onset muscle soreness or in laymen’s terms, muscle pain.
In some cases, this does not only occur a few hours after the
activity but extends to two to three days even. What is causing
this pain and how do we really prevent it? Delayed onset muscle
soreness (DOMS) is the swelling of the muscles felt after 12 to
48 hours following a resistance workout. Many athletes believe
that extended muscle soreness is caused by a build-up of lactic
acid that can be mitigated by cooling down after the workout.
Although lactic acid is responsible for the soreness felt during
and right after, it is not the villain which causes next-day(s)
of soreness. The real villain here is instigated by the result
of small tears in the muscle tissues. DOMS is experienced after
a breakthrough of muscles’ use, and this often occurs to
newcomers to weight training, sculpting, swimming or fitness
classes. As well, we encounter DOMS when we have a sudden major
change in our exer