DOMS - forever?

[TheGlitterati]

I’m new to exercise. I mean I’ve done it, but never stuck at it. This really needs to change, but I’m wondering if those of you who always exercise ever / regularly experience DOMS?

i have started off nice and gently with 10 minute Pilates sessions so nothing hardcore and everywhere hurts.

I’m wondering if as I get more experience and can do more for longer, if the DOMS will persist until I am just maintaining muscle strength or if there will always be a part of you that you push harder with and therefore you’re always sore in some way.

also is it the same for aerobic strength? At what point if you’re say running, are you able to go for a nice 5k without feeling like you’re going to die for most of it? Do you have to be able to do 10k well for example? I know we are all different, if interested in experiences of others.

thanks!

In my experience, the DOMS only really happens when you first start exercising a new muscle, or if youve had a break from it.
You might have it a bit the next time you exercise but not as bad as this time, and then it wont keep happening, certainly not to that extent

Pilates seems gentle, but I would ache like hell after doing it sometimes!!!
With regards to other exercise moving forward, sometimes I will ache, but it is nothing like it was in the early days I promise. I do a mix of cardio and weights/strength training 5 or 6 days a week.
Good luck and enjoy!

I rarely get DOMS now. If I miss a few sessions of body pump then they certainly come back then! I do classes 5 days a week- a mix of pump, combat, attack and balance

I only get DOMS if I seriously change a programme or deliberately lift v heavy for progression.

I don't know re 5k. I know that I find them a comfortable, easy run but not sure when that happened. I exercise regularly and have done for many years.

I do 5k three times/week. I still don’t find it easy 18months after completing C25K but i know I can do it so I just persist at the end! I don’t get DOMS at all so long as I walk at a decent pace for a bit afterwards. So I walk for 2min (200m), run for 30min (5km) then walk for 10min (1k). For me that cool down walk is the bit where I feel on a lovely high from the exercise! I think it helps to stop lactic acidosis build up in the muscles which is the part of why you get DOMS.

Also if you eat something high protein within about 20 or 30 mins after exercising, it reduces the doms.

DOMS is great! It means you've exercised something new! It will go away, but it helps to stretch for 10-15 minutes after an exercise session. And do some active recovery the next 2 days - walking, swimming, stretching. Or just more exercise!

I only get DOMS if I fail to cool down or stretch properly. Otherwise I'm fine e.g. 60mins cardio, 5mins cooldown, 10mins stretch. If you're doing high impact sports like running or netball you also need to warm up properly and wear proper shoes to protect your joints.

DOMS is a response to doing more exercise than your body can comfortably cope with. If you are always pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone you will always experience DOMS.

• But you will get used to the feeling
• You will find ways to reduce the feeling
• You may not notice it because it becomes part of your cool down, strethcing routine
• Or you may be settling into a comfortable exercise routine

DOMS is a good thing. Not something to be avoided but something to be managed. It is part and parcel of getting fitter, your body responding to increase levels of any form of exercise, part and parcel of exercising at all, no matter how un/fit you may be.

why do people say "DOMS"? Why not say "sore muscles" which has obvious meaning?

I get maybe 2 hours exercise/day, usually about half of that aerobic.

I sometimes notice some tiredness, stiffness or slight soreness at end of day typically in bed, or maybe in my legs when I stand up (at work, after long spell sitting) after a hard swim. Or maybe when cycling the swimming-leg-effect will be noticeable.

I find all this barely noticeable and it's fine next day. I suspect I have relatively low muscle tone (genetically). Maybe that matters.

If I want sore muscles that last for multiple days, especially a kind of all over body ache (back and legs especially), a full day of skiing or bodyboarding (fall fall fall) or energetic football game (dash run dash stop dash fall dash run dash) or 6+ hours climbing/descending mountains : is how I'd achieve that.

Your threshold for getting DOMS will change and improve, but you tend to continue getting it because you push to make more progress, and that's good.

2 years ago I ached for 2 days after using 2 kg weights in a circuits class... now I feel it from moving from 3kg on to 5kg, and less intensely than I did before. It's progress.

Practice will mean you get used to 5k. Your 5k now may be a gentle one compared to one in the future if you build up speed. 5k will feel easy compared to 10k.

DOMS is Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, a recovery response. "Sore muscles" is more general and could be a sign of injury during exercise.

It's always worse the first time you do something. But it's a good thing, it always happens to some extent, and you'll learn how to regulate it, so that it's a pleasant 'aliveness' in your muscles, rather than not being able to get up from a sitting position without screaming. It's a sign of over-doing it. We want to over-do it; that's what builds muscles. But... not too much.

@lljkk DOMS is Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness rather than the aches of finishing a session. Many people use it incorrectly but it is the soreness felt a couple of days later that tells you your muscles are starting to heal, gain muscle strength etc. So, if used properly, it does have specific meaning, not just "ooh I ache after that!"

I am intrigued that people feel aches immediately as they are finishing an exercise session. This does not happen to me. Another benefit of naturally low muscle tone maybe. Is this called IOMS?

Thank you all, very interested.

i can hardly walk down the stairs today after lots of squats 🙈🤣

Interesting *

I hear you OP! I lift regularly but have always, always got DOMS no matter what. A colleague really enjoyed me trying to walk down the stairs after a PB squat this week.

It's about whether something is new to you, and how much effort you're putting in. I don't generally have DOMS after runs, for example, because I'm used to it; but if I go for even a shortish bike ride I really feel it the next day because it uses different muscles.

As for a 5k feeling hard, again it's about effort and what you're used to. I could run a 5k in around 25 minutes and it doesn't feel any harder than walking, but if I run it in 20 mins it feels very tough indeed. I can't remember when I got to that stage though.. probably 5k felt very comfortable at around the point when I would've considered 10 miles a longer run?

I strength train, do hiit and run.

I agree with others about DOMS - stick at it, build up slowly and carefully and it will ease.

Re 5k - go MUCH slower - as slowly as needed till it feels almost pleasant. Don't worry about how slow this is. Do that regularly, and it will start to feel easier and either your speed will improve on its own or you can look at building distance or pace. Running isn't my main thing, and I am in my 50s, but I do enjoy it now and stick at it by doing that. I am building distance at the moment after winter weather/colds/covid etc, switched off my Strava audio cues, just enjoying my audio book and the blossom and lo, I am back up to 7.5 k without really noticing!

I think DOMS is because the delay is generally two days after ie the day after the day after you do something unaccustomed. I've been traveling and out of my usual 2 times a week mad PT session, plus several other classes/sessions.

I went back last Wednesday & did some gentle squats & deadlifts - no more than 30 kilo squats & 60 k deadlifts, and by Friday my inner thighs felt gently sore. It was great - I like the feeling - it means even doing pretty low weights and only 5 sets of 6 reps each, actually did something.

Totally normal!

Exercising a muscle that isn't used to it, or pushing hard, will usually result in DOMS.

When I first started exercising, it was such a shock how much everything hurt and I had no idea how/why others could do it.

But, honestly, if you keep going then you will barely notice any soreness, it gets better very quickly.

Running can take a while for your body to adapt to, but keep going!

When I started, 5k would exhaust me. Now I can run up to 15/16 miles and not really feel it, but this has taken years and lots of trial and error with fuelling and stretching.

• stretching and using foam roller
• fuel properly
• water, water and more water!

Also, I use magnesium spray on my legs after a long run which helps a hell of a lot.

The more regularly you exercise, the less you'll notice DOMS. As I say, I run, but also lift weights, use the gym machines, box, HIIT, spin classes and when I first started anything new was WOW soreness, but now I have no discomfort (unless I've really pushed).