Avoid Excess Post Workout Soreness (16 Strategies)

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) usually occurs 24 to 72 hours following a workout. Exercise tears down muscle tissue causing a cascade of reactions which include inflammation. These reactions stimulate muscle fibers to repair themselves, and in doing so, they become stronger.

A productive workout will usually produce a small to moderate amount of soreness, but should not leave you struggling to carry out the activities of daily living. The harder your workout, the harder your body has to work to recover. You can actively help this process, or hinder it.

To avoid excessive soreness after a workout, address the factors I list below. I recommend these strategies to help you speed up your recovery time, enhance your training results, and feel stronger after each workout.

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1. Follow a responsive exercise training plan. Balance appropriate physical challenge for your fitness levels with rest days of anywhere from 1 to 3 days weekly (but no more than 2 rest days consecutively). A balanced training plan also allows for recovery of muscular and joint systems, as well as the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Make sure you are gradually progressing your exercise difficulty and training volume, by not increasing your load or intensity by too much, too soon. Increase your training volume by 10 % or less weekly, or, every two to three weeks. If you suffer from burnout, or from an adrenal or thyroid condition, add your workout progressions more cautiously.

2. Prioritize your exercise and maintain consistency in your training frequency. This is a rule of training effectiveness, and it influences exercise recovery. Skipping more than two days between workouts causes “a step back” for every couple of steps forward in training gains. If you have to take several days off, resist the temptation to pick up where you left off when you return to exercise. Your first session back needs to be scaled down in intensity and volume by anywhere from 10% if you missed more than three days, or, as much as 50% if you’ve missed several weeks (maybe even more depending on the length of time off). The benefits of training consistently also reside in the fact that the fitter you become, the faster you will also recover.

3. Hydrate well, not just adequately. Hydration is essential for the cellular metabolic energy production critical to exercise recovery. Scientific sources don’t seem to agree on what ideal fluid intake levels for hydration are. However, the Food and Nutrition Board daily water intake recommendation for adult males is 125 ounces per day, and 91 liters per day for adult females. The requirements go up from there for those in hot environments and for vigorous exercisers. Note that these requirements are for those without heart, kidney, or liver disease. 80% of the water goal should be met with fluids. Plain water, teas, fresh juices, and broths all qualify. Foods with high water content can meet the remaining 20%. High water content foods are critical to hydration status as they provide the minerals and electrolytes you need to truly re-hydrate.

4. Make sure the nuts and bolts of your nutrition are in place. Know your protein, fat, and carbohydrate requirements. A generic diet may fall short of your needs for any number of reasons. Different people and different types of workouts require different ratios of protein to fats and carbohydrates. Sufficient protein is critical for muscle repair and recovery. Many authorities recommend that protein needs for most people range between 0.8 and 1.3 grams/kg of body weight (divide your weight in pounds by 2.2), with athletes, pregnant or lactating women, and people with certain illnesses requiring up to 1.8 grams/kg.

5. Observe “The Window”. The first 45 minutes following a workout is an ideal time to replenish muscles with energy particularly from protein, and carbohydrates if the workout was particularly exhausting. The carbohydrates post workout help to replenish muscles faster than protein alone can. They can also spare muscles from being broken down and used for fuel when energy needs are immediate, such as during intense or long duration exercise activity. Recommended ratios of protein to carbohydrates vary between 1 to 3, and 1 to 5 grams depending on the type and intensity of the workout.

6. Respond to hunger appropriately. Hunger may be telling you that your caloric needs are not being met, and more specifically, that certain macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) may need to be increased, or that you need to eat more frequently to meet your needs. Ignoring hunger pangs can result in muscle loss from insufficient protein intake or, fatigue from disrupting the process by which muscle restores energy (glycogen). Ironically, carbohydrate cravings can often be a sign of dehydration, as well as a sign that you are not getting sufficient protein or fat. Also ensure that you are not spacing your meals too far apart. Eat every 2 to 3 hours, starting with breakfast within 45 minutes of awakening.

7. Upgrade your nosh. Eat an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant rich diet. You’ve heard all the rage about the Mediterranean diet. It’s not hype. Add Omega 3 rich foods to your daily diet; sources include wild, cold water fatty fish (choose those lowest in mercury), walnuts, and green leafy vegetables. As an added benefit, fish is a good food source of vitamin D which is strongly suspected to be anti-inflammatory. For other beneficial fats, enjoy avocados, and replace vegetable oils with Extra Virgin, Cold Pressed Olive Oil. Berries, pineapple, and tart cherries are high in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, so consider adding them daily. Eat whole, unprocessed foods rich in vitamin A found in red and purple produce, vitamin C found in citrus and kiwi fruit, and vitamin E found in raw nuts and seeds, as these three vitamins function as antioxidants. Add ginger and turmeric to your foods daily. These natural anti-inflammatory spices add delicious flavor to many foods.

8. Work on eliminating or reducing the bad stuff in your diet. Replace inflammatory sugars and refined carbohydrates (breads, pasta, and pastries) with high fiber and nutrient rich foods such as beans, lentils, peas, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal. And there are great food prep techniques that creatively employ cauliflower and squash in place of traditional staples such as rice and pasta. Food allergens are common inflammatory culprits. If you have known food sensitivities, to nuts or dairy, for instance, this is good reason to eliminate them from your diet now.

9. Increase your daily mineral and electrolyte intake. Incorporate a significant amount of vegetables into every meal, and work a variety of fresh produce into your weekly menu. Minerals are crucial to muscular and cardiovascular recovery. They also are critical to re-hydration. Green leafy vegetables are rich in magnesium and many other minerals. Squash, sweet potatoes, and beans are just a few of the healthy carbohydrates that are rich in minerals such as potassium. And if you sweat copiously during daily workouts, tee-totaling salt is not a good idea. Up your intake of chard, spinach, beets, and celery – they are all rich in sodium. You can also add a little sea salt to foods to taste.

10. Stop scorching your food. A slow cooker can be a convenient ally in the kitchen. High temperature cooking increases inflammation by denaturing proteins and oxidizing and glycating fats and sugars in foods. This effect is magnified when sugars (often contained in sauces and condiments added to meats) interact with these denatured proteins. You can often safely shorten cooking time, and/or lower cooking temperatures as long as you achieve the internal temperatures recommended (generally 160 to 165 degrees for poultry and ground beef, and 145 degrees for fish, lamb, and beef). If you decide to experiment, invest in a thermometer, and use it for peace of mind.

11. Avoid prolonged periods of sitting in the hours following a hard workout. Get active following your workout; perform cardio after your strength workout for instance. Swimming is great for recovery. Light jogging or walking, and any other moderate activity are helpful. Stretching is movement, and therefore also counts. Many people find that a moderate or light cardio workout the day after a hard workout speeds recovery. If your job or work involves sitting for hours a day, try this: batch your seated tasks into blocks of time lasting an hour and 45 minutes (at most). Then schedule the following 15 minutes to do an activity that requires that you get up and move. If you work from home, schedule 15 minute every couple of hours to tackle quick chores; get a head start on dinner by washing and cutting up those veggies you are now eating more of.

12. Make use of bodywork tools such as massage. Schedule a massage after a workout, rather than before one. Foam rolling, a self massage technique, is effective for exercise recovery and can be used pre or post workout, as well as during a workout, between exercises. A self massage tool such as a foam roller may be one of your best exercise equipment investments yet.

13. Get high tech about your exercise recovery. Elite athletes train hard, daily, and are therefore masters of recovery. Some tools of the trade: heart rate variability testing devices, cryotherapy, and whole body periodic acceleration. If low tech is more your speed, there are supplements, which are more affordable. Among the most common: protein powders, and pre and post workout formulas that incorporate branch chain amino acids, glutamine, and other components to accelerate muscle repair and recovery. There are also compression garments such as sleeves and lower leg and calf socks that add performance and endurance benefits during your workout as well.

14. Keep your gut healthy. As mentioned above, some athletes take glutamine supplements. Glutamine repairs the lining of the intestinal tract, and this has been shown to directly impact immunity and inflammatory processes. You can get natural glutamine from bone broth and gelatin. Stick to organic, grass fed beef, or, organic, pasture raised poultry sources. The second step is to add probiotic foods to your diet. Fermented foods such as Kim Chee, Sauerkraut, and Miso, are great food sources. Kombucha and Kefir are delicious drinkable sources. GT’s Kombucha is a favorite of mine because of the low sugar content and the great taste.

15. Protect your largest and most exposed organ. If your workouts take place outdoors, remember to put sunscreen on your body, not just your face. Sunburn inflames skin, and skin can account for a whopping 16 percent of your body weight. Adding the discomfort of sunburn or to that of a hard workout may leave you feeling really lousy.

16. Improve the quality sleep you get each night. Especially important if you sleep less than 6 hours a night or know you aren’t fully rested upon awakening. This may include sleeping longer. Other tips: invest in noise blocking and room darkening window treatments, banish pets and kids from the bed, establish a bedtime ritual, keep consistent sleep and wake times, turn off devices an hour or more before bedtime, lower the thermostat at night, and journal and/or read something light before bed.

So, as you see, nutrition and training design play large roles in optimizing your workout recovery, but there are other components that can significantly improve your workout recovery as well.

#MuscleSoreness #WorkoutRecovery