Congratulations on completing your first week of boot camp! David and I heard a lot of you discussing your sore muscles this week and want you to know that it’s perfectly normal. I’m often encouraged by my muscle soreness and know that it will ease up as my body adapts to my new exercise routine. However, if your muscle soreness is keeping you from doing the activities you desire over the weekend, you may need a little rest, ice, heat, and/or massage—- We want you to be ready for your next workout! I’ve included the article below to hopefully answer any of your sore muscle questions.
Kerry
Reviewed By Cynthia Haines, MD
By Barbara Russi Sarnataro
WebMD Feature
Starting a workout 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.
After participating in strenuous physical activity, particularly something new to your body, it is common to experience muscle soreness, say experts.
“Muscles go through quite a bit of physical stress when we exercise,” says Rick Sharp, professor of exercise physiology at Iowa State University in Ames.
“Mild soreness is just a natural outcome of any kind of physical activity,” he says, “and most prevalent in the beginning stages of a program.”
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
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. “Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common result of physical activity that stresses the muscle tissue beyond what it is accustomed to,” says David O. Draper, professor and director of the graduate program in sports medicine/athletic training at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The mild muscle strain injury creates microscopic damage to the muscle fibers. Scientists believe this damage, coupled with the inflammation that accompanies these tears, causes the pain. “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.”
Even Bodybuilders Get Them
No one is immune to muscle soreness. Exercise neophytes and bodybuilders alike experience delayed onset muscle soreness.
“Anyone can get cramps or DOMS, from weekend warriors to elite athletes,” says Torgan. “The muscle discomfort is simply a symptom of using your muscles and placing stresses on them that are leading to adaptations to make them stronger and better able to perform the task the next time.”
But for the unconditioned person starting out, this can be intimidating. People starting an exercise program need guidance, Torgan says.
“The big problem is with people that aren’t very fit and go out and try these things; they get all excited to start a new class and the instructors don’t tell them that they might get sore,” she 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,” says Torgan.
Letting them know it’s OK to be sore may help them work through that first few days without being discouraged.
Ease Those Aching Muscles
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 medication, massage, heat, and stretch have been reported as helpful in the process of recovery.”
Don’t Get in a Rut
It’s also a process of muscle conditioning. Torgan says delayed onset muscle soreness also has 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.
It is important to distinguish between moderate muscle soreness induced by exercise and muscle overuse or injury.
“If soreness prevents you from performing daily activities associated with living and work, then that is too much soreness,” Draper says. “It can psychologically deter someone from continuing a workout program.”
Both Draper and Torgan stress that soreness is not necessary to see improvements.
“There are all kinds of different little roads that your muscles can take to get stronger,” says Torgan. Regardless of whether you’re sore, there are still improvements occurring in your muscles during exercise. However, moderate muscle pain might go a long way to keeping someone on the path to fitness.
“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.”
What works to ease your sore muscles?
I’m looking forward to spending some down time with friends and family this Thanksgiving. I won’t be making the trip back home to Georgia, however, I will bring a taste of home to my friends here in Seattle. Of course any good Thanksgiving Day Celebration starts with a solid workout. In previous years my family would go to Stone Mountain Georgia to walk, jog, or hike up and around the mountain prior to the FEAST! This year I will head to SANDBOX Sports in Georgetown, Seattle to lead and participate in one of my favorite boot camp style sand workouts. I strongly believe in working up a solid sweat before spending the rest of the day eating, lounging, eating, lounging…..etc. 
