DOMS I am not a fan…

Yep. Not a fan at all…

I stupidly thought “it’s only 10Km, not that far I wont be sore the next day”, you know what I didn’t take into account? HILLS! Yep, hills again…

It’s crazy really. I can walk up several mountains in a day and be fine Can go mountain biking for a full day and be fine. Can go rock climbing and be fine. But since I took up running I have suddenly discovered DOMS and I am not a fan

What is DOMS?

DOMS stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It usually begins around 24 hours following exercise and can last anywhere up to five or even seven days (Byrnes & Clarkson, 1986), although this is exceptionally long. Symptoms generally peak around the 72 hour point, and are characterised by localised soreness, reduced range of movement and reduced muscle function (Cheung, Hume, & Maxwell, 2003).

basically, if I am understanding this all correctly, it’s caused by the tiny tears and other damage done during intense exercise repairing itself. So in a way if you get DOMS it shows that the workout is working 😛 . Apparently its more likely if you are new to exercise or doing a different activity. Therefore, I am blaming the hills as on the flat 10Km causes no soreness issues.

Anyway, regardless of what it is or why it is it’s bloody annoying. I went for a run work last night despite feeling sore, and felt ok after about a mile, but my god am I paying for that today… work has been tricky today with my stiff calf muscles and such.

But, my muscles are currently healing and growing and once the annoying soreness has gone I’m sure it will be worth it 😀