Experiencing muscle soreness a day or two after your Megaformer workout at InstaPhysique? This common phenomenon is known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Understanding DOMS can help you navigate your fitness journey more effectively.
What is DOMS?
DOMS refers to the muscle pain and stiffness that occur after engaging in unfamiliar or strenuous physical activity. Typically, this soreness peaks between 24 to 72 hours post-exercise and subsides within a few days. It’s a natural response to the small-scale muscle damage incurred during activities that challenge your muscles in new ways.
The Science Behind DOMS
DOMS is primarily associated with eccentric muscle contractions—movements where muscles lengthen under tension, such as lowering weights or descending stairs. We do a lot of eccentric training in our classes, and eccentric loading can cause microtears in muscle fibers, leading to soreness as the muscles repair and strengthen.
What Does DOMS Tell You?
Experiencing DOMS indicates that your muscles are adapting to new or intensified physical demands. While some soreness is normal, it’s essential to differentiate between typical DOMS and pain from potential injuries. We often hear from our newer clients just how sore they are after their first couple of classes – this often has to do with the fact they are not accustomed to our training methods, which include time under tension, slow speed and controlled reps, progressive overload, balance training, isometrics, circuits, specificity and superset training methods. It should feel like a “good sore”. If soreness significantly impairs your daily activities or persists beyond a week, consider consulting a healthcare professional.
Managing and Reducing DOMS
To alleviate DOMS and support muscle recovery:
- Active Recovery: Engage in light activities like walking or stretching to increase blood flow to sore muscles. Our Insta Stretch class is a great recovery-day activity.
- Massage Therapy: We provide Hypervolt percussion massage guns in-studio as a member perk. We encourage you to utilize them pre and post-class. Booking an appointment to utilize our infrared roll massage machine is a game-changer and will help reduce muscle tightness and greatly improve your circulation and fascia health.
- Heat Therapy: Applying warmth to sore areas can relax muscles and ease pain. A post-exercise infrared sauna session is clinically proven to improve recovery of neuromuscular performance and muscle soreness after resistance exercise training.
- Proper Nutrition: Consuming a balanced diet rich in protein & amino acids supports muscle repair and recovery. Proper nutrition, combined with sufficient sleep and recovery time are key.
Progressing in Your InstaPhysique Workouts
To minimize excessive soreness and promote continuous improvement:
- Gradual Intensity Increase: Slowly elevate the intensity of your workouts to allow your muscles to adapt. While in traditional weight lifting, progressive overloading is applied by increasing the number of reps and/or by increasing the weight, and/or by reducing the rest period – our #1 rule at InstaPhysique is that you should not make an exercise more difficult to perform at the expense of form. Once you progress in proper form/body alignment on the Mega, then you can progress in range of motion, tempo, duration and added resistance.
- Consistent Routine: Regular resistance training helps your body become accustomed to physical demands, reducing the occurrence of DOMS over time.
- Listen to Your Body: Incorporate recovery and know when you need a rest day.
At InstaPhysique, our Mega workouts are designed to challenge and transform your body safely. Understanding and managing DOMS is a crucial aspect of your fitness journey, ensuring you achieve your goals while maintaining overall well-being.
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