Every runner is familiar with rising from bed the morning after a race or an especially long run feeling as if his legs had been tenderized with a sledgehammer during the night. More than an unpleasant feeling, delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a symptom of muscle tissue damage that can seriously compromise the quality of your training. A recent Spanish university study found that DOMS reduced running economy by 5% in a group of subjects.
Many runners assume that DOMS is an unavoidable effect of hard running that we just have to live with, and it is true that the only way to avoid muscle soreness completely is to avoid hard running altogether. But there are several measures you can take to reduce the amount of soreness you experience during the training process, and thus reduce the impact of soreness on the quality of your training—without training any less hard. By practicing these techniques you will generally perform better in your key workouts and, as a result, get more out of them.
DOMS is associated with the microscopic tearing of muscle fibers during activity that is either more intense or more prolonged than normal. When a muscle fiber is strained too far, the surface membrane breaks open and some of its chemical contents spill out, damaging other muscle tissue, activating nerve fibers, and initiating an inflammation response. The pain is probably associated with inflammation more than it is with the damage itself, which is why the soreness takes many hours to develop and often does not peak until two to three days after the workout or race. In addition to pain, other symptoms are loss of strength, stiffness, and decreased range of motion.
Training for Low-Pain Gains
Preventing soreness begins with the warm-up. Always precede any high-intensity running you do with easy jogging followed by stretching or flexibility drills (such as high knees and butt kicks). These precautions warm and lubricate the muscles, making the fibers less prone to tearing during the more intense portion of the workout. Likewise—and I know you’ve heard it a thousand times—you need to cool down thoroughly after your high-intensity workouts. Circulation is the primary facilitator of the muscle repair process after intense exercise. Finishing workouts with low-intensity activity keeps circulation levels up without further damaging muscle fibers and thereby kick-starts the recovery process.
In addition to warming up and cooling down, be sure not to overdo your long runs and high-intensity workouts. Develop a feel for how long your body can go in a workout without being hobbled the next day. The amount of muscle soreness you experience tomorrow will always be directly proportional to how far you work your muscles beyond what they are accustomed to today. For this same reason, you should construct long training programs whose workload increases very gradually from week to week, with the occasional reduced-workload recovery week.
Muscle soreness also has a tendency to accumulate if the muscles are not given adequate opportunity to heal between hard workouts. So you should always schedule recovery workouts (short and easy) between your harder and longer training sessions. The most rapid period of physiological recovery is that which immediately follows a workout. Easy exercise thus accelerates muscle repair without inducing additional damage. Non-impact alternatives to running, such as bicycling and deep-water running, are especially effective for this purpose.
The most effective way to minimize DOMS is actually to cause it in small amounts. Doing so results in structural adaptations in the muscle that make it more resistant to future tearing. To stimulate these adaptations, do four to six 100-yard strides at roughly one-mile race pace on a moderate downgrade twice a week during the base phase of training, before you get into formal high-intensity workouts. This will prepare your muscles to survive these workouts with less damage and soreness.
Nutritional strategies can also help reduce the amount of DOMS you experience and accelerate muscle repair. Research has shown that consuming a small amount of amino acids and/or proteins during workouts is effective in this regard. The best way to get these nutrients is through one of the newer sports drinks that contain both the usual 6-8% carbohydrate and protein, as these drinks are more easily absorbed and more quickly metabolized than any other protein source and also contain the other nutrients you need (carbs, water, electrolytes). The runners of Team USA California, including reigning U.S. national 8K cross country champion Deena Drossin and U.S. marathon champion Ryan Shay, are among the growing number of elites now using protein-containing sports drinks. "Most of our runners say they definitely experience less muscle soreness when they use the new drink," says the team’s co-coach, Joe Vigil.
You should also consume protein immediately after your workouts. The faster you get protein into your body, the faster your body can go to work repairing muscle damage. Always consume plenty of carbohydrate, to restore energy, and fluids for rehydration following workouts as well. The most convenient way to get all the nutrition your body needs for immediate post-run recovery is to simply continue drinking the same carbohydrate-protein sports drink you used during the workout. In one study, athletes who consumed such a drink after a hard workout exhibited 36% less muscle damage than a control group the next day.
Antioxidants can also reduce DOMS. Oxygen radicals are believed to play a role in the cellular damage that follows the rupture of muscle fibers during exercise. By consuming a diet that is high in antioxidant vitamins and enzymes you can limit this damage. Vitamins C and E appear to be the most effective antioxidant defenders against free radical damage to muscle tissues. Citrus fruits, melon, and berries are good sources of vitamin C. Vegetable oils, nuts, dark green vegetables, and whole grains are rich in vitamin E.
Treating Muscle Soreness
Time is the only true cure for DOMS. Certain treatments, however, can reduce the severity of the soreness you experience while time works its magic, as well as alleviate other related symptoms such as stiffness—and perhaps speed up time a little bit.
Icing is the best way to reduce inflammation and the associated soreness. Combining a cold treatment with compression of the sore muscle, for example with a neoprene sleeve, is even more effective than a standard ice massage. Elevation is another tried-and-true treatment for inflammation. Simply sit with your legs propped above heart level for 30 minutes or more, or better yet, lie with your legs propped during the night as you sleep. A newer option for treating inflammation is to use a pain-relief cream containing cox inhibitors, which are the active ingredients in some arthritis medications.
Do not make a habit of using anti-inflammatory medications such as Ibuprofen to treat swelling and soreness. Reserve these for cases of extreme discomfort such as when you’re recovering from racing, because long-term chronic dependence on these medications may result in damage to the liver and kidneys and reduce your body’s ability to handle inflammation on its own.
While studies have come up with no evidence that sports massage alleviates muscle soreness, it can accelerate the muscle repair process by increasing circulation and increase mobility by loosening tight spots that tend to develop in muscles along with DOMS. A weekly professional massage is best, but you can get decent results with self-massage, perhaps with the aid of a device such as The Stick. Frequent stretching also increases circulation and speeds the return to full mobility. Always stretch a sore muscle very gently, and if it is extremely sore, do not stretch it at all. In such a case light activity is a better alternative.
Do Sweat the Small Stuff
Much of success in running comes from making the effort to take care of the little things that allow you to stay healthy and squeeze the most out of every training opportunity. So start doing the little things discussed in this article consistently—you will feel the difference in your legs and eventually see it on your stopwatch.