How do you Deal with Sore Muscles?

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Hurts, But You Can Get Rid of It

by Lauren Steele and Molly Hurford

 

It’s the day after you sprinted a few extra hill repeats, survived a long-overdue squat session, or finally got back into your regular cycling routine, and your muscles feel like they are made of rocks lodged between your bones. You can thank a condition called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) for that.

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Causes of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Feeling sore after a hard ride is normal—even if it shows up a day or two after you’ve stopped pedaling. Delayed onset muscle soreness describes the achy sensation you feel 24 to 48 hours after exercise, the cause of which is still not exactly known. Many believe it's the result of exercise-induced muscle damage or microscopic tears as a result of eccentric movement (when the muscle lengthens versus shortens, known as concentric).

For example, pushing down on the pedals is an eccentric movement for your hamstrings, which lengthen with every stroke. DOMS is common in cyclists because of that movement, especially after harder workouts, says Oliver Witard, Ph.D., senior lecturer in Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism at the University of Stirling and part of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute’s extended network of experts.

Muscle soreness may also be a result of inflammation, a necessary part of cellular repair and recovery, which lessens as we adapt to exercise. But the degree of your DOMS discomfort doesn’t need to be so extreme that you avoid training because of it.

“DOMS is a natural occurrence, but you can control it so it doesn’t affect your workout the next day,” says physical therapist Gary Guerriero, co-owner of the U.S. Athletic Training Center. Adopting smart strategies that fit your lifestyle can make huge differences in your pain levels. “Consistency is key—whatever you’re doing, if you’re consistent, it will help you,” Guerriero adds.

Effects of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Although some soreness is normal, you don’t necessarily want to celebrate DOMS. “Feeling sore after a workout can feel like validation that you worked hard, [but] you shouldn’t seek that after every workout,” says Blair Callaghan, D.P.T., a physical therapist at Washington Wellness Physical Therapy & SportsCare. “DOMS is a sign of damage and fatigue.”

“You sprain your ankle, then you’re going to walk differently; if you have DOMS, then you’re going to exercise differently,” she adds. “You sit in the saddle differently, you pedal differently, and you exert energy differently—and that’s how you end up injured. There’s no long-term or short-term benefit to being sore, so let your muscles catch up to the workload. Just because you’re not sore doesn’t mean you aren’t getting stronger.”

We tapped a panel of experts including Witard, Guerriero, and Callaghan to help you prevent DOMS with nutrition and lifestyle changes, tips to ride in a way that produces less soreness, and post-ride recovery tricks. Get ready to get rid of sore muscles and make your training schedule stick.

What to Eat to Prevent Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

1. Eat More Antioxidants

There’s been some scrutiny of the claim that antioxidants decrease inflammation, but significant research suggests antioxidants blunt cell damage by strengthening the immune system and interrupting the domino-like damaging effects of free radicals that contribute to initial soreness and DOMS. However, foods containing antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E—blueberries, pomegranates, and cherries, Witard says—offer benefits outside of antioxidants, so you might as well dig in.

2. Up Your Intake of Healthy Fat

Fat helps keep our cells intact. “Omega-3s like those in fish oil incorporate themselves into the cell membrane of the muscle and form a barrier, and they may preserve the cell membrane’s integrity,” Witard says.

The alternative is leaky cells that spill an enzyme called creatine kinase into your system, which contributes to muscle aches and cramps. Fatty fish (not fish oil supplements) pack the most significant amount of omega-3s, though the fish-averse can resort to foods such as flax seeds and spinach.

3. Consider Supplementing With Vitamin D

Witard also recommends adding vitamin D to your diet, which recent studies have identified as a key agent in expediting muscle repair. Other studies have seen vitamin D improve muscle function and protect against injuries. Choose foods like fatty fish and dairy products for a vitamin D boost.

4. Graze on Protein

You will best limit DOMS if you eat protein throughout the day, says Nate Dunn, a USAC Level 1 certified coach. Aim for 20 to 30 grams of protein every three hours. When you are “dosing” with protein all day, you are providing your muscles with a steady stream of amino acids—the building blocks of healthy muscle. It doesn’t have to be a complicated protein shake—snack on Greek yogurt, nuts, or whatever protein-source you like best.

What to Do in Workouts to Prevent DOMS

 

Photo credit: Justin Paget - Getty Images

1. Start Slow

The most basic rule of preventing muscle damage is using progression. “You get DOMS when you bite off more than you can chew while training,” Dunn says. “Figure out where you’re coming from and work from there. Are you lean? Overweight? Active? Coming back from an injury? Honestly assess where you’re at.”

If you’re coming off the couch, he says, ride three times a week at most, with each ride lasting between 60 and 90 minutes. Utilizing a steady, progressive loading strategy is ideal for getting stronger without overwhelming your body.

3. Spin, Don’t Push

Maintaining a higher cadence will “minimize the amount of torque transferred to your joints and overall stress on your muscles,” Dunn says. “You want to stay in the 90 rpm range and get comfortable there before you start doing sprint intervals.” That means gear down and spin faster instead of gearing up and mashing on the pedals.

4. Know Your Limits—Then Push Them

“There’s no problem with overreaching and giving yourself a big workout or a hard week of training, but after you overreach, accept that you wont feel as good,” says Dr. Stuart Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University and fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American College of Nutrition. “You have to scale back after pushing the limit so you don’t go over the edge and end up with a muscle injury. If you can do that, a week or two down the road, you’ll have improved fitness since your muscles have been pushed and had the opportunity to rebuild. Successive big weeks are overdoing it. And overdoing it is overtraining.”

5. Force Yourself to Cross-Train

For many of us, saddle time is sacred, but we can become stronger riders by supplementing cycling—even exchanging it—with other activities.

“It’s really difficult to say, ‘I’ll skip my ride and go to the pool and swim’ when that ride is what you look forward to doing,” Callaghan says. “But if you commit a day or two a week to lifting weights and supporting stabilizing muscles, you’ll be a healthy, well-rounded athlete, and I guarantee you’ll see improvement on the bike.” She recommends cyclists take one or two days a week to weight-train, do yoga, swim, jog, or walk fast to vary muscle utilization and decrease stress on cycling-specific muscles.

What to Do After You Ride to Prevent DOMS

1. Refuel the Right Way

Our bodies use amino acids from protein to repair exercise-induced muscle damage. Supplement that process with a protein-packed snack between 30 and 60 minutes after working out, and then keep “dosing” to minimize DOMS by eating around 20 grams of protein after your workout for optimal recovery, , recommends Nanci Guest, lead dietician for the Pan Am Games. Choose snacks with whey protein for best results; whey contains the amino acid leucine, which helps initiate muscle protein synthesis.

2. Foam-Roll the Pain Away

Muscles fibers can knot up after exercise, but we can help them function more smoothly by breaking up these adhesions and scar tissue with self-massage using a foam roller.

“I’m a huge fan of the foam roller,” Callaghan says. “It mimics a soft tissue massage and increases blood flow and nutrition to injured muscles and heals them faster.”

Most foam rollers usually cost less than $50, and come in various sizes; that initial investment definitely pays off when you can soothe and prevent aches anywhere, any time. Roll out on the go or in front of your favorite Netflix show for significantly less dough than a regular professional massage. “There’s no excuse not to do it,” Callaghan says.

What to Do If the Pain Sets In

Don’t Rely on Pain Relievers

Witard suggests avoiding dependence on anti-inflammatory drugs or other pain relievers to get through a workout in the midst of DOMS recovery. It’s tempting to reach for the bottle of Advil after tough rides, but anti-inflammatories can do more harm than good; rather than solving your problem, these drugs simply mask it, allowing you to do more damage and feel worse later. Delaying soreness doesn’t alleviate it.

Seek Help

If you feel plagued with DOMS after every workout, consider looking for a physical therapist who is experienced in helping cyclists. There are tons of (less accessible) alternative therapies, Guerriero says, from cryotherapy to acupuncture to electric-stim massage to floatation therapy.

“The hard thing is finding someone good who does these things,” he adds, so before signing up with the nearest PT, assess your options, and don’t be afraid to ask questions about how they deal with DOMS.

Keeping up on your fluid intake may help prevent heart failure, so drink up!

By Elizabeth Millard

• Keeping up on your fluid intake may help prevent heart failure, according to research presented at the recent European Society of Cardiology meeting.
• A good rule of thumb when it comes to hydration is to aim for about 60 to 80 ounces of water daily.

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Keeping up on your fluid intake is an important part of race performance and training recovery, but here’s one more reason to keep emptying that water bottle: It’s good for your heart.

Maintaining good hydration over time may slow down age-related changes within the heart that lead to heart failure, according to research presented at the recent European Society of Cardiology meeting.

Researched looked at nearly 16,000 middle-aged adults who were part of the long-running Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, and they found those who had good hydration habits were less likely to develop heart failure over a 25-year time period.

That’s because when you drink less fluid—particularly water—your concentration of serum sodium increases. Basically, you have too much sodium in your blood, and the longer that continues, the higher your risk of heart problems becomes.

Over time, your body shifts toward conserving water as a way to counteract that abundance, and that can activate processes related to poor heart function, researchers noted. For example, in the study, those with heart failure tended to develop a condition called left ventricular hypertrophy, which affects the heart’s ability to pump blood, and involves a thickening of tissue within the heart muscle.

Another potential factor when it comes to increased sodium in your blood is cognitive function. Although that wasn’t covered in the study, it’s important to recognize how seriously dehydration can affect brain as well as heart function, said Barbara Bergin, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Texas Orthopedics, Sports & Rehabilitation Associates in Austin.

“With high serum sodium levels, your brain cells basically shrink because they don’t have enough water,” she told Runner’s World. “Not surprisingly, that leads to more confusion or brain fog because they’re not working optimally.”

Other potential signs that you’re not getting enough fluid include lightheadedness, dry mouth, constipation, and orthostatic dizziness—which is that “whoosh” feeling you may get when transitioning from sitting or lying down to standing.

“When you’re dehydrated, your blood volume decreases,” she said. “Plus, blood pools in the legs when you’re sitting or lying down, so when that’s combined with less volume, you’ll get lower blood volume to the brain. Subsequently, there’s dizziness.”

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Another major consideration is that we tend to hold on to less water as we age, according to Scott Kaiser, M.D., geriatrician and director of geriatric cognitive health for Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in California.

He told Runner’s World that it’s like driving with a smaller gas tank—you can still fuel up for where you need to go, but frequency of filling up is just as important as volume.

“You can get fluids from many sources, including fruits and vegetables, as well as non-caffeinated beverages,” he said. “But it’s helpful to simply drink water more often, before you get thirsty. That’s important at any age, but especially as you get older.”

Recommendations on daily fluid intake vary, but span from 54 to 71 ounces for women and 67 to 101 ounces for men. The researchers of the recent study noted that worldwide surveys show that many people don’t meet even the lower ends of these ranges. How much you get will depend on your weight, age, and whether you’re active, but a good rule of thumb is usually to aim for about 60 to 80 ounces daily.

From: Runner's World US

Elizabeth Millard Elizabeth Millard is a freelance writer focusing on health, wellness, fitness, and food. 

Recoverey Tips

Muscle Recovery: 8 Tips for a Faster Recovery after Exercise

by Sascha Wingenfeld

 

What does “muscle recovery” mean? It means that your body can recoup after a race or a training session. After the body recovers, you are once again fit and ready to perform.
How much your body develops and how much your performance improves depends on how well and how quickly you can recover. The faster you recover, the sooner you can begin again with the next training session. A fully recovered body is far more resilient. Plus, you don’t tend to get injured as easily. In fact, it’s during the time after your workout that the body improves its performance.

Training is designed to fatigue your body

The important thing to understand is that you are systematically tiring your body during training. Bones, ligaments, muscles and tendons are being strained and your energy reserves are being depleted. At first, this leads to decreased performance, but then your body starts working to restore your level of performance immediately after your workout. “Given the necessary time, the body will use the recovery phase to raise its capabilities to a new level and build up longer lasting resources. If there is too little time for this process and the body cannot recover completely before the next training session, the body reacts with stagnation or decreased performance,” emphasizes running expert, Sascha Wingenfeld. The rest phase determines whether and how quickly the body can improve its performance. Or whether the sum total of the training sessions is simply too much for it.

Important:

It’s common to overdo it when you’re training for a competition or have joined a challenge like Run for The Oceans, but don’t forget to give yourself time to recover so you can perform your best.

Two muscle recovery techniques

There are basically two types of recovery: passive and active.
Passive: We rely solely on the body’s own powers of recovery and hope that it can compensate for the training load as well as it can and restore its physical capabilities as quickly as possible.
Active: We can also positively influence the regeneration process.  Active support means using a variety of measures to stimulate the body during the rest phase. The effect: Your body requires far less time to recover. “We can get back to training faster or increase the intensity of our workout, which in the end leads to enhanced performance in a shorter period of time,” explains Sascha.

What can you do for a faster recovery?

Sascha has put together a list of the most effective methods for your recovery. Follow them to improve your performance after your workout.

1. Cool-down phase

Always finish your training session with a short “cool-down phase” for a faster recovery. In the last ten minutes, slow your pace down to recovery intensity. By doing this, your body slowly begins to return your metabolism and cardiovascular system back to normal.  It also breaks up any accumulations and reduces the hyperacidity of the muscles. The reduced intensity of the last few minutes of training speeds up your body’s transition to the recovery phase. It also prevents your body from trying to remobilize too rapidly.

2. Recover by stretching

After each training session, complete a short and easy stretching program. This helps reduce any immediate tightness after running, so you can recover faster. Your muscles can already begin to get ready to perform again. Stretching also decreases muscle tension directly after your workout, and the muscles remain flexible. Stretching in the cool-down phase has a relaxing effect on your mind and body, which supports and accelerates the recovery process.

3. Cold/warm baths (Kneipp method)

After your workout, you need a shower anyway. Use this to do something good for your muscles. Shower for 30-40 seconds, alternating between ice cold and warm water. Repeat this procedure about 5-8 times. The ice water keeps your muscles from hurting and getting sore. The warm water, in contrast, promotes blood circulation and relaxes your tendons and muscles. “If you have the chance, use a traditional Kneipp facility,” recommends Sascha.

4. Ice bath

In the case of particularly intense runs, the muscles may work so hard that there is actual muscle damage. This is when it’s so important to focus on muscle recovery. “An ice bath after the workout reduces the circulation of blood in the muscles and stops the internal bleeding in these injuries. After the ice bath, the blood circulation of the muscles is strongly stimulated, which also helps remove the waste products of an intense metabolism,” explains the running expert.

How it works:

Fill the bathtub or a plunge pool with 8°C (46.4°F) cold water. Remain in the ice water for about 5 minutes and afterwards let your body warm up again on its own.

5. Active relaxation training

There is a direct connection between the body and the mind. Our thoughts control our bodily reactions. This natural law forms the foundation of all forms of active relaxation. These include autogenic training, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, yoga and many more.  A relaxation program as short as 10 minutes has been shown to reduce tightness and lactate concentration in the muscles. Test out which method helps you recover fastest and which relaxation techniques are most effective for you.

6. Nourishment

Try to refill your reserves quickly after your workout. Your body needs energy to recover. A good combination of complex carbohydrates, like those in whole-grain products, and protein bolster the recovery process. The combination of macronutrients help you to build muscle and keep your insulin level stable. 

It’s important to rehydrate after a workout for a faster recovery. Depending on the intensity of your workout, your body requires 500 -700 ml per hour. Thus, it is important to replace these right away. Muscle performance, in particular, largely depends on a steady supply of fluids. But avoid alcohol. Your liver expends a lot of energy when you exercise, and if you drink alcohol, your already stressed liver has to work twice as hard to metabolize the alcohol too. Alcohol can also hurt your performance.

7. Sleep

Of course, the easiest and most effective method of helping us recover faster is sleep. All of the training stimuli are processed while our body sleeps. Minor tissue damage is repaired, muscles are developed and our whole body and mind are restored. True to the motto: “… your muscles grow while you sleep.” Depending on the intensity of your workout, you should get between 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Our body’s reaction to lack of sleep includes a reduction in metabolism, a slower recovery, irritability, a weakening of the immune system and uncontrollable hunger attacks.

8. SAUNA

A visit to the sauna is a tried and true method of relaxing your body after sports. The muscles loosen and their blood flow increases significantly. This helps injuries to heal faster and speeds up overall muscle recovery. In addition, the body experiences a feeling of inner peace and mental relaxation, which helps to reduce muscle tightness and contributes to an intense recovery.  Just keep in mind that you need to replenish the fluids you lost in the sauna as soon as you get out. Also, be aware that a visit to the sauna decreases your body and muscle tone to the point that your performance on the next day can be severely diminished. Therefore, avoid a visit to the sauna before intense training days.

Don't Overlook Head Trauma

Bob Saget Died of ‘Head Trauma’: Here’s How to Be Safe After a Head Injury

Korin Miller

Fans were stunned last month when news broke that comedian Bob Saget was found dead in his Florida hotel room. The 65-year-old Full House alum’s cause of death wasn’t available immediately, but his family recently revealed information from the coroner’s report.

“The authorities have determined that Bob passed from head trauma. They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep,” Saget’s family said in a statement to CNN. “No drugs or alcohol were involved.”

The statement continued, “Now that we have the final conclusions from the authorities’ investigation, we felt it only proper that the fans hear those conclusions directly from us. As we continue to mourn together, we ask everyone to remember the love and laughter that Bob brought to this world, and the lessons he taught us all: to be kind to everyone, to let the people you love know you love them, and to face difficult times with hugs and laughter.”

As a cyclist, you’ve probably fallen off your bike and hit your head. But given the cause of Bob Saget’s death, you probably have questions about what to do after hitting your head—including when it’s safe to go to sleep after hitting your head—and it’s fair. Here’s what you need to know.

How can someone die after hitting their head?

Head trauma can cause bleeding in the head and brain, and that’s usually what can lead to someone’s death, says Justin Johnson, M.D., an emergency medicine physician and critical care expert at Mercy Medical Center’s Emergency Department in Baltimore, Maryland. “The bleeding usually causes compression of vital areas of the brain and the nerves responsible for automatic functions of breathing and the heart,” he says. “Without those, people cannot live.”

Garni Barkhoudarian, M.D., a neurosurgeon and associate professor of neuroscience and neurosurgery at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, says that a subdural hematoma, which is a buildup of blood on the surface of the brain, is “the most common thing we see” when it comes to serious head injuries that can lead to death. That’s especially true for people in their 60s and older, he says. “Those blood vessels that connect the brain to the skull are a little more frail and prone to injury in older people,” he says.

How can you know if you’re OK after hitting your head?

This can be “a challenge,” says Amit Sachdev, M.D., medical director in the department of neurology at Michigan State University. He adds, “Factors such as the nature of the injury, the height from which is was sustained, the presence of an injury to the scalp, and the presence of neurologic symptoms all make a difference.”

Johnson agrees. “It’s difficult to say if the head trauma is nothing to worry about,” he says. He also notes that the sides of the head have the thinnest bone and the back of your head covers “vital structures”—getting hit in either of those spots should raise concern.

There’s a wide range of potential head injuries that can happen as a result of getting hit in the head, spanning from getting a bump or bruise to developing internal bleeding and brain damage, Johns Hopkins Medicine points out.

There are a lot of different symptoms you can experience after developing a head injury. Johns Hopkins Medicine lists the following as potential issues after a mild head injury:

Symptoms of a head injury can show up right away or they can develop slowly over several hours or days, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. There’s also this to consider: A person’s head may look fine, but they could have bleeding or swelling inside the skull.

When is it safe to go to sleep after hitting your head?

This is also “very hard to tell,” Sachdev says. “The key question is, ‘Why are you going to sleep and would it be normal to go to sleep at this time of day?’” he says. “If the answer is “no,” then you need to consider if sleepiness is a neurologic symptom.”

If you had a significant head trauma, you’re older than 65 or younger than 18, you lost consciousness after your injury, or you use blood thinners, Johnson recommends getting checked out before you go to bed. “Not going to sleep before the evaluation is recommended in those situations,” he says. But, he points out, if you’re just not feeling right after getting hit in the head, it’s also a good idea to get yourself checked before conking out.

Keep in mind, though, that there’s nothing about sleep in particular that would make your head injury worse—it’s just that you may not realize your symptoms are getting worse when you’re asleep, says Daniel Bachmann, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “You can have a bad outcome regardless,” he says. “It’s not like sleep specifically is what ends up causing the problem.”

If it’s a normal bedtime, you think you’re OK, and you’re ready for sleep, Sachdev recommends having someone check on you and your breathing during the night, if possible. “In the hospital with severe head injuries, we do neurologic checks frequently,” he points out.

When to see a doctor after hitting your head

The U.S. National Library of Medicine recommends getting medical attention right away if someone develops these symptoms:

• Becomes very sleepy
• Behaves abnormally, or has speech that does not make sense
• Develops a severe headache or stiff neck
• Has a seizure
• Has pupils—the dark central part of the eye—of unequal sizes
• Is unable to move an arm or leg
• Loses consciousness, even briefly
• Vomits more than once

But Sachdev says it’s important to get checked out if you’re unsure. “There is no level of concern that is too low or silly,” he says.

Is Moto Good For Ageing?

You May Think You Need to Take It Easy As You Age, But the Opposite Is Actually True

Elizabeth Millard

 Ariel Skelley - Getty Images

• New research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that humans evolved to maintain a high degree of activity as we age.
• Some people think they need to rest more as they get older, but the opposite is actually true: cycling, strength training, yoga, hiking, and swimming are among activities that are ideal for seniors.

Although humans might be tens of thousands of years past the hunter-gatherer days, the forces that shaped health for them are just as valid now, according to new research in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. One major example, researchers suggest, is maintaining a high degree of activity as we age.

Despite previous assumptions that our ancestors had short lifespans, that’s been disproven by fossils indicating it was common for people to live into their 70s, the researchers note. They found that exercise likely had notable benefits that enabled longer life. These benefits include enhanced blood flow, reduce fat storage, efficient repair of DNA processes, and release of anti-inflammatory compounds.

All of these processes enabled hunter-gatherers to live for decades past their reproductive years. In what researchers call the “active grandparent hypothesis,” they suggest that evolution favored humans who engaged in lifelong physical activity, because it reduces vulnerability to chronic disease.

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“As a result, extended human healthspans and lifespans are both a cause and effect of habitual physical activity, helping explain why lack of lifelong physical activity in humans can increase disease risk and reduce longevity,” they write in their conclusions.

But even with evolution on your side, what if you’ve been skipping the impulse to stay active as the years pass? Or maybe you’ve been riding regularly, but don’t feel quite as ramped up physically as your hunter-gatherer ancestors might have been. The good news is that it’s never too late to catch up. Plenty of research highlights that moving more in general as you get older can come with benefits like a stronger cardiovascular and respiratory system, as well as improved immune function.

But one caveat is that you’ll likely need to ease in more than you would in your earlier decades, according to Neel Anand, M.D., professor of orthopedic surgery and director of spine trauma at Cedars-Sinai Spine Center in Los Angeles.

“Some people think they need to rest more as they get older—especially if they develop osteoarthritis—but the opposite is true for building bone density,” he told Bicycling. “Get on your feet and move, for at least 10 minutes every hour.”

Setting goals and maintaining a consistent schedule are helpful, but he suggests that simply increasing the variety and enjoyment of physical activity should be a first step.

“You don’t need to plan on hours at the gym—start with a walk or hiking,” he said. “Mix in some simple weight lifting a few times a week, and that means lighter weights with higher reps. Try yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, swimming, biking—don’t overthink it, just move.”