Five days ago I ran Berlin Marathon. And what has been the daily reminder that I ran it? DOMS.
Yep, we've all had it. It's that dull ache that you usually get one to two days after pushing yourself really hard.
But what is the best way to tackle it? Well, I'm going to go through what it actually is and what you can
do to help prevent it or help it once it's actually happened. But first, the big a question that everyone usually asks.
What does DOMS actually stand for? DOMS stand for delayed onset
muscle soreness. And it's the pain or stiffness that you get after exercising, usually one to two days after.
What it actually is, is microscopic tears in your muscle fibres and your muscles
working to fix it. Now, this can usually be most prone in people who are new to
exercise, like running, or if you're stepping up your intensity, or if you're doing a type of exercise that
you're not usually used to doing. Hence why I usually get pretty bad DOMS after going to the gym, time
for a short, core workout using Manny's video. But after
a kind of normal, easy run, I won't feel it too badly. DOMS can be pretty painful, and I know the first
question after I got it for the first time was, how long is this going to last? Well, it can
start anywhere from 24 hours after you've exercised and lasts anywhere up
to 72 hours, depending on how intense the exercise was. So you're probably looking
at the full 72 hours if it's a marathon or an ultra marathon that you run, or a race where
you've pushed yourself really hard. So what symptoms can you expect to feel if you're experiencing DOMS?
Well you're definitely going to feel some stiffness in your legs. You might feel a kind of dull ache or your muscles might feel
really tender and they also might swell up a little bit as well. So we know that
upping the intensity can cause DOMS, but are there any other common triggers? Running downhill
is definitely one of them. At The highest point now and it's kind of just all downhill, all downhill
from there. This is because your muscles are both contracting and lengthening at the same time.
So if you want to race coming up with big downhill sections, then you're probably going to want to look at some preventative
measures to try and alleviate the DOMS. Now we know what Dom's is, let's look at some ways to
prevent it. Here are three ways that aren't dead certain to prevent DOMS, but can definitely help with the
intensity that you might feel after exercising. Number one is staying hydrated.
So make sure that before in the lead up to a race, during and after, you're making sure that your
body is nice and hydrated, drinking enough water and maybe even taking on electrolytes during the run.
Another way you can help to prevent DOMS is by making sure that you both warm up and cool
down. It can be very tempting when you've got a big session or a big race coming up to forget the
warmup and definitely forget the cooldown. But these are so key and are really going to help make sure that
the DOMS isn't too bad in the days after the race or the session. So if you've got a big
interval session, carve out some time beforehand to warm up and cool down. And if you've got a
race, make sure that you're not sitting down straight after because your legs will pay for it.
If you're not sure how to possibly warm up or cool down then don't worry, we've got lots of videos to help
out. Make sure you head to the link in the description to find all of these videos to help you. The third thing that some
studies have found to help DOMS is by slowly building up the intensity. If you've ever used a training plan
or you've heard of the 10% rule, this is also to help prevent you building up too fast. If you
build up the intensity you could not only be risking DOMS but also injury which is going to put you out of running
for a lot longer than a few days. So make sure that if you are building up to a bigger distance
or a bigger intensity of session that you're doing it slowly and not putting yourself at risk of DOMS
or anything worse. So you've done your big effort, you've done a big session or a race
and 24 hours has happened and the DOMS are here. What do you do? Well, there are lots of different
ways that have been reported to help alleviate the pain of DOMS and here are five of our favourites that we've
found to work. First up, it's foam rolling. I know that this can often be a piece of
equipment that stays in the corner and never comes out, but get out your foam roller. Don't do anything too
strenuous because you don't want to cause yourself any pain or injury, but try to alleviate the pain,
dullness or aching in your muscles by gently foam rolling all of your muscles. If you're not sure how
to use your foam roller, then we've got a video all about this so go and cheque it out. In addition to the foam
roller, a massage gun can also definitely help the symptoms of DOMS as well. This is what I was
quick to use after Berlin Marathon and it definitely made a difference to me. Stepping up even more
away from a massage gun though you might want to brave an ice bath. Lots of people have reported that
ice therapies have helped their dogs. So if you are brave enough then make your way over to an ice bath.
This is a great tip for if you're doing a race abroad or you're going to have to travel after doing a
big effort, compression, get yourself a pair of compression socks or some compression leggings and this
can really help with delayed onset muscle soreness as well. There are also pain relief
balms that you can get if you want to head to a local pharmacy or speak to a medical professional. They might be able to
advise you on what is best for you on your sore muscles. And then the last two kind of go hand
in hand rest days and active recovery days. The biggest thing that you can do to help your muscles
is give them time to repair. So either completely taking the day off, which usually is
advisable after marathons or long distances, and definitely if you are coming back into
exercise after a hard effort, making sure that you do it nice and gently and slowly, here
are four great activities that you can use to get some active rest into your recovery days.
First up, it's swimming. If you can get to a pool, this is a really nice way of taking
the pressure off your muscles, but getting some active recovery. You might also want to do some cycling or
some light yoga. And then once you feel ready to return to running, you might want to go out for a walk or
a light jog just to ease yourself back in. So, speaking of recovery, we have
a gift for you. If you're watching this video right now, you can be in with a chance of winning a recovery bundle that should
help you on your way. If you're experiencing DOMS, all you have to do to enter is like this video, subscribe to the Running
Channel and drop a comment down below and we will be picking one person from the comments to win. If you're not sure what to
comment, why don't you tell me the worst DOMS experience you've ever had?
Or if you've never had it do you have any tips that you think might be helping you prevent DOMS? Let us know and we'll get
chatting to you in the comments. Hopefully this video has given you lots of tips and tricks to help with
DOMS knowing what it is and what you can do to help prevent it in the future. Let me know in the comments if
you have any questions or if there are any other videos you'd like us to do to help you with your running. And we'll see
you next time on The Running Channel.