Training with sore muscles (doms)

The Audience

The Audience

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Just started strength training as im bored of just running. Anytime ive done so before ive given the specific muscle groups a rest while working on others, but sometimes there would still be some soreness in those muscles when i rotated back. From what i read even training alternative muscle groups slows the recovery of the muscles in repair, so whats the correct approach? Seems like it will be quite a slow progression if i have to wait until there is no soreness before resuming any further training.
 
Doms doesnt matter if you have a safe, full.range of motion.
 
Do you do any recovery work? Using a foam roller will go a long way for you.
 
It should get better over time as you adapt. Ice baths, massage tools, stretching, good sleep, nutrition, and supplements go a long ways. I dont think you will ever fully get rid of DOMS if you're a serious athlete. You just learn how to deal with it better over time.
 
Your post does not contain enough information for anyone to help you. All we know is that you're confused.
 
DOMS is soreness and its a sign you aren't recovering correctly.

You need to sleep, eat, stretch, hyrdate, foam roll, drink, ice, heat, rest, active recovery routine, etc.

Lots of people drink, watch tv, go out, etc instead.

Simple lack of effort in your recovery.

100% your choice.
 
You can still train when you're moderately sore, just lower the intensity/volume. Your body adapts to DOMS over time and you'll get it less unless it's a new exercise or an intense or high volume session. A lot of the time after you warm up the soreness goes away anyway. DOMS doesn't necessarily mean you haven't recovered.
 
Conventional wisdom says that muscles recover enough to optimally adapt to rigorous exercise again within 48-72 hours. So one or two rest days. However, eveyone is different and recently more research is showing that training even on consecutive days doesn't hinder growth. Generally speaking, taking a day or so of rest between using the same muscle groups is probably a good idea, unless you're doing more technical work of course.

As far as DOMS and soreness, it doesn't really matter. Meaning, if you've waited a few days and you are still sore, then it shouldn't hinder your ability to adapt from the next workout. Although it might not feel so great. The best way to reduce soreness is gradually building up the load, having a relatively high frequency of training and being consistent. It's like returning to heavy squatting after not having squatted for a while. Initially, you'll be sore for many days. it'll feel terrible sitting down and standing up. But after handling those weights several times a week for a few weeks and you'll hardly be sore at all. If you further want to save yourself, then start a little lighter when coming back and work back up to it. In fact, DOMS isn't really indicative of muscle growth nor how effective your workout was. It's a strange thing.

EDIT: Lots of cluttering in here
 
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The Audience said:
Just started strength training as im bored of just running. Anytime ive done so before ive given the specific muscle groups a rest while working on others, but sometimes there would still be some soreness in those muscles when i rotated back. From what i read even training alternative muscle groups slows the recovery of the muscles in repair, so whats the correct approach? Seems like it will be quite a slow progression if i have to wait until there is no soreness before resuming any further training.
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In addition to stretching, ice baths, massage, nutrition, etc.. active recovery is going to allow you to recover more quickly. The best ways are to find a low impact activity like bicycling (pedaling an easy, low gear just lightly spinning) or swimming. The idea is to increase bloodflow to the muscles without further damaging them.
 
TerryMCLOOPS said:
DOMS is soreness and its a sign you aren't recovering correctly.
Click to expand...
Doms is normal after a heavy weight session. If you don't have doms, you're not pushing yourself hard enough. If you do the same thing over and over like running every week without switching it up, you're not going to get doms as much because you're not challenging yourself much anymore.
 
you should not be getting sore after the first few days/weeks of training.......if you are you aren't really training you are just exercising for the effect it produces today
 
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Robocok said:
Doms is normal after a heavy weight session. If you don't have doms, you're not pushing yourself hard enough. If you do the same thing over and over like running every week without switching it up, you're not going to get doms as much because you're not challenging yourself much anymore.
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Some soreness is obviously expected when you put in hard work, a lot of the beginning, but you shouldn't strive for DOMS as a goal in and of itself, nor should it be something constantly holding you back. Too much DOMS impedes motor control and reduces your ability to produce high force muscle contractions in the subsequent workout. No one really knows what DOMS is, and it isn't correlated with muscle damage necessarily. It can be, but it's not well understood. Furthermore, different parts of the body will experience various degrees of DOMS no matter how hard you work them. This article is a pretty decent summary on it:

"Moreover, DOMS displays a great deal of interindividual variability (58). This variability persists even in highly experienced lifters, with some consistently reporting perceived soreness after a workout, whereas others experiencing little, if any, postexercise muscular tenderness. Anecdotally, many bodybuilders claim that certain muscles are more prone to soreness than others. They report that some muscles almost never experience DOMS, whereas other muscles almost always experience DOMS after training. Recent research supports these assertions (52). Because the bodybuilders possess marked hypertrophy of the muscles that are and are not prone to DOMS, it casts doubt on the supposition that soreness is mandatory for muscle development. Moreover, genetic differences in central and peripheral adjustments and variations in receptor types and in the ability to modulate pain at multiple levels in the nervous system have been proposed to explain these discrepant responses (35). Yet, there is no evidence that muscle development is attenuated in those who fail to get sore postexercise."

"Training status has an effect on the extent of DOMS. Soreness tends to dissipate when a muscle group is subjected to subsequent bouts of the same exercise stimulus. This is consistent with the “repeated bout effect,” where regimented exercise training attenuates the extent of muscle damage (32). Even lighter loads protect muscles from experiencing DOMS during subsequent bouts of exercise (26). Therefore, training a muscle group on a frequent basis would reduce soreness, yet could still deliver impressive hypertrophic results. A number of explanations have been provided to explain the repeated bout effect, including a strengthening of connective tissue, increased efficiency in the recruitment of motor units, greater motor unit synchronization, a more even distribution of the workload among fibers, and/or a greater contribution of synergistic muscles (3,57)."
https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/f...cise_muscle_soreness_a_valid_indicator.2.aspx
 
Sano said:
Some soreness is obviously expected when you put in hard work, a lot of the beginning, but you shouldn't strive for DOMS as a goal in and of itself, nor should it be something constantly holding you back. Too much DOMS impedes motor control and reduces your ability to produce high force muscle contractions in the subsequent workout. No one really knows what DOMS is, and it isn't correlated with muscle damage necessarily. It can be, but it's not well understood. Furthermore, different parts of the body will experience various degrees of DOMS no matter how hard you work them. This article is a pretty decent summary on it:

"Moreover, DOMS displays a great deal of interindividual variability (58). This variability persists even in highly experienced lifters, with some consistently reporting perceived soreness after a workout, whereas others experiencing little, if any, postexercise muscular tenderness. Anecdotally, many bodybuilders claim that certain muscles are more prone to soreness than others. They report that some muscles almost never experience DOMS, whereas other muscles almost always experience DOMS after training. Recent research supports these assertions (52). Because the bodybuilders possess marked hypertrophy of the muscles that are and are not prone to DOMS, it casts doubt on the supposition that soreness is mandatory for muscle development. Moreover, genetic differences in central and peripheral adjustments and variations in receptor types and in the ability to modulate pain at multiple levels in the nervous system have been proposed to explain these discrepant responses (35). Yet, there is no evidence that muscle development is attenuated in those who fail to get sore postexercise."

"Training status has an effect on the extent of DOMS. Soreness tends to dissipate when a muscle group is subjected to subsequent bouts of the same exercise stimulus. This is consistent with the “repeated bout effect,” where regimented exercise training attenuates the extent of muscle damage (32). Even lighter loads protect muscles from experiencing DOMS during subsequent bouts of exercise (26). Therefore, training a muscle group on a frequent basis would reduce soreness, yet could still deliver impressive hypertrophic results. A number of explanations have been provided to explain the repeated bout effect, including a strengthening of connective tissue, increased efficiency in the recruitment of motor units, greater motor unit synchronization, a more even distribution of the workload among fibers, and/or a greater contribution of synergistic muscles (3,57)."
https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/f...cise_muscle_soreness_a_valid_indicator.2.aspx
Click to expand...
I always get doms after lifting heavy weights. With more 'cardio' based activities like running, cycling, and boxing, doms are less frequent and intense. I get it a little more from grappling but nothing like lifting weights. To me, it's always been a sign that I worked my muscles to a level where, upon recovery, I can expect hypertrophy and strength gains.

It can be hard to define these things in a book and you just have to learn how your body reacts to different training stresses. That said, I have to like this part of your quote: "Therefore, training a muscle group on a frequent basis would reduce soreness, yet could still deliver impressive hypertrophic results."

I realized that I can still get pretty good results without smashing myself every time to the point where my body hurts 2 days after training when doms seem to peak. By going lighter, and getting lighter, less intense doms, I can train more frequently and get results I'm happy with.
 
The Audience said:
Just started strength training as im bored of just running. Anytime ive done so before ive given the specific muscle groups a rest while working on others, but sometimes there would still be some soreness in those muscles when i rotated back. From what i read even training alternative muscle groups slows the recovery of the muscles in repair, so whats the correct approach? Seems like it will be quite a slow progression if i have to wait until there is no soreness before resuming any further training.
Click to expand...
What are your main goals? Knowing this is important because it'll help determine how you should train.
 
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