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Too Much Pain - No Gain

By: Joann Bally CSCS

Most gym goers have heard at some time or another someone proudly complain about how sore his or her pecs, lats, etc. are after yesterday's "great workout". A common response to this is "Yeah, but that soreness shows muscle growth". But does it?

Current research indicates that muscle soreness is not a solid prediction that muscle growth is occurring. The soreness that occurs in muscles one to three days after an exercise bout is called Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness (DOMS). This muscle pain is quite different than the pain immediately following a set of an exercise.

The immediate discomfort from an exercise is caused by a buildup of a metabolic waste product called lactic acid. This acid's presence in muscle tissue causes the "burn" associated with a difficult set of an exercise. Although this pain can be rather severe, it is transitory and usually gone within a half hour.

With DOMS however, the pain is also accompanied by stiffness. The muscle will also feel painful when touched. DOMS, if severe enough, may last two or three days.

What is the cause of DOMS?

There have been many theories concerning DOMS, but the most generally agreed upon theory is that it is the result of microscopic tears in muscle and connective tissue. This trauma to the muscle is what causes the resultant weakness and tenderness.

DOMS can also serve a useful purpose in our training. When introducing a new exercise into your routine, notice the next day where in the muscle you experience DOMS. For example, if you add lat pulldowns into your back routine, you would expect to feel some DOMS in the upper back area (namely the latissimus dorsi). If, however, you feel the soreness more in your biceps, you might be focusing incorrectly on the target muscle.

Chronic DOMS can be a real problem

Although we all experience some delayed soreness in our muscles from time to time; if it becomes a chronic symptom, it can lead to overtraining and more severe muscle damage. Overtraining symptoms include chronic fatigue, elevated resting heart rate, and an eventual dislike of training. The main cure for overtraining is to cease training completely for a number of weeks.

The most effective way to avoid chronic episodes of DOMS and its potentially more severe results is to create varying intensities of workouts within our program. This can be done in a variety of ways, but the upshot of all these methods is not to make every workout harder and longer.

Remember, more is not always better. Sometimes it's just too much!