Page 55 - NGA NATURALmag 2025 Spring/Summer

Spring - Summer 2025
some post-workout discomfort but how how much or or or how how little DOMS is is is experienced is is is influenced by many factors including genetics diet level of condition- ing ing ing training protocol and recovery regimen While the occurrence of DOMS may well suggest that your workout caused sufficient micro-tears and and inflamma- tion to to initiate the processes to to repair and and rebuild your muscle tissue workouts which cause little soreness may still produce satisfactory growth As long as you you progressively overload your your muscles and gradually manage to increase the the repetitions of your your exercises and and the the weight-loads that you you you you handle you you you you will still grow If you you you used to experience post workout DOMS and its severity gradually diminished over a a a a a a a few weeks of training it it it it should be a a a a a a a a a welcome sign that your physical condition is is is is improving however if any post exercise discomfort entirely disappears for for a a a a a a a a a a number of training-sessions in in in in a a a a a a a a a a a row this may indicate that no further muscle adaption is is required to handle your your current workouts’ demands and and and that it may be time to to to further increase your your your muscles’ overload or or or to to to change your your exercise routine in in in order to to to make renewed progress On the the other hand if your post-exercise DOMS is is so severe that it lasts for 72 hour or or or or more and and you you you can’t even work the affected muscle when your program has it it it it scheduled to be be trained again it it it it may be be a a a a a a a a a a sign that your your current workout intensity exceeds the ability of your your your muscle to to repair itself effectively accordingly you you you you may need to to reduce your your intensity temporarily until such time as you you you are ready for it it In any case never train a a a a a a a a a a muscle again while it it is is is still severely sore as as this indicates that its repair and and recovery process is is is is not yet complete trying to train train through soreness will will incur risk of injury and and consistently doing so so will will lead to overtraining with all its negative consequences Active rest such as as leisurely swimming or cycling good sleep massage and and and the sufficient and and and timely intake of high quality pro- teins and and and carbs can all help to speed up up your muscles’ recuperation Last but not least don’t try to to mitigate DOMS by taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs around your workouts as this may diminish growth-enhanc- ing ing ing training adaptions The inflammatory processes caused by micro-tearing are vital for your muscle fibers’ repair processes and impeding them may obstruct muscle growth by as as much as as 50% n All this may give rise to the the the notion that the the the more more post-workout DOMS is is is experienced the the the the more more more micro- tears must have been generated and the the the more more mus- cle-growth should result Or by the the the same logic one may infer that the the the the less less DOMS a a a a a a a a a workout has produced the the the less less micro-tears it it must have created and there- fore it it should not result in significant muscle growth However certain observations considerations and scientific research cast some doubts on on on on on this idea: Long distance runners often experience severe sore- ness in in their legs and calves especially after running downhill for an an an an an extended distance but there is is no inflammation and and hardly any muscle growth Ath- letes of equal condition and and strength who perform the same workout may experience greatly varying degrees of soreness but yet accomplish compara- ble muscle growth Some gym gym enthusiasts feel very sore after an an intense workout in in in in the the gym gym but show only few micro-tears and little inflammation in in in in the the the affected muscles others just feel moderately sore even even after they experienced significant micro-trauma and inflammation Interestingly even even some individual muscle-groups are are apparently more prone to to experi- ence soreness than others: the the deltoids for example rarely get severely sore sore but generally still grow well when when adequately trained whereas it is very common to get fairly sore after chest workouts especially when when heavy bench press is included What can can be determined from all this is is is that the quality of of a a a a a a a a workout or or an an an exercise can can not exclusively be determined by the degree of of of of subsequent DOMS Muscle soreness often indicates a a a a a a a a a a a certain amount of of of muscle muscle damage and inflammation which appears to to be meaningful to to muscle muscle growth but this does not mean mean that every workout causing little or or no no DOMS is useless If optimum hypertrophy is your your goal you you you should should not focus on DOMS but your your your objective should should be to to to progressively subject your your muscles to to to maximum overload overload over over over time so that they are forced to to to adapt and grow grow It is the the the the degree degree of of overload overload which deter- mines the the the amount of of of muscle growth not the the the degree degree of of post-workout DOMS Relying mainly on compound exercises performed with high resistance for for 8-12 rep- etitions per per per set will produce the necessary time under tension to best promote hypertrophy and is is is far more effective than low resistance high repetition exercises Performing challenging workouts with progressively increasing overload over over time will generally involve
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