Why does delayed onsite muscle soreness vary so much?
In my previous article, I explained what delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is.
So does DOMS mean my workouts are more productive?
You don’t need to experience DOMS to know your work outs are productive or building muscle. The reason is that although DOMS is general indicator of the degree of muscle tissue damage it various significantly from person to person and therefore it is not a reliable indicator.
So why does DOMS vary so much?
The short answer is because no two bodies are identical, just like our personalities our bodies are unique. Below is a list of the factors that influence this variation:
- Athletic condition, age & the muscle system
- Structural damage to muscle tissue and tendons
- Inflammatory response
The young are more susceptible to DOMS because their bodies as not yet developed enough to handle intense workouts. While the old are more susceptible because of the hormonal changes associated with ageing and the decreased recover rate. Structural damage to muscle tissue and tendons contributes to the body’s inflammatory response. This inflammatory response created swelling and pain.
References
Brad J Schoenfeld & B Conteras, 2013, Is post exercise muscle soreness a valid indicator of muscular adaptions?, Journal of Strengthening & Conditioning Research, vol 35, (5) pp16-21
Related Posts
Benefits of being Mindful
In my last post, I distinguished between meditation and mindfulness and described mindfulness as the process of noticing things. If we go on holiday to somewhere exotic, its very easy to be mindful as we are surrounded by new interesting sights, sounds & smells. But what are the benefits of practicing mindfulness in during the working day? There is scientific evidence to suggest we are
- Seen as more authentic and trustworthy1
- More productive2
- Deemed to produce work that is superior3
Procrastination
In general in life I am very self-motivated, which is essential when you are self-employed. However this is the time of year of my annual bout of procrastination kicks in. Each year I promise myself its going to be different, I will fill out my tax form early and every year, like ground hog day, I leave it as late as possible. So this year I decided to research options for helping me tackle my procrastination around doing my accounts and filling out my tax form. I read the reason most people procrastinate is that they consider the task unpleasant or boring or they associate unpleasant feelings with the task. To me this is blatantly obvious as no on every puts of anything they enjoy. For me tax forms manage to be both unpleasant and boring. So I decided that this year I would try a new approach to tackle my procrastination. Firstly I decided to focus on the end goal. As filling out a tax form leaves me cold, I decided that focusing on the fine for not doing it on time would motivate me, after all my money is on line. As in life I tend to prefer more positive options, I decided to pencil in a treat for myself when I finished, so I am going to arrange a girlie lunch for a specific date so I have something positive to look forward to. In the past I have dedicate one sold lump of time to doing my accounts and tax form and plodded through it. This year I decide that I would split it down into little chunks as this should help me do it with a smile on her face. In addition some experts recommend roping a friend so that you have a buddy to help motivate you and also making a public commitment to completing something helps motivate you. So this is my public commitment. So now its just a case of taking the first step and staring.
