New-to-you fitness goals often come with a common side effect, namely muscle soreness. Whether you’ve switched up your strength-training program or you’re trying a new type of activity, it can (and does) happen to anybody. Technically called delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, it can be uncomfortable, and even frustrating at times—but it doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. Quite the opposite.
DOMS is in fact a normal response to new or increased intensity workouts. “You’ve pushed your muscles past your everyday activity level, and they’re trying to keep up with your demands by getting stronger,” says Sarah Bunger, a research-and-development lead at Sanofi, the maker of Icy Hot. “The new workout has caused microscopic damage to your muscles, and new, stronger muscle fiber must be rebuilt in its place.”
DOMS usually makes its appearance within a few hours after exercising and peaks between 12 to 36 hours after. It’s worth noting, though, that it’s entirely different from injury-related pain. “Soreness from DOMS is usually a dull ache that follows the workout and gets better with rest, while pain related to an injury can be sharper, consistent, or accompanied by swelling and bruising,” Bunger says.
Fortunately, as you adapt to your new routine, that soreness will diminish. Luckily there are also ways you can reduce muscle soreness and even alleviate the discomfort when it happens. Here are four of them:
1. Stay Hydrated
Bet you would never have thought that dehydration can be a significant cause of muscle soreness. Yet when you consider that water makes up about 75 percent of your muscles’ overall mass, it makes sense. In fact, one study found that dehydration of muscle cells can lead to greater muscular frailty and decline of muscle function due to cell damage, all of which can increase soreness, Bunger notes. One easy way to evaluate your hydration status is to check your urine. If it’s clear or pale yellow, you’ve got enough water on board. If it’s any darker, you need to drink more water and/or eat more water-rich foods, like fruits and vegetables.
2. Give Your Body A Proper Warm-up
How many times have you rushed into a workout without giving your body time to get warm? Bad idea if you want to avoid DOMS. “A proper warm-up loosens up the joints so you can get into the correct positions, provides adequate blood flow to the muscles, and allows for the necessary recruitment of the musculature that you plan to work during training,” says D. J. Gibson, a strength-and-conditioning coach and rehabilitation specialist in New York City. The best warm-ups involve dynamic moves that take your body through large ranges of motion and increase blood flow. Start with exercises that will elevate your heart rate—think jumping jacks or a light spin on a stationary bike—followed by actions like leg swings and arm circles, suggests the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
3. Stretch (and Roll) It Out
When you complete your workout and start to feel the onset of soreness, start stretching. “When you’re sore, you have a tendency to seize up and feel tight,” Gibson says. Stretching helps lengthen your muscles, providing relief to tight spots that could potentially develop DOMS. The ACSM recommends holding each stretch for at least 60 seconds.
Adding foam rolling to your stretching routine, especially if you’re sore, could also help. “It promotes blood flow to the area,” Gibson says. “That will allow some healing to happen.” Just make sure you’re not feeling pain: Avoid rolling directly on the sore spot and work around it instead. Remember, too, that foam rollers come in different firmness levels; the less firm the roller, the less pressure it will put on your muscles.
4. Use Contrast Therapy
Ever been told to ice or heat an injury? That repetitive applications of cold and then heat in an alternating fashion is called contrast therapy. For starters, cold causes your blood vessels to constrict, helping to reduce swelling from the influx of fluid to the tissue and your body’s overall inflammatory responses, Bunger says, and thereby reducing overall soreness. Plus, “ice comes with a numbing sensation to offer more immediate pain relief,” she adds. Heat, on the other hand, does the opposite, helping open and dilate blood vessels so that blood flow increases and cellular waste products, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid, are removed.
Icy Hot No Mess Pain Reliever
Another benefit of heat? “It can help mitigate muscle tensions and spasms, which helps tightness associated with DOMS to resolve,” she says. Using actual heat and ice in combination, though, can be inconvenient—which is where a product like Icy Hot can help. The rub-on ointment utilizes the principles of contrast therapy, providing cooling and heating sensations to relieve the muscle soreness.
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