I was getting post-workout pain until I discovered how to combat muscle soreness

Taking a more patient approach to building muscle can help avoid DOMS

We’ve all dealt with muscle aches and pains, whether from pushing too hard in the gym or chasing a personal best on your first day back on the track.

You might think that lactic acid build-up is to blame, but the truth is more interesting.

When you push your body beyond its comfort zone, you’re essentially asking for trouble. This overexertion causes tiny tears in your muscles and connective tissues, leading to swelling and inflammation.

It’s this irritation of your nerve endings that brings on the infamous delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

The good news? Your muscles are quick learners. As you keep challenging them, they adapt and toughen up, meaning less pain the next time around and avoiding DOMS altogethet.

The key is to play the long game: gradually upping your weights, reps, and workout intensity. Slow and steady wins the race, so embrace incremental progression to minimise the ache and maximise the gains. 

Incremental progression

Incremental progression involves gradually increasing the difficulty or intensity of your workouts over time.

That can include adding more weight to your exercises, increasing the number of reps or sets you do, extending the duration of your workouts, or introducing new exercises gradually.

The idea behind incremental progression is to challenge your body in a controlled and sustainable way, allowing for continuous improvement while minimising the risk of injury or overexertion.

By making small, incremental changes to your workout routine, you can ensure steady progress and long-term success. And avoid DOMS!