D.O.M.S. (PART 2)

Ways to avoid:

It's normal to feel this way (for the reasons mentioned in the previous article), but you can avoid it with 4 simple steps:

By doing a good warm-up of the whole body, but mainly in the muscle groups you need for the following workout.
Starting gradually, preparing the muscles, tendons and joints.
Doing a good recovery at the end of the workout with a series of appropriate stretches.
Having a proper programming, making slow and steady changes in volume and training volume.

Ways to deal with :

The most well-known way to reduce the sympotms of DOMS is cryotherapy (cold treatment). Cryotherapy helps with analgesia and pain relief, because of the low temperature it makes it impossible to transmit pain stimuli to the center of the brain. It also reduces inflammation and the possibility of edema (swelling).

A study (Lucille L. Smith, 1994) examined the effect of sports massage on athletes after 2 hours of eccentric contraction training. It turned out that the acute inflammation, which appers after exercise, decreased, resulting in a simultaneous reduction in muscle pain. This may be due to reduced neutrophil migration and / or higher cortisol levels.

But because we do not all have the choice of a sports massage by a specialist, there are easier and cheaper solutions. The most affordable solution is foam rollers. It is the right equipment for you to do the muscle massage on yourself. It helps relieve muscle pain, reduce local inflammation and improve range of motion of the joint. It can also be used for both warm-up and recovery. However, it is recommended to warm up to properly prepare the muscles.

Finally, another great option is Theragun. It released in 2016 and every year is an integral part of the training equipment. The pros of using Theragun are similar to the foam roller, but you have the option to make it more intense.

Common features between sports massage, foam roller and theragun are that they help the muscles to eliminate toxins, as well as reduce their muscle tension and speeding up recovery.