5 ways to reduce the effect of DOMS

Introduction

In my experience DOMS (short for Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness), is one of the most common factors that stop many newbies from achieving their training and transformation goals.

Usually, one of two things happen. The trainee dramatically reduces their training output, resulting in the individual not getting a great enough stimulus to force the body to adapt, or they quit training altogether.

Is training always going to make me sore BC?

Not necessarily. After the initial adaptation phase, which can last between 2-3 weeks (everyone is different), your body will start to get used to the new stimulus and you wont ache so much.

This is the main reason for starting out with a gradual progressive program that is intelligently personalised to your individual ability.

If you throw yourself into a training program that a friend or colleague has shown or told you about (or even worse, that you've found online), you're asking for trouble. Doing this could result in injury or in the best case scenario, serious DOMS.

So BC, How do I start?

The first thing that you should do is to consult a professional trainer. This seems obvoius but many try the DIY approach and either fail or get injured.

Basic Human Movements
1- Squat/Lunge
2- Press up (Push)
3- Bodyweight Row (Pull)
4- Good morning  (Hip Hinge)
5- Plank (Core stabilising)

In my opinion, if you can't perform the basic human movements, then you have no business doing any resistance machines or free weights which leads me nicely into my first way to reduce DOMS.

1-Don't run before you can walk

If you can't perform the exercises above then stop trying to do fancy kettlebell exercises,  body pump, spinning classes and the latest fad class that involves sprinting backward on a fitball in a studio that looks like a disco with the heating on 100 degrees (Ok, maybe I got a bit carried away there but you get the point).

2- A car wont run on water alone

If your nutrition is not on point you will recover more slowly. Fact... When you finish your workout you need protein and a moderate amount of carbohydrates.

I recommend that my clients eat a balanced meal of a good quality protein source, some vegetables and a decent serving of carbohydrates (all of which should come from single ingredient food items). The second best option is to take a good quality protein shake to help get these nutrients in if a lack of time/preparation is an issue.

This healthy meal should be consumed within 90 minutes after the workout to further aid the recovery process.

3- We heal in our sleep

You should be aiming to get between 7-8 hours of sleep each night. When you sleep, your body is working overtime to help your fatigued muscles to grow and repair.

Also as a side note, if you are aiming to lose fat, your body uses fat as its main source of energy when you are sleeping. If you want to get leaner or stay lean then make sure you get your sleep dialed in each night.

4- When your sore, train more

Now I don't mean that I want you to anihilate yourself when you're already in pain however, active recovery is a viable way to help your aching muscles recover. Think of it this way, blood carries nutrients and oxygen around your body (both of which help you to recover faster).

The most essential nutrient that you need to recover is protein. Protein's job is to help the cells of your body to grow and reapir. This includes your hair, nails, skin and not forgetting your muscle fibres.

Back to active recovery though, my favorite way to implement active recovery is to just move. Go for a swim, a bike ride, a walk, play a sport or use a rowing machine. The options are endless but just move. If you stay still you'll stiffen up and heal slower.

5- Eat some cherries. Yes Cherries!

Consuming a couple of handfulls of cherries after you train can help to reduce the effects of DOMS. Cherries contain a nutrient called anthocyanin which helps to increase the amount of oxygen that goes to your muscles. This will promote faster recovery and as an added benefit, the carbohydrates within the cherries will help to shuttle protein to your muscles faster because when your body is in an insulin sensitive state (post training) the glycogen from the cherries will be sucked away from your fat cells and directly into the muscles that you have just finished training.

Summary

So there we have it, 5 ways to reduce the effects of DOMS. Don't go mad when you first start training. If your experienced in training already and you still get sore try some of the above tips and you'll be sure to speed up your recovery process.

Feel free to post any questions, comments or feedback below. Let me know of any topics that you want me to discuss and I'll be sure to consider them for futere blog posts.

Stay strong, be healthy and help others. 

BC

Real Core Training

Introduction

I have been requested to do a post today on core training.

Lets start by first understanding the definition of the "core."

The core is a group of muscles that stabilises the torso including the spine and the vital organs.

The core consists of the following muscles that work as a team to create stability; the transverse abdominis (TVA), the internal and external obliques, the intercostals, the errector spinae, the quadratus lumborium, the multifidis and the most popular muscle that most people know of in the torso, the rectus abdominis (otherwise known as your six pack).

The main role of the core group of muscles is to maintain a rigid torso whilst the limbs are moving an maximal or submaximal velocity.

A good example of this is a 100m sprinter. The sprinter moves their arms and legs at maximal speed, in order to finish the race in the fastest time. The function of the core is to remain tight during the whole race to stop excess movement and lost force production and lets not forget, protection of the vital organs which are also inside the torso.

Understanding the function of the core helps us gain a greater understanding about the most realistic/sports specific way that we should all train our core group of muscles.

Whilst doing variations of sit ups, crunches, leg raises and rotational exercises like russian twists are good for isolating individual areas of the core muscles the crossover to real life functionality is poor.

The Loaded Carry
The loaded carry is one of the best real core training exercises. There are many different variations of loaded carry but some of my favorites are as follows;
1-Single arm dumbbell carry
2-Farmers walk
3-Suitcase carry
4-Overhead carry
5-Yoke walk

Single Arm Carry
This exercise is great as you will be pulled to one side as your walking, forcing your core muscles down the opposite side to work as a group so that you aren't pulled over to the side your holding the DB on. These are great as a warm up to any workout as they dont necessarily have to be heavy and they get all of your limbs and torso working.

Farmers Walk
The farmers walk is another good warm up or metabolic finisher at the end of your workout depending on how heavy you want to go. You will hold a dumbbell or a kettlebell in each hand and walk for a set distance at speed. All of the core group of muscles will be engaged during this exercise.

Suitcase Carry
You will need slightly more room to perform this exercise than the others. For the suitcase carry you will stand between two barbells, before performing a deadlift and walking a set distance with them both in your hands. Because of the length of the barbells, it may be best to do this exercise outside or at a quite time in the gym. This exercise will challenge not only your core group of muscles but also your grip, forearms and trapezius too.

Overhead Carry
This is one of my favourite core exercises. It can be done single handed or with both hands overhead. If you have limited shoulder mobility you may want to avoid this exercise or try the single handed version. The placement of the object in hand must be held slightly behind your head and stacked directly over the shoulders. Walk for a set distance or time. This exercise engages all of the core group of muscles.

Yoke Walk
This is the version of a loaded carry that you can really overload. Place a barbell in a high bar potition on your back (ontop of your trapezius), unrack the bar from the rack and go for a walk for time or distance. Because of the amount of weight that you can load up and walk with, this exercise causes the greatest amount of stabilisation requirement. I would not reccomend that you did this when training alone and if you do train alone, always ask for a spotter when performing this exercise. This works not only every muscle within the core but it works every muscle in your body.

Summary
So now we understand that the core muscles work as a group to stabilise our torso whilst our limbs are moving. The faster we move our limbs, the more we need to  stabilise our core muscles. Sit ups, crunches, leg raises and other core isolation exercises are fine but the crossover to real core strength and stability is very minimal. Incorporate one or all of the above versions of loaded carry to see a huge boost in performance and asthetics.

Until next week, train hard, stay positive and never stop developing yourself in every aspect of life.

BC