We used to say that our tired legs were because of lactic acid build up. For runners, we’d say that there was a 48 hour rule meaning that we were more tired 48 hours after a hard workout than we are the next day.
Now we know that we are experiencing delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS. Boy did I have a “doms” run today from my run on Sunday on the Embudito Trail.
I found this great explanation in Womenshealthmag.com and wanted to share part of it here:
The question: I find that I’m sorer two days after a tough workout than I was the day after. What’s up with that?
The answer: This common and super annoying occurrence is a result of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which generates inflammation in your muscles after a really tough workout especially if you haven’t worked out in a while, says Metzl. Though your workout is to blame for the inflammation, a healing process called the inflammatory response cascade is what’s really causing your pain 48 hours after your sweat session, he says.The response is a series of events that happens during a period of four to five days, says Metzl. On day one, your body responds to the injured area by releasing hormones called cytokines. These hormones direct cells to go heal your inflamed muscles. At the same time, prostaglandins, hormones that also affect how cells respond to injury, send blood to the area to heal it. This migration of cells to your tired muscles starts out slowly during the 24 hours after your workout the healing process hasn’t kicked into high gear yet. However, on dreaded day two, the flood of cells to the area of inflammation, a.k.a. your muscles, reaches it’s peak and continues the healing response, he says. This means you’re going to struggle getting out of bed.Tomorrow is my day off, so I should be good to go on Thursday, but just in case, I found some more resources that will help you and me, recover better next time!
