Anyone who has undertaken a strenuous fitness bootcamp workout will be familiar with the remark “I’m going to be sore tomorrow!”  Exercise pain in the few days following the type of concentrated and strenuous activity associated with fitness bootcamp is common.  The question most students ask is how do we avoid muscle pain after fitness class?  And more importantly, can soreness and exercise pain be prevented in the first place?

In order to answer these questions we first should understand what causes muscle aches and soreness after exercise, and why it happens.  The reason many new members of a fitness bootcamp will experience post-exercise muscle pain is that one cause of this soreness can be a dramatic increase in the duration and intensity of activity.  For many people this is exactly what a fitness bootcamp exercise routine is – a massive increase in normal activity for the body.   This pain is referred to as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).

It is important to differentiate DOMS pain from actual injury pain, failure to do so can lead to limiting ailments that will hinder progress.  Injury pain is usually a sharp pain felt suddenly during an exercise sometimes discoloration or a bruise will appear within hours after the injury occurs.   On the other hand, DOMS is a dull aching generalized pain which occurs in the 1 to 2 days following exercise.  DOMS should not be confused with exercise afterburn.

While some people worry about such pain, other bootcamp members will revel in the pain, seeing it as acknowledgment that they have worked hard over the previous few days.  Just as everybody has different strengths and weaknesses, students at a fitness bootcamp will discover their bodies have strengths and weaknesses.  Each individual student will demonstrate a range for pain tolerance and that range will vary base on many different variables.   As students progress through the routines some will proudly display their kinesiology tape.

Whatever the members feel about the pain, they should not worry excessively about it.  It is a natural reaction that is part of the body’s process of adapting to new demands, and will over a period of time lead to increases in fitness, strength and stamina.

This process is known as hypertrophy and is an important part of progress towards fitness bootcamp goals.

So now we have a general idea what muscle pain is, when it happens, and what it is not, we can look at the specific causes of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and possible reduction if not total prevention.

What Causes Muscle Soreness After Exercise?

Previously, prior to in-depth research and clinical studies in Australia, muscle pain was thought to be caused by a buildup of lactic acid in the body, caused by intense exercise.  This theory is now largely disregard in favor of a more recent theory which explains the soreness as a result of tiny, almost microscopic, tears to the surface of muscle fibers.  This micro-tearing of the muscles is caused by eccentric muscle contractions, initiated as muscles are forced to contract while they lengthen.  An excellent example of contraction-while-lengthening would be climbing stairs.

How to Treat Muscle Soreness After Exercise

The effectiveness of post-exercise techniques to reduce soreness are dependent on the severity of the soreness and how each individual responds to various techniques. We have to remember that the pain is largely due to tiny muscle tearing, and therefore only time will truly heal the damage that is causing the pain.  Some techniques which people have reported reduced the severity of their soreness and pain.

1. Foam rollers
2. Sports massage
3. Ice bath
4. Contrast bath
5. Active Recovery
6. Suspension of activity
7. Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID)
8. Gentle stretching
9. Yoga
10. R.I.C.E.

How to Reduce or Avoid Muscle Soreness After Exercise

Although adequate stretching was once hailed as a method of reducing DOMS, a study in 2007 undertaken in Australia fund no basis in fact for this theory.

There is some research which suggests an adequate warm up routine prior to intense activity at a fitness bootcamp can reduce muscle soreness.  The warm up routine must focus on the same muscle groups as the workouts exercises.

It is also important to build up gradually to intense exercise.  This allows the body to prepare for the increased future demands. For example, during strength training begin with low weights and high reps first.

Follow the guidelines and tips towards a safe workout that will probably be made available to every new recruit at fitness bootcamp. These tips will include basic but valuable advice such as:

• Stay well hydrated before, during, and after the workout
• Adequate pre-workout warm-ups, including gently stretching, are important
• Ample cool-down time which includes flexibility exercises are critical
• Eating nutritionally balanced foods as part of the preparation
• And gradually increasing to more intense levels of exercise

A recent small-scale study of the analgesic effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale) showed moderate to large reduction in soreness and pain following muscle injury from exercising.  The study was published online in April 2010 by the Journal of Pain, the official journal of the American Pain Society.

Pain and soreness are caused by a large number of variables occurring before, during and after intense exercising.  People have varying degrees of pain tolerance.  Taking so many variables into consideration simply means that what works for one person today, may work for another person or may not until something else occurs.

Associated Links:

Journal of Pain:     http://www.jpain.org/article/s1526-5900%2809%2900915-8abstract

Kinesiology Tape Pain Relief:     http://www.theratape.com/education-center/how-kinesiology-tape-works/

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