The more strenuous work I do relative to my physical condition, the longer it takes me to begin feeling sore. So if I’m completely out of shape and do a strenuous weight lifting workout, I will feel fine that night, then the next day I will feel a little stiff but not bad - I’d be barely aware that I was recovering from strain - but then the next day (and possibly the third day too) I feel extremely sore, like I-don’t-want-to-move painful.
As I get in better shape, and I do the same level of activity (the same amount of work, not necessarily the same work at my fitness level), the soreness is less delayed. I’ll feel sore the next day, and then recovered the second day. If I strain myself even more, so that it’s equally straining relative to my fitness level, I will tend to get the delayed soreness again, although as I get fitter, the effect is less exaggerated.
Is this normal? What causes this? What exactly is soreness physiologically?
I also seem to have a delayed reaction to soft tissue injuries. I’ve torn my ACL in my knee and my rotator cuff in my shoulder and have injured the plantar fasciia (I think) in my foot all rather severely before, but I didn’t feel those things at all on the day they happened. The next day I woke up in a lot of pain. Is that related? Is that normal too?
My concern is that I’m trying to avoid injury through overtraining. You’re supposed to have a rest day after resistance training. But since I typically feel fine the day after, and sore the second day, do I have to wait 2 full rest days before doing it again? It feels wrong to do it the next day, even if I feel great, not sore at all, knowing that my muscles still must be recovering because I will be sore tomorrow, but it also feels wrong to do it on the second day when I’m sore. I could work through the pain, but I consider the soreness to be a danger sign that your muscles are recovering and you shouldn’t train them so much.
Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is caused by slightly torn muscle fibers. After being broken down slightly, the muscle grows bigger and stronger. DOMS is usually felt the next day, but could be slightly delayed if the inflammation is delayed. You should not work the same muscle group 2 days in a row.
Delays of the pains in soft tissue injuries are caused by delays of inflammation. It is the healing process that causes the inflammation, and the inflammation causes the pain as nerves are impinged.
Is it (relatively) safe for me to do a resistance training exercise after one rest day (every other day in other words) even if my muscles are still quite sore on the day I’d be going to lift? I’ve generally avoided strenuous activity when I’m very sore, but that quote says it’s not a concern. But that’s the quick Wikipedia version of things.
While apparently DOMS can last a few days, is it normal to feel perfectly fine or very good the day after a strenuous workout and then be in a lot of pain the second day? I mean, is that a typical pattern or am I unusual?
The least old review I can find (10 year old pdf).
That article concurrs that exercising with DOMS does not further increase the risk of damage to the muscle; it is different from a strain. But your strength will be reduced and being in pain fairly consistently is not usually highly motivating for continuing with a program.
As for timing:
The experts’ advice to not do resistance exercise of the same muscle groups two days in a row is independent of the presence or absence of any DOMS.