Fitness Friday (or Thursday?!) + DOMS Discussion
I’m sending out this week’s Fitness Friday a little early because tomorrow is Good Friday, and I will most likely be driving home or getting a haircut or cooking...so much to do and so little time! But never fear, I still have a workout for you this week that I hope you will enjoy – it is travel friendly and simple to do. Plus, I also want to spend a little bit of time talking about DOMS – delated onset muscle soreness.
Workout of the Week
This workout is simple and efficient. Simply perform 10 rounds of 10 exercises for 10 reps apiece. Easy peasy!
Here are the details about each movement:
Squat – With feet shoulder width apart, push your hips back as you squat down, keeping your chest up and back flat. Pretend like you are sitting back into a chair. Stand up and repeat.
Inchworm Push-Ups – Bend at the waist and place your hands on the floor and walk your hands out until you are in plank position. Perform a push-up on your toes or knees and walk your hands back to your toes. Repeat.
Star Jacks – These are similar to a jumping jack, except that you are exploding up and using your arms and legs more. Here's a video. You can substitute regular jumping jacks as well.
Single Leg Glute Bridges – Lay on your back with your knees bent and back flat. Lift one leg straight up in the air. Raise your hips to the ceiling as you squeeze your glutes. Lower to the floor and repeat. Perform 10 reps on each side.
Jump Squats – Squat down and explode up out of the squat with power. Land softly back down in a squat and repeat. Here's a video.
Lunges – Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Lunge one leg straight back and down behind you, trying to get your front thigh parallel to the ground. Rise up and repeat on the other side. Perform 10 lunges per leg.
Tuck Jump – Squat down slightly and jump up, bringing your knees as high up to your chest as you can. Land softly and repeat. High knees can also be substituted.
Tricep Dips – Place your hands back on a chair, table, or on the ground. Keeping your legs bent slightly, raise and lower your body through your triceps muscle. Watch this video here for more information.
Sumo Squats – Stand with feet wide, toes pointed out. Sit back into a squat, keeping your chest up and back flat. Rise and repeat.
Burpee – Squat down, place your hands on the floor and hop your feet back into a plank position. Hop them back up to your hands and jump up. Repeat.
Topic of the Week
This week, I wanted to discuss DOMS, which I can imagine is not a common dinner-time topic in most households! However, whether you are new to fitness or a veteran, I’m sure you have experienced DOMS at some point in your life.
DOMS stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, and can kick in anywhere from 6-8 hours post-exercise and may peak at about 48 hours. I know this to be true, as I lifted legs (heavy!) on Sunday, and was still sore on Tuesday. Yeah. Those were two fun days of hobbling around, gingerly sitting down throughout the day!
Common symptoms of DOMS are not limited to soreness, but can also include swelling, stiffness, and tenderness. In addition, DOMS can occur with any muscle groups – not just your legs. It is a side effect of the repair process that comes from breaking down your muscles through exercise, whether it be weight lifting, walking up or down hill, running, jumping, etc. Whenever we exercise, we cause microscopic tears in our muscles that, once they heal and recover, help our muscles become stronger and adapted to regular activity.
The degree that you will feel soreness will depend on a multitude of factors: your fitness level, the activity performed, the intensity of the movements, etc. However, DOMS can be a good thing, especially when you do try something new, as it helps give you clues as to muscles you may have previously been missing during your workout.
Alright, that’s all fun and dandy, but what do you do when you have DOMS? How can you speed through the recovery and get back at it without pain?
First, treatments like massage or foam rolling tend to help quite a bit. Something about working out that muscle through massage seems to make everything feel better!
Second, although it may seem crazy, try to get moving again, even if you are sore! Now that doesn’t mean to work the same muscle groups again – try something different! Maybe go for a nice long walk outside, or lift weights targeting your upper body if your lower body is sore and vice versa.
Third, fuel your body with real food! Your body will need high quality, real food protein to help heal those micro tears in your muscles. Plus, whole food sources of carbs (sweet potatoes, plantains, regular potatoes, bananas) will help replenish your glucose stores to help you recover and get back to your regular workouts ASAP. And, we can’t forget healthy fats! Fats like coconut oil, avocados, and walnuts all contain awesome vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to help your body recover and repair.
Fourth, take a warm shower or bath with Epsom salts to help ease the pain and relax your muscles.
Lastly, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Your body needs water – so don’t be slacking here!
Finally, if you want to prevent DOMS in the first place, there are a number of things you can do before and after working out to prevent its onset.
First, make sure to properly warmup and cool down before and after a workout. A warmup that doesn’t involve stretching, but instead involves dynamic movements (high knees, butt kicks, jumping jacks, jogging or walking) is ideal. Cool downs can include foam rolling, stretching, and maybe even a few yoga poses!
Second, make sure to fuel your body before and after a workout with a pre and post-workout snack. Make sure to include real food sources of fat and protein pre-workout and carbs and protein post-workout. See my post here for more information!
Third, hydrate throughout your workout! Water, water, water!
Lastly, try and keep moving throughout your workout. The less time you stop completely for more than a few minutes will help keep your muscles warm and ready to work!
Okay, that’s all I have for you on this edition of Fitness Friday (or Thursday?!). I hope you learned a ton of new information and are inspired to give my 10-10-10 Workout a try sometime this week.
Have a wonderful Easter!
xoxo Olivia
