With the new year often comes New Year’s resolutions, many of which involve starting a new exercise program. While we’re all for exercising and movement, we know how easy it can be to overdo it in the beginning, leaving us feeling sore and likely unmotivated (or unable) to continue.
That soreness after a workout is referred to as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS typically occurs when we: 1) do an activity that we’re not accustomed to (think of that brand-new exercise program we just found online!) and 2) perform eccentric exercises, which is when a load is placed on a lengthened muscle (think of the lowering phase of a bicep curl). DOMS develops 12–24 hours after activity, with the greatest pain felt 24–72 hours later.
So, is DOMS a good thing? A bad thing?
Neither, really! It’s okay to experience DOMS, as it is your body’s response to microtears in the muscles, which happens during exercise. If you’re doing a new exercise, it might cause DOMS, and that’s okay—your body will adapt. Experiencing DOMS in a muscle group once will often lead to a protective effect, so you won’t experience it again for a few months. However, it isn’t a pleasant sensation and it isn’t actually an indicator of a “good” workout, so ideally, we would gradually ease into a new exercise routine to avoid DOMS or at least keep it to a minimum.
I bet a lot of you have felt DOMS at some point in your life, and if you have HSD/hEDS, you’ve likely experienced this phenomenon, possibly to the point of not being able to continue your exercise routine. There can be a number of reasons that people with HSD/hEDS feel increased pain after exercising, but it turns out that people with hypermobility do experience greater DOMS.
A study by Ostuni, Marinello, et al., titled “The Effect of Joint Hypermobility Syndrome on DOMS and Recovery Time,” found that, when compared to a control group, people with hypermobility reported a significant increase in VAS (Visual Analog Scale— that 0–10 pain scale everyone dislikes), though both groups did experience DOMS with eccentric exercise. This study showed that individuals with hypermobility experienced higher pain levels after exercising compared to healthy controls.
If you’re hypermobile, you’re probably not surprised to hear that! Of course, our next question is: Why is that?
One hypothesis I have is that, for people with HSD/hEDS, their muscles are often in a lengthened position, even at rest, due to hypermobile joints. We know that DOMS occurs when a load is placed on a lengthened muscle.
For example, think about standing with a knee hyperextended. The hamstring muscle is lengthened in that position to accommodate the extra motion at the knee joint. Now, if that person does a set of deadlifts in that position, the load is being placed through a very lengthened muscle, possibly leading to increased DOMS.
People living with HSD/hEDS can also have a more difficult time with muscle recovery, which could lead to a longer duration of DOMS (ever feel like you’re sore for DAYS after a new exercise?).
This research highlights what we know: we need to work out smarter, not necessarily harder, if we have hypermobility. Implementing strategies that help decrease the risk of DOMS is so important so that we can successfully hit our exercise goals and not get off track due to prolonged muscle soreness.
If you are hypermobile and are hoping to find a consistent exercise routine that works for you and doesn’t cause pain and soreness, we can help! There are many strategies we can help you implement to reduce pain after exercise so you can successfully achieve your goals.
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