I see a lot of professional runners talk about giving themselves DOMS when referring to weight training, but what exactly is it? How can one achieve it? And what are it’s benefits for runners?
I see a lot of professional runners talk about giving themselves DOMS when referring to weight training, but what exactly is it? How can one achieve it? And what are it’s benefits for runners?
curiousrunner. wrote:
I see a lot of professional runners talk about giving themselves DOMS when referring to weight training, but what exactly is it? How can one achieve it? And what are it’s benefits for runners?
To increase fast twitch fiber mass, a workout that hits that muscle hard enough to cause tiny ruptures will create delayed onset muscle soreness, but stimulate hypertrophy ultimately. It takes a couple days, maybe three days, for your body to clean out the damaged area, and while doing so, it goes a little overboard and makes the extent of inflammation more extensive than it has to be. The result is pain. After three days, repair and rebuilding occurs, and after a week or more, that muscle is up and ready to go, stronger and metabolically more youthful than before. So, you are better off waiting at least a week before hitting the same muscle fibers again, or you will end up patching the damaged area with scar tissue, especially around day 4 or 5.
But, a runner, who runs daily, does no good in purposely tearing up muscle fibers but not giving them time to heal. A bodybuilder can take care to not overtax a specific muscle area during recovery, but a runner who does 2 quality sessions a week is likely to impair the healing process.
So, don't invite doms, like the bodybuilders do, just use the weights to get a good pump and stimulus for greater strength in response to muscular exertion alone.