Hi everyone, I’m new to working out. I’ve mostly been walking and rowing. On Monday I incorporated body weight strength training, which included squats and lunges. Today is now Wednesday and I’m feeling the pain in my legs. How do I recover from this? Should I stick to my routine or take it easy today? I do warm up/warm down, stretch and eat protein heavy foods btw. I also really want to keep going as it helps my mental health. TIA.
Andy Galpin has some interesting suggestions to reduce DOMS.
5-10 minutes of deep breathing after your workout. He says it’s very important to bring your body back to baseline after a tough workout. Spending a few minutes doing 5 second inhale, 5 second exhales will help.
Compression clothing. Wearing tight fitting clothing on the affected muscles is shown to reduce soreness or limit the duration of DOMS. Not a panacea but can help a little.
Believe it or not, static stretching a sore muscle can actually exacerbate DOMS. It’s better to do very light exercise to get that muscle moving and circulating blood flow instead. Stretching is important, but maybe do it immediately after a workout or on another day instead.
I still get DOMS when I try a new workout, but I have seen these things improve my recovery around the margins.