Muscle Soreness: Keep it Simple and Keep it Active
Muscle soreness is so often seen as a negative thing, when in reality it should be seen as a neutral thing. It’s neither good nor bad. While it may not always feel good, the reason for it often is.
What causes it? Muscle soreness is usually caused by an overload of stimulus (1). Whether that be from intensity or distance, we generally get it from pushing ourselves. Pushing too hard too frequently can be harmful, but for the most part soreness is a good thing. It means that we are pushing more than we’re used to, which in turn leads to improvement. Another common cause from soreness is high amounts of eccentric or muscle lengthening contractions (1). These occur with downhill running. This can be a benefit as controlled eccentric contractions are most beneficial for strength and muscle and tendon resilience.
How does it impact performance? While I like to think of soreness as a good thing, there are several performance impacts that it can have. This is why knowing its causes can help you prevent it before your next race. We see several key metrics that can be significantly impacted to decrease performance. With soreness you may see a decrease in running economy, range of motion, strength, power and possible increase risk of injury (1). This does sound bad, but if soreness is not occurring before a competition or hard workout then it doesn’t much matter.
What works, may work and doesn’t work? When it comes to helping muscle soreness there have been hundreds of gadgets and inventions that you’ve likely heard cures it. However, when researched, we don’t see the same results. There are only two things that are definitive in helping decrease muscle soreness: exercise and compression (1). Exercise is heavily researched and light to moderate exercise is your #1 go to. On the other hand, compression isn’t well researched and likely works to alter perception of muscle soreness by providing a different stimulus to your body.
Other things to try that have conflicting research but may work are: massage and electrical stimulation (1). Massage is a very popular option for most people and almost always feels good. Wether you live by massages or just need and excuse to get one, massage may work for you. Most people do not have access to electrical stimulation (TENS) machines on their own and for good reason. There is almost no long term benefit to using TENS but may feel good while on. Likely you’re muscle soreness won’t be so excruciating that you need a TENS unit strapped to your belt. If you already have one, then it’s worth a shot to pop it on and see if it helps, but don’t rush to buy one.
Finally, there are several techniques, some surprising to a lot of runners, that do nothing at all for soreness. These include: icing, stretching, acupuncture (2), Arnica, ultrasound and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (1). There is pretty substantial data on most of these “treatments” showing that they don’t give much relief when compared to doing nothing at all. However, likely none of these listed are going to cause harm, so again, the choice is yours as to what feels best for you.
Bottom Line. Make sure your next day muscle soreness routine incorporates a nice walk or light jog. Also, if your routine is something listed in the bottom options, decide if you love it or are just doing because you feel obligated. If you love it then keep it in your routine. If you feel obligated to do it then ditch it and keep your routine simple and active.
Injured?
References:
Cheung K, Hume P, Maxwell L. Delayed onset muscle soreness : treatment strategies and performance factors. Sports Med. 2003;33(2):145-64. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200333020-00005. PMID: 12617692.
Fleckenstein J, Niederer D, Auerbach K, Bernhörster M, Hübscher M, Vogt L, Banzer W. No Effect of Acupuncture in the Relief of Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Clin J Sport Med. 2016 Nov;26(6):471-477. doi: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000000259. PMID: 26540600.