Sore After a Workout? What DOMS Is and How to Handle It

That stiff, achy feeling a day or two after a hard or new workout has a name: delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. This article explains what causes it, how long it usually lasts, which recovery methods have research behind them, and how to tell normal soreness from a warning sign. It’s for anyone who’s just started training, tried a new program or pushed harder than usual.

What DOMS is

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) separates two kinds of exercise-related soreness in its guide to muscle soreness:

• Immediate soreness: the burning or discomfort you feel during or right after exercise, which fades quickly.
• Delayed onset muscle soreness: stiffness and tenderness that shows up later, after a day in which you trained unusually hard or tried something new.

ACE describes DOMS as a natural adaptive process. It isn’t a sign that you did something wrong, and it isn’t required for a workout to be effective.

How long it lasts

According to ACE, DOMS shows up about 24 to 48 hours after the session and eases on its own after about 72 hours. That’s why the second day after leg day is often worse than the first.

If soreness is getting worse after three days instead of better, or it’s severe enough that you can’t use the muscle normally, read the warning signs section below.

What causes it

Researchers have proposed several explanations over the years. A review in Sports Medicine listed six main theories, including muscle damage, connective tissue damage, inflammation and lactic acid, and concluded that a combination of factors probably explains DOMS rather than any single cause. ACE notes that the most available research points to microscopic tears in the connective tissue around muscle after eccentric exercise.

Eccentric work is the phase where a muscle lengthens under load:

• Lowering the dumbbell in a biceps curl
• Sitting down into a squat or lowering into a lunge
• Running or walking downhill, where your thighs work to brake each step

The same review found DOMS is most common when people return to training after a break. ACE adds that beginners, people who suddenly increase intensity, frequency or duration, and fit people trying an unfamiliar activity are all likely to get it.

What helps, according to the research

No method makes DOMS disappear. ACE notes that no therapy has been found to speed up how quickly it goes away, though some may have a minor effect. Here’s what the studies above found:

• Light exercise. The 2003 review found exercise was the most effective way to ease pain during DOMS, although the relief was temporary. An easy walk, a gentle bike ride or a light version of your workout can make you feel looser.
• Massage. A 2018 meta-analysis of recovery techniques found massage was the most effective method studied for reducing DOMS and perceived fatigue.
• Compression garments. The same meta-analysis found a positive effect on DOMS and perceived fatigue, though smaller than massage.
• Cold water immersion and cold therapy. The 2018 analysis found small but significant effects for cold water immersion and short-term effects for whole-body cold exposure. The earlier 2003 review found no effect from cryotherapy. The evidence is mixed, so use cold only if you like it.

The meta-analysis looked at single recovery sessions, so results may differ if you repeat a method every day or combine several.

What doesn’t help much

• Stretching. The 2018 meta-analysis found stretching had no positive effect on DOMS, and the 2003 review reached a similar conclusion. Stretching is still fine for mobility; just don’t expect it to fix soreness.
• Repeating the same hard session right away. The 2003 review recommends easing off for a day or two instead, which is covered below.

Preventing heavy soreness next time

The best tool is gradual progression. ACE calls it the most widely recommended approach: increase intensity, frequency or duration conservatively.

• Start lighter than you think you need to when you begin a program. ACE suggests beginners use light weights two to three times a week for a month or two, then build gradually.
• Ease into eccentric-heavy work, such as heavy lowering, lunges and downhill running, over a few weeks.
• Repeat the workout. ACE notes that once you’ve had DOMS at a given intensity, you shouldn’t get it again until you raise the intensity. ACE describes this as a rapid adaptation response.
• Progress in small steps. The progressive overload guide explains how to add reps or weight without big jumps.

If you’re starting from scratch, a gentle structure like the 7-day beginner workout plan or the beginner gym workout plan makes it easier to build up gradually.

Should you train while sore?

Usually, yes, with some adjustments. The 2003 review recommends cutting the intensity and duration of exercise for 1 to 2 days after an intense session that caused DOMS, or focusing on body parts that aren’t as sore.

In practice:

• Mild soreness: go ahead with your planned workout and warm up well. Soreness often eases as you get moving.
• Moderate soreness: train a different muscle group, or do a lighter session for the sore area.
• Severe soreness that limits normal movement: rest that area, keep up light activity like walking, and come back when it settles.

A good rule: if soreness changes how you move during an exercise, swap it for something else that day.

When soreness is a warning sign

Normal DOMS is a dull, general ache in the muscles you worked that improves day by day. Get medical advice if you notice:

• Sharp or stabbing pain, or pain in a joint rather than a muscle
• Significant swelling, or a muscle that feels very hard or tight
• Pain that keeps getting worse after 72 hours
• Muscle weakness that’s out of proportion to your workout

Seek medical care right away if you have severe muscle pain or weakness together with dark, tea- or cola-colored urine. These can be signs of rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle tissue that releases substances into the blood that can damage the kidneys, according to MedlinePlus. It can be triggered by intense exertion. The CDC advises stopping activity, drinking more fluids and getting immediate care at the nearest medical facility if you have these symptoms.

If you’re pregnant or postpartum, managing a health condition or returning from an injury, check with your doctor or physio about how hard to train and what level of soreness is normal for you.

FAQs

Does being sore mean I had a good workout?

No. Soreness mostly tells you the workout was new or harder than usual. As your body adapts, you’ll get less sore even as you keep getting stronger, so it isn’t a good measure of progress. Tracking your weights and reps is more useful.

Why am I more sore two days later than the next day?

That’s the typical DOMS pattern. ACE describes soreness building over the first 24 to 48 hours and easing after about 72 hours.

Can I take a bath or use a foam roller?

Yes, if they make you feel better. Massage had the strongest evidence of the methods in the 2018 meta-analysis, and a foam roller is a way to apply self-massage. Neither will make DOMS vanish, but they may take the edge off.