Icing has not only shown to be ineffective, but might also be harmful. Icing has historically been used to treat inflammation, but DOMS can occur with or without inflammation. It is postulated that inflammation occurs as a reaction to whatever is causing the pain and you might be retarding tissue repair by suppressing inflammation. In essence, while cryotherapy has a place in treating severe inflammation following trauma, it is pretty much ineffective when it comes to DOMS.
Thanks, Naithrav, for your reply, perhaps, the confusion is that some of these niggles in the knee just not seem to go away and look like not just what you refer as DOMS which probably go away after a brief period, so, while there is no apparent inflammation and not DOMS, but some discomfort and niggle in certain move, is there anything other than rest that could be a solution to accelerate the healing process then? Sorry if I was not clear. Thanks, Gowrishankar
The time frame on DOMS seems to be variable. It doesn't occur immediately after exercise, but can last unto 72hrs (even more in extreme cases). If you do chronically experience pain/ discomfort on certain moves, it makes sense to get a read on it. Science can truly be stranger than fiction and sometimes you might experience pain with no discernible underlying cause. If there's a certain move that poses a challenge, it makes sense to gradually dose it and not avoid it completely. it's important to remember that symptoms don't correlate to actual tissue injury. Rest is not something that I would recommend (just my 2 cents) and it's crucial that you train around pain. As long as your symptoms don't get worse as you gradually dose the move, you need to consider it a victory. Recovery and rehab is not a linear process and niggles are part and parcel of it. Here's a link to an article I think you mind find interesting - https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/pain-in-training-what-do/
Thanks, this is helpful, yes, I have been attending the morning 6am sessions and when in doubt, I do regress to give the knees a break, but overall, I should say that the niggles either appear once in a while or have not gotten worse. Thanks for the article, will check it out.
Ja. It is a multi layered pun. Firstly, noise is a pun on static. Secondly, "beyond" connotes with stretch (at least in my mind). Finally, in statistics, noisy data is one that has been distorted and corrupted, and the research (which a lot of my writing is based on) should seek to minimise it for the sake of accuracy.
Stretch only if you need to. If you're talking about running, it would be better to start at a slower cadence and then pick up the pace. If you're talking about other sports, jog and then stretch when you're warmer. Even here, dynamic stretching (which I'll cover in my next post) is a better option.
Thanks for the detailed article, Naithrav, how does icing for soreness fit into this discussion? Any thoughts on that will be much appreciated.
Hi Gowri.
Icing has not only shown to be ineffective, but might also be harmful. Icing has historically been used to treat inflammation, but DOMS can occur with or without inflammation. It is postulated that inflammation occurs as a reaction to whatever is causing the pain and you might be retarding tissue repair by suppressing inflammation. In essence, while cryotherapy has a place in treating severe inflammation following trauma, it is pretty much ineffective when it comes to DOMS.
Thanks, Naithrav, for your reply, perhaps, the confusion is that some of these niggles in the knee just not seem to go away and look like not just what you refer as DOMS which probably go away after a brief period, so, while there is no apparent inflammation and not DOMS, but some discomfort and niggle in certain move, is there anything other than rest that could be a solution to accelerate the healing process then? Sorry if I was not clear. Thanks, Gowrishankar
The time frame on DOMS seems to be variable. It doesn't occur immediately after exercise, but can last unto 72hrs (even more in extreme cases). If you do chronically experience pain/ discomfort on certain moves, it makes sense to get a read on it. Science can truly be stranger than fiction and sometimes you might experience pain with no discernible underlying cause. If there's a certain move that poses a challenge, it makes sense to gradually dose it and not avoid it completely. it's important to remember that symptoms don't correlate to actual tissue injury. Rest is not something that I would recommend (just my 2 cents) and it's crucial that you train around pain. As long as your symptoms don't get worse as you gradually dose the move, you need to consider it a victory. Recovery and rehab is not a linear process and niggles are part and parcel of it. Here's a link to an article I think you mind find interesting - https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/pain-in-training-what-do/
Thanks, this is helpful, yes, I have been attending the morning 6am sessions and when in doubt, I do regress to give the knees a break, but overall, I should say that the niggles either appear once in a while or have not gotten worse. Thanks for the article, will check it out.
Interesting. I guess this is why I suffered no ill effects from not stretching much before and after treks.
Also, is "beyond the noise" a pun on static?
Ja. It is a multi layered pun. Firstly, noise is a pun on static. Secondly, "beyond" connotes with stretch (at least in my mind). Finally, in statistics, noisy data is one that has been distorted and corrupted, and the research (which a lot of my writing is based on) should seek to minimise it for the sake of accuracy.
Danke für die Nachfrage!
Cool... so detailed.. got your point... jog and stretch rather than vice-versa.. is it?
Stretch only if you need to. If you're talking about running, it would be better to start at a slower cadence and then pick up the pace. If you're talking about other sports, jog and then stretch when you're warmer. Even here, dynamic stretching (which I'll cover in my next post) is a better option.
Cheers