One of the benefits of working out every day is that I almost never feel muscle soreness. But every so often, I get hit hard.
CrossFit’s Murph workout is one that typically hits me hard. Although the post-workout soreness is called DOMS — “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness” — sometimes it’s not so delayed. I did Murph on Saturday morning, and by Saturday evening, it was a challenge to reach my arms overhead.
By Sunday morning, I was feeling it. My back was a little sore, and my lats and intercostals weren’t just sore — they were tender. I could hardly lift my arms overhead. I was feeling the cumulative effect of those 100 pull-ups and 200 push-ups.
While some people hate that sore feeling, I actually relish it. It tells me my body worked hard and exceeded its usual capacity.
That’s a good thing. This is how we get stronger.
That said, knowing how to recover from DOMS is crucial. A workout shouldn’t sideline you for a week.
Here’s an overview of what doesn’t work, and what you should do instead.
The Wrong Way to Recover From DOMS
When you feel really sore the day after a hard workout, your natural instinct might be to take a rest day. After all, you’ve clearly earned it. At the very least, maybe you should do some foam rolling.
I’ve learned from experience that neither of these work well.
(1) Complete Rest
As tempting as it might be to sit on the couch all day, this will only make your recovery take longer. Sitting still will create stiffness in the body that will prolong the soreness and keep you away from more intense movement for a longer period of time.
(2) Foam Rolling
Foam rolling can feel like a massage, but its effectiveness all depends on the how and where. Many people think foam rolling helps “break up knots.” But this kind of soreness isn’t coming from knots. Intense exercise breaks down muscle. As the muscle repairs itself, it grows stronger.
When muscles are tender and regenerating, foam rolling them is like pressing into a bruise. It’s aggravating the part that is trying to heal. This puts the nervous system on high alert, which causes muscle guarding — the muscles tighten in an attempt to protect against the threat.
If laying on a foam rolling triggers more “ouch,” that’s a sign it’s not the right move.
A Better Recovery Plan
What your sore muscles actually need is blood flow. The tissues need active sliding mechanics and oxygenated blood to clear out residual stiffness.
Get Moving
The best way to get this blood to the muscles is to move your body.
Motion is lotion.
What works best is rhythmic movement: something easy and familiar that you can do at high volume or several circuits.
Think about cardio, resistance bands, and bodyweight movements that you can do to bring blood to the areas that feel most sore.
One year, my day-after-Murph recovery was a “recovery Murph”:
- 1 mile run
- resistance band rows
- 1 mile run
This year, I did several rounds of the ski erg superset with resistance band pull-aparts, followed by a circuit with the ViPR that focused on hinging and posterior chain.
You could also do a swim, a light bike ride, or a yoga flow practice.
Moving your body through all planes of motion — back and forward, sideways, and rotationally — helps restore balance after a workout so heavily focused on the sagittal plane.
The more you move, the faster the soreness will dissipate. And then you can get back to the next heavy lift.
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