Is it possible to eliminate soreness (DOMS)?

[Olen Gifford]

I agree with Brendan. Workout more and take fewer "deloading" periods. The soreness you are referring too is a result of not being conditioned to the type of work you are doing. Put in more work on a consistent basis and you will see you soreness relatively eliminated.

[Patrick Rushbrook]

To address your point specifically (disclaimer: I don't get in as many WODs as I would like, but most of it is due to chronic soreness anyway.), I've been trying to plan something similar.

The best solution I've managed to think of is to do a nightly routine, or even a different routine a few nights a week, or nightly, etc, and use bodyweight or some light weight, and just get in some general reps.

For me, it would be situps, pushups, and squats. Keeping those muscles at-attention whether they're in the WOD or not would eliminate a lot of my problems. Obviously, if you burn out one of those muscle groups the same day, you'll want to find a different muscle to mobilize. I'm talking about something as simple as 30 pushups, 50 situps, 50 squats--just enough to get a bit of a pump but not enough to feel it the next day, but enough that after a high rep or heavy load day, you won't be as sore as you would if you completely shocked your system.

That's my plan at least. Mine isn't related to a layoff of a week or more, but more of a situation where we might not do pushups in a WOD for a week or maybe I miss that WOD and it's 2 weeks before I do them again, and I end up with serious soreness that hinders another WOD with a push movement (i.e., burpees) that we have in the same week.

[Eric Shuty]

Why would you want to elimininate soreness? I find it gratifying...

As for the point that it will go away to a certain extent, I disagree. I still get sore from every workout an I've been lifting weights since I was in 7th grade (I'm now 32)...its a matter of many things, mainly exercise choice and intensity. As far as I'm concerned, those who say sleeping, eating, and hydrating solve all this are full of it....they're not doing my workouts.

[Jonathan E McGarvey]

Originally Posted by Eric Shuty

Why would you want to elimininate soreness? I find it gratifying...

As for the point that it will go away to a certain extent, I disagree. I still get sore from every workout an I've been lifting weights since I was in 7th grade (I'm now 32)...its a matter of many things, mainly exercise choice and intensity. As far as I'm concerned, those who say sleeping, eating, and hydrating solve all this are full of it....they're not doing my workouts.

I am with you on the last point, the day after deadlifts or squats I can feel it all over, and it just feels like victory. The trouble is after doing something for the "first time" (at least something you're relatively unaccustomed to), the soreness is often so bad it's painful walking for several days, etc. which is just annoying when you have to go to work and use the stairs or whatever.

[Katherine Derbyshire]

I would say that if you're never sore, you're probably not pushing yourself as hard as you should be. But if you're constantly sore, you're probably undermining your gains to some extent.

Katherine

[Brendan McNamar]

Originally Posted by Jonathan E McGarvey

I am with you on the last point, the day after deadlifts or squats I can feel it all over, and it just feels like victory.

I set a squat PR yesterday and only feel mild fatigue today.

Ether you are more susceptible to soreness or something is a miss.

You haven't shared your programing or how often you really workout.

Got a training log? 3 on 1 off equals 21 workouts in 28 days. Are you working out 21 times in 28 days?

[Luke Sirakos]

Soreness isn't an indicator of muscle growth so it shouldn't really be used as barometer. As for reducing it, I found that ETS by ALN really helped me out. Another option would be to not do silly workouts that have you doing 100 reps of various movements.

[Aaron Schmid]

All of these posts are great and good advice. I definitely agree with using creatine mono and glutamine after a workout. Make sure you take in enough protein and potassium to help your muscles recover also. I went to an undergraduate research conference last weekend and there was a study done that showed that active recovery by working large muscles while staying below your anaerobic threshold is the most efficient way to reduce lactate buildup due to exercise (DOMS).

[Sara Mathews]

Originally Posted by Aaron Schmid

All of these posts are great and good advice. I definitely agree with using creatine mono and glutamine after a workout. Make sure you take in enough protein and potassium to help your muscles recover also. I went to an undergraduate research conference last weekend and there was a study done that showed that active recovery by working large muscles while staying below your anaerobic threshold is the most efficient way to reduce lactate buildup due to exercise (DOMS).

No doubt that days I go for a jog, walk, or swim make a big difference on recovery for me. Upping water intake has been a big help as well.

[Jonathan E McGarvey]

Originally Posted by Brendan McNamar

Ether you are more susceptible to soreness or something is a miss.

My diet and normal routine are decent, and the common soreness I refer to is nothing unusual. For example, when I deadlift, I'm at least controlling the descent, which really tears up the muscle. This produces some DOMS every time, but it's nothing debilitating.

What I'm really interested in is finding a decent balance of exercises (allowing for variation and progress) which keeps every muscular function "current"---such that serious "first time effects" are essentially non-existent.