DOMS

DOMs stand for delayed onset muscle soreness. This is the term that is used to describe that pain you get in your muscles in the days after a workout.

Getting doms is a very normal part of resistance training especially when you are starting out.

The main reason you get doms is when you are doing something that your body isn’t used to.

Doms however is not an indicator of whether or not you have had a good workout. Again it isn’t a case of no pain no gain.

In fact too often people chase feeling sore when trying to make progress. I didn’t ache enough after the last workout I need to do more.

DOMs are normal and it is likely that you will feel a little stiff after most workouts.

However, as you become more accustomed to training and your workouts, the level of doms you get will decrease.

That is a good thing. The less you ache the more you are likely to stay active the rest of the day.

I am sure you will experienced it before, where you have ached so much after a new workout that you had to wait 5 days before your legs would even work again.

That is not a good thing. Especially when you are someone who is trying to lose weight.

All that will result in is you not hitting your step target for 5 days, probably not training in any other way for 5 days, and as a result it will affect your fat loss progress.

So to summarise – doms is to be expected. Especially when you are first getting started with resistance training, and also when you switch up your training programmes.

However doms are not a goal. The less doms you have the better.

As long as you are pushing yourself in your workouts, hitting a good 8 out of 10 on the RPE scale every time you train, improving on the number of reps or sets you managed the week before, you will be making progress, so don’t worry about not aching!

The less aching the better, as you will feel more inclined and more able to stay active the rest of the week!