Overload, recover, adapt

Running downhill fast can cause DOMS

Your training programme should have a good mix of challenging sessions, easy sessions and recovery days. The tough sessions are designed to overload your body and make it work hard. You may finish your session feeling tired and heavy legged due to lactic acid that has built up in your blood and muscle cells. This disappears quite quickly and is different from the sore feeling that you may well notice one or two days later.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the term we often use to refer to this feeling that comes on as a result of microscopic tears to muscle fibres that you have caused by running faster or working harder when circuit training, for example. The damage ignites an inflammatory response as the muscle repairs itself, causing pain that peaks 24 to 48 hours after the activity and gradually gets easier after that.

DOMS is most common after a new activity or exercises involving plyometric movements using the stretch-shortening cycle. If you do explosive movements at circuit training such as jumping on and off boxes or clapping in between press ups you are using the stretch - shortening cycle. Running can also be a plyometric activity depending on how or where you run. Think about what you do when you run. Running is a series of leaps from one leg to the other. Bounding is more plyometric than jogging and running downhill quickly uses a plyometric movement.

DOMS is usually a good thing as long as you then go into the next stage of the training process, which is to recover. During recovery the muscle will rebuild itself, but rather than making itself as strong as it was before it will think "That session was tough, I will be ready for it next time, I will build myself stronger!" Bring on the third part of the process that is adaptation!

Adaptation means that the next time you do the same exercise there's less damage, less soreness and you need less recovery time. You will be stronger but you have to damage the muscle to get it to grow back stronger. I suppose this may be where we get the phrase "No pain, no gain"!

How much is too much?

No one knows for sure how much damage is necessary to get the muscle to adapt but you probably want to feel some soreness. Too much soreness can be counterproductive because the longer it takes for the muscles to rebuild, the longer you have to have between sessions. When muscles are sore, they leak proteins from their cells into the bloodstream. Extreme soreness can be dangerous.

Rhabdomyolysis is a condition in which the proteins from muscle breakdown flood the bloodstream and impair kidney function. It is usually caused by trauma and pushing yourself too hard in training can cause this trauma.

So how much recovery do you need?

If you train hard again too soon you risk delaying recovery and your performance will suffer. Worse still you risk injury.

Sore muscles heal faster if you just rest, but when you exert slight pressure on sore muscles, such as through light running or cycling you cause the muscle fibres to become more fibrous, so they can later withstand greater stress during your harder sessions so this is where the easy runs or cross training comes into the programmes.

Top tips for good recovery and optimal adaptation

Stay hydrated: It's important to stay hydrated while you're sore to flush the kidneys and prevent protein buildup in the blood. Your urine should be a light yellow. Brown urine is a warning sign for rhabdomyolysis.

Diet: Eat foods with protein and sugar within an hour of hard exercise to speed muscle recovery because the spike in insulin drives protein into the cells. It is better to get the sugar from natural carbohydrates such as potatoes.

Increase your training load gradually: Try to be consistent with your training and build the load progressively. Avoid big increases in volume or intensity.

Know the difference between soreness and injury: See a physiotherapist if you think it is an injury rather than soreness, especially if you have acute, sharp pain as opposed to the dull burn of the DOMS